Ascend Skin Care Review

The nice people over at Ascend Skin Care hooked us up with their brand new Hand Care Kit for us to review. We are quite impressed with what they sent!

Before we go any further, we want you to know that this is an unbias review and has been tested by many different climbers over the course of a few weeks.

There has been an explosion of skin care products that have recently hit the market. Climbers are always looking for the best way to keep their skin healthy. A few companies that are leading the charge are:

• ClimbOn
• Joshua Tree Salve
• Rhino Skin
• Giddy Heals
• Climbskin

While all these companies make slightly different products, they all are focused on doing the same thing, keeping our hands in good shape.

So is Ascend Skin Care just another climber skin salve company?

We did a bit of research and we found that Ascend is a child company of W.O.D Welder. W.O.D Welder is a company that specializes in skin care for Weightlifters and CrossFit athletes. The company has been around for many years and their products have really good reviews.

It seems like the Ascend Skin products are essentially rebranded from the W.O.D Welder line to appeal to the climbing community. This is a good thing for climbers who choose to try the product. This means you have a strong company that is able to offer good prices and reliable customer service.

Why Ascend?

So what makes Ascend Skin different from all the other companies offering similar products?

Well, adding beeswax and essential oils together to make a climbing salve is no new trick. Any skin care product out there probably contains many of the same ingredients as 90% of the competition.

The thing that makes Ascend better than other skin solutions is not the actual salve or cream, it’s the packaging/delivery system and ability to purchase it as a kit. Ascend has offered the climbing community a new way to carry and apply their skin care products.

Sure, you may be wondering how the actual salve and cream works, we will go over that in detail in a later section. For a quick answer, it works just fine. It’s not a miracle formula or anything, but it does the job.

Hand Care Kit – One Stop Shop for Your Climbing Hands

For this review, we received one of the hand care kits that included 3 separate pieces that make up what Ascend calls, its 3-step skin care process. The kit included the following items:

1. Callus Clipper – used to maintain fingernails and calluses

2. Hand Cream – used to hydrate the skin after climbing

3. Salve – used to repair broken and damaged skin

This kit can be purchased as a whole or you can get each item individually. The kit comes in a very nice and convenient cloth bag that would make this a great little skincare travel bag.

Depending on your specific needs you might just want one or two of the products at first.

Now let’s get into the details about each individual item.

Ascend Skin – Callus Clippers

The Ascend Skin Care Kit comes with callus and nail clippers. These are not your everyday, traditional nail clippers.

These clippers are angled and very thin. This is most likely to aid in the precise clipping of loose skin and hangnails.

Unfortunately, the Callus Clippers are nothing special. They are probably similar in quality to something you would get at your local big box store. That being said, they aren’t bad, just don’t buy them individually.

During testing, multiple members of the team tried to clip their nails and had some trouble. The sample we have might just be a bad apple, but we cannot recommend the clippers at the moment.

However, the keychain that comes with the clipper is actually pretty sweet! Its made of paracord and done in a cobra style weave. There is probably 20-30 ft of cordage here which could actually help you out in a pinch (although climbers usually have a rope with them anyway).

The keychain also has a firesteel (aka a flint for sparking a fire) woven into the paracord with a pretty nice little carabiner style clip on the end and a keyring on the other. This means you would easily replace the clippers or even add some other accessory to the keychain and clip it to your bag.

Ascend Skin – Hand Cream

Step 2 of the Ascend Skin Care Kit is the Hand Cream. This is used to hydrate the skin and keep it healthy. If you struggle with dry and cracking skin, this is perfect for you.

That main ingredients are as follows (this is copied directly from Ascend’s website):

• Allantoin: a cell regenerator that protects skin by sealing in moisture,
and helps with wound healing and tissue regeneration.
• Lanolin: a naturally occurring wax that holds moisture to the skin while
still allowing it to breathe.
• Essential oils of Peppermint and Eucalyptus: smell great and lend a
cooling sensation to the skin while providing antimicrobial abilities.

So is this cream better than the competition? Well, that’s hard to say.

Ascend Hand Cream is very similar to Rhino Skin’s Repair Lotion. So if you like that stuff, then the Ascend Hand Cream is worth a try. This option seems to be more affordable than some of the other options out there (which may or may not be a big deal to you).

The lotion comes in a simple 1.69 oz (50 ml) bottle with a flip top. To use the bottle simple open it and squeeze. This is a bit more barbaric than some of the pump bottles out there but it also won’t fail (like many of them do). The bottle also comes with a small biner so you can clip it to a bag. We really like this feature.

Don’t worry, we tested this for cold weather conditions and it worked perfectly. It spent the night in the fridge, and the lotion came out no problem.

Here is the full ingredients list: Water, Beeswax, Glycerin, Mineral Oil, Lanolin, Allantoin, Sorbic Acid, Peppermint Essential Oil, Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Ascend Skin – Salve

We always save the best for last! Yes, the Ascend Skin Salve is a real gem.

The main ingredients on this one are very similar to the hand cream (again, directly from Ascend):

• Lanolin, which holds and attracts moisture to the skin while still allowing it to breath.
• Beeswax, an age-old natural antibacterial which helps with cell regeneration.
• Aloe Butter, an anti-inflammatory, natural pain reliever, and a skin soother.
• Shea Butter which helps skin to regenerate quickly.
• Peppermint and Eucalyptus essential oils smell great and are naturally antibacterial.

So what makes the Salve so much better than everything else?

Simple, it’s the container! The Ascend Skin Care Salve has a push-up function what works like a deodorant stick. This means no more digging your hands into a tin as the bar of salve runs out.

If you don’t believe us you will just have to try it yourself (or wait for everyone else to try to copy them).

But what about the Salve? Is it any good?

The Ascend Hand Salve is very similar in consistency to ClimbOn. In our opinion, it serves the same purpose and performs just as well as the competition. Again, this is not some crazy snake oil miracle salve. It moisturizes your hands and helps them repair themselves in a safe, healthy way.

Seriously, this stuff is worth trying out!

Here is the full list of ingredients: Olive Oil, Beeswax, Lanolin, Shea Butter, Aloe Butter, Peppermint and Eucalyptus Essential Oils

Final Thoughts

So what should you get?

Honestly, the Callus Clippers aren’t worth it for most people. If you really need some nail clippers, you might just be better off going to the corner store. If they throw it in the kit its a neat item, especially with the keychain.

The Hand Cream is nice but is essentially the same thing as the Salve only with some added water. If you want a lotion, it’s one of the better ones the market.

The Ascend Salve is a must buy in our opinion. It has a next-level dispensing system and a good overall feel.

Pro-Tip – If you are a first-time customer, just order the Ascend Salve. If you really like the Salve, order the whole kit when the salve runs out!

Hope you enjoyed the review! If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to Keep Crushing!