We tried it: Does Egyptian Magic work?

A lot of popular balms claim to be all-purpose, but they’re either too goopy, sticky, or non-absorbent to be truly suitable for myriad uses. But fans of Egyptian Magic swear by it for all sorts of things:

• Hair mask
• Face and body moisturizer, eye cream, and hand and cuticle cream
• Makeup remover
• Shaving balm or massage balm
• Vaginal lubricant
• Fading recent scars, stretch marks, and skin discoloration
• Promoting healing of cuts, scrapes, burns, eczema, and psoriasis flare-ups
• Relieving and renewing chapped lips and cracked nipples, heels, and elbows
• Treating diaper rash — and making your baby even softer
• Aftercare for tattoos, piercings, gauges, and waxing

Very sparingly! As they say in elementary school, a dab’ll do ya!

Step 1: Dip in with your finger like you’re sneaking a little taste of frosting off your S.O.’s cupcake.

Step 2: Rub it around between your fingers or palms until it melts into a glorious unction.

Step 3: Apply it to your ailing part with a gentle touch.

A little magic really does go a long way. I used a bit too much on my face the first time around, but I wasn’t about to waste precious product by dabbing it off. Over the course of the day, it absorbed really nicely, and I still had a subtle glow by bedtime. It’s luxuriously silky on my face and makes me feel like a goddess. An Egyptian goddess.

But the magic isn’t just for faces. I’ve got super dry skin on my legs — even after slathering all kinds of lotions and oils on them, they still feel rough. I was excited to see whether Egyptian Magic would help. First, I exfoliated my sandpaper gams with a Turkish bath mitt then moisturized my freshly-polished shanks with EgMa. The softness this combo yielded was legendary.

If you fall into the dry-skin category, Egyptian Magic could be just the miracle you’re looking for.

I read an interview with Liv Tyler once where she said that her face can take a lot of product, and I think about that often, probably because my face is the exact opposite — it’s easily overwhelmed and doesn’t absorb products very well.

So I knew going in that I might not like Egyptian Magic as a mask, but I was determined to slather it on my visage in the name of a proper, honest product review.

In the end, I was right: I didn’t like it. It’s a little too oily and heavy to sit so thickly on my face for any length of time — even though it did leave my skin super soft and glowy. But I like less-goopy face masks.

If you struggle with dry facial skin — or you’re like Liv Tyler and your face can handle a lot of product (lucky!) — then this stuff will be a godsend for you.

I used Egyptian Magic to take off my waterproof mascara, eyeliner, new favorite lipstick, and glitter — and it worked like a charm! Why? Because chemistry. The “like dissolves like” principle says that one material will dissolve other materials that have a similar chemical structure.

Makeup is often made up of oils and heavy waxes, and since Egyptian Magic is an oil- and beeswax-based product, and like dissolves like, it’s a super-effective makeup remover that — unlike so many others — left my face completely makeup-free, super-soft, and ultra-hydrated.

I will say, however, that Egyptian Magic is pretty pricey to use just to take off your makeup — the market’s full of less-expensive and just-as-effective natural makeup removers and makeup remover towels.

Sorry, no photos for this one! Egyptian Magic claims it can be used as a lubricant, but I couldn’t find any reviews by people who had tried it out. Always willing to go the extra mile for the sake of informed journalism, I texted my ex and asked if he’d be up for helping me investigate.

Unlike other things in life, Egyptian Magic lasts. I’ve tried other commercial and natural lubricants before, and I definitely liked this better than most of those other brands. It was non-irritating, and it didn’t make me feel like a dolphin on a slip ’n’ slide (I’m looking at you, Astroglide.)

I’ll say it again, though — if you’re getting this for the sole purpose of lubrication, there are less-spendy options out there that work just fine (and some even come in handy squeeze bottles.)

I’m addicted to theatrical manicures that make me feel like a Disney princess or one of David Lynch’s femme fatales (depending on my mood come mani day.) Unfortunately, they’re terrible for my poor nails, and after a particularly violent manicure in which the technician nicked my skin in a few places, I (in a bit of a blind panic, so don’t judge!) soaked my nails in acetone for quite some time to get the offending fakies off. You can imagine how badly my nails and cuticles needed some gentle lovin’ after that ordeal.

Here's an image of my nasty, gnarly nails before using Egyptian Magic. Jaggedy tips, dry, peeling nail bed, and angry, red cuticles (Can you blame them?).

Enter Egyptian Magic. I’ve been using it on my beat-up cuticles for several days now, and not only is it soothing and healing for my poor cuticles, but it’s also moisturizing my dry, scraggly nail beds — with visible results.

Here's an image of my nails after using Egyptian Magic. After just three days of twice-daily treatment, things are looking up for my nails and cuticles.

About the author: Mackenzie Sanford is a writer and musician trying to find a decent nail salon in the Midwest. She’s been writing for Grove since 2020.