Glysomed

Glysomed is a skin-care brand for dry and sensitive skin on the hands, body and feet, built around a hand cream that combines glycerine, silicone and chamomile. Its story, as the brand tells it, begins in 1994, when Glysomed Hand Cream was introduced to the Canadian market in a jar [3]. Over the next two decades the line grew to take in a body lotion, a fragrance-free hand cream, a foot balm and, from 2017, a cream for eczema.

Since 2004 Glysomed has belonged to Blistex Inc., a family-owned consumer-health company incorporated in Chicago in 1947, whose namesake brand is a lip-care line [7]. The brand is active, with a bilingual English and French website and a range of five products. Its activity is centred on Canada, where the hand cream is sold widely through drugstores [10].

Glysomed's own history opens under the heading "The Beginning…" with the 1994 launch of the hand cream in its original jar. That account does not name the people behind the formula or describe any earlier development, and no founder has been publicly identified. The 1994 date marks a market debut rather than the founding of a company.

By 1996, according to the brand, demand had grown substantially, and customers across the country wanted a size they could carry in a purse, a jacket pocket or the car. Glysomed responded with a tube. The company says the tube soon became the number-one selling hand cream in Canada, a claim it footnotes to the market-research firm Nielsen without giving a year [3].

The next product grew out of how people were using the first one. Glysomed recounts that customers had started applying the hand cream to their arms, legs, feet and elbows, anywhere dry skin was a problem. Its answer, in 1998, was Glysomed Body Lotion, a light cream lotion enriched with aloe and vitamin E.

In 2001 came a fragrance-free version of the hand cream. The brand describes it as a hypo-allergenic formula for people with sensitive skin or an intolerance to fragrance, and says it found favour with health-care practitioners and people living with skin conditions.

Glysomed joined Blistex in 2004. Under its new owner it added Glysomed Foot Balm in 2006, made with shea butter, olive oil and a small amount of peppermint oil. A year later it launched a Face Moisturizer that paired chamomile, aloe and coenzyme Q10 with sunscreen. That product was sold in Canada for almost ten years before it was withdrawn; the exact year it ended is not stated, and it marked the brand's only documented move into facial care.

Later changes were mostly new sizes and reformulations. A 100 ml travel-size body lotion appeared in 2011, aimed at handbags, gym bags and the trial-and-travel shelves of retailers. In 2016 mango and shea butters were added to the body lotion, while palmarosa and geranium oils went into the foot balm, which the company says helps condition severely dry, cracked feet.

The most recent addition is Glysomed Eczema Control, which began shipping to retailers across Canada in 2017. It extended the brand from everyday dryness into a named skin condition, and it remains the newest product in the line.

Glysomed has been part of Blistex Inc. since 2004. The owner's corporate timeline records the deal in a single line, "Blistex acquires the Glysomed brand in Canada" [7], while Glysomed's own history says the brand "joined the Blistex family of products in Canada". Neither account names a seller or discloses the terms.

Blistex itself has a longer history. According to the company, a pharmacist in Seattle developed an ointment for cold sores and chapped lips in the 1930s, and Charles Arch incorporated Blistex Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947 to market it [7]. Blistex expanded into Canada in 1952, more than half a century before it took on Glysomed.

The company describes itself as family-owned and says it has grown through brand acquisitions. Its timeline lists Kank-A in 1977, Ivarest in 1978, Stridex in 1996, Glysomed in 2004, Odor-Eaters in 2010 and Tucks in 2016. Today Glysomed is one of eight brands in the portfolio, alongside Blistex lip care, Tucks, Odor-Eaters, Kank-A, Stridex, Ivarest and Foille [8]. Blistex describes the group as health-focused products that treat conditions ranging from chapped lips and acne to canker sores and foot odour. Within that lineup, Glysomed is the brand for dry skin.

Blistex says its brands are sold in more than 50 countries, a figure that refers to the portfolio as a whole rather than to Glysomed [9]. The legal notices on the Glysomed website state that the site's content and trademarks are the property of Blistex Corporation and/or Blistex Inc. [5].

Glysomed presents itself as practical, dermatologist-approved care rather than as a beauty indulgence. Its homepage carries the tagline "Trusted solutions for dry and sensitive skin", and the company says the range was created to help with everything from dry, itchy skin to conditions such as eczema. It points to ordinary causes of dryness: cold weather, dry indoor heat, frequent hand-washing and jobs that are hard on the hands.

The brand leans on medical-style assurances. Its About Us page, as archived in 2019, described the products as "Dermatologist Recommended, 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed and Cruelty-Free" [3], and the current website calls them dermatologist-approved. No study, named dermatologist or professional body is cited in support of these claims.

The same archived page tied the brand's product development to "Blistex philosophies" and a stated commitment to quality ingredients. The French-language homepage adds that the products combine science with quality ingredients and are suitable for the whole family, children included.

Packaging colour is a large part of the brand's identity. The company refers to the hand cream's "signature green bottle", and it has said that the brand is easy to recognise by its distinctive green hue.

The current range has five products: Hand Cream, Fragrance Free Hand Cream, Body Lotion, Foot Balm and Eczema Control. Glysomed makes no make-up, hair care or fragrance.

The hand cream remains the core of the line. Glysomed describes a formula built on three key ingredients: glycerine to help maintain and restore the skin's moisture balance, silicone to help lock that moisture in, and chamomile to soothe and calm the skin. Its homepage describes the cream as a blend of plant-based ingredients. The fragrance-free version offers the same benefits without scent, and the brand says it suits all skin types, including sensitive skin.

The other products build on the same base. The body lotion contains glycerine together with aloe vera, vitamin E and mango and shea butters. The foot balm pairs olive oil with peppermint, which the company says tackles rough skin on the heels while soothing the more sensitive skin around the toes.

Eczema Control is the closest the range comes to a treatment product. It combines what the company calls "the well-known Glysomed glycerine-chamomile blend" with 2% colloidal oatmeal, an oat-based active ingredient that the brand describes as a non-steroidal eczema itch reliever [2]. At launch the formula also contained oat extract and oat kernel oil. Glysomed says the cream is dermatologist-approved, cruelty-free and safe for the whole family.

On animal testing, the brand states that its hand cream is not tested on animals and calls Eczema Control cruelty-free. No certifying organisation is named, and no third-party cruelty-free or other certification is documented for the range.

Glysomed Eczema Control carries the Eczema Society of Canada Seal of Acceptance, according to the brand [2]. The year it was granted is not stated. The seal is an acceptance programme for products rather than a competitive award.

The sales-rank claims around the hand cream come from the brand and its owner. Glysomed's history credits Nielsen for its "#1 selling Hand Cream in Canada" line, and Blistex's brand page calls Glysomed "The #1 hand cream in Canada" [8]. Neither claim is dated or backed by published figures.

Independent coverage is limited. In December 2023 the Canadian news and lifestyle site Narcity included Glysomed Hand Cream in a round-up of winter hand creams drawn from recommendations shared on Reddit. The article called it "another popular option among Canadians" and noted that it is available at most drug stores [10]. It also quoted commenters who said it was the only product that had worked for their chronically dry hands.

Glysomed is an active brand. Its website, in English and French, lists five products and carries a 2026 Blistex Inc. copyright notice, and Blistex's current family-of-brands page still includes it [1]. The brand's activity is centred on Canada: its launches, its acquisition and its eczema seal are all Canadian, and sales in other countries are not documented. No social-media accounts are linked from its website.