Whether you’re a legitimate product junkie (we see you, eye-cream guy) or someone who’d be happy with a big-ass bar of soap and plastic razor, salve—a no-nonsense, natural balm that cures all manner of grooming mishaps—will more than earn its keep in your medicine cabinet. Here, a quick rundown of its many pluses:

Hydrates skin without making you feel sticky.Heals rashes, scrapes and burns.Passes all TSA regulations and doesn’t explode in your carry-on.Soothes sunburns in the summer and chapped skin the winter.Has a mild scent that doesn’t compete with your cologne situation.Stands in for your hair product when it runs out.Gives your toiletry bag a stylish upgrade—without sending you into a financial shame spiral.

Like cotton balls, nail clippers and mouth wash, it’s just one of those things that makes good sense to have in your grooming arsenal, though for some reason it’s not stocked at every drugstore or editorialized in every grooming-kit-essentials story. We blame petroleum jelly; salve’s less sustainable though immensely popular cousin. In our opinion, it’s time for an upgrade. Here, four of our favorites.

Burt's Bees, $7, available at drugstore.com; J.R. Watkins, $9, available at birchbox.com; Surfer's Salve, $5, available at surfersalve.com; Badger Balm, $8, available at drugstore.com.

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