All Over Albany

Hand cream from Saratoga

What:
Apothecary Essentials Hand Cream.

Back in the 1970's a patient with cracked, dry hands brought a prescription for a topical cream to Menges and Curtis Apothecary in Saratoga Springs. Included in the cream's ingredients -- water from Saratoga's famed mineral springs. Pharmacy employees began using it themselves and recommending it to other patients.

"They used to slap it in a vial and charge a dollar," Menges and Curtis owner Mike Lenz says. "People just kept coming back to get their vials refilled." For the last 20 years the pharmacy has been marketing the cream as part of a skin care line.

Who is it for?

Anyone whose hands are dry and rough from winter or --you know-- just likes hand cream.

How much?

$13.75 for a 3.4 oz jar

Where

It's only available at Menges and Curtis at the corner of Broadway and Lake Avenue in
Saratoga Springs or online at mengesandcurtis.com

Bonus:

Shopping in this old fashioned apothecary with its original woodwork and marble tables makes you feel like you're wandering around in a Dickens novel.

If not this, what ?

The Apothecary Essentials line includes creams for the face, eyes, feet and the rest of the body, all made with Saratoga Water. Prices range from $13.75 to $22.50.

Other locally made bath and body products can be found at Center Square Honey. They sell their Bees on Earth line of products at At The Warehouse every Saturday and Sunday. While you're there you can check out Body and Soul's line of body washes and lotions.