IN REVIEW: Went a little too hard at the gym? Sore from being on your feet all day? Cue Mary’s Medicinals Muscle Freeze. Its simple roll-on formula melts into your skin for icy cool refreshment that lasts for hours. With no weird lingering smells or sticky residue, you can just sit back and soak in pure relief. Throw a stick in your gym bag or medicine cabinet to ensure the reliable relief you need is always close at hand, and you’re always ready for the rest of your day. 

When I first moved to LA, I worked at a spinning studio and fell in love. The pumping music, the comradery amongst riders in the room, and the intense, sweat-dripping, full-body workout was a dream come true for me. While spinning and I were a perfect match, I quickly fell out of love with working the front desk.

“After about 20 minutes of checking things off my to-do list, I suddenly noticed my knee felt completely refreshed.”

I didn’t work at the studio long, and with my resignation I said “bye-bye” to free spin classes, which led to my heart-wrenching breakup with my favorite workout. I thought we may never see each other again, that was, until a few days ago, when my best friend told me that his building put a few spin bikes on the rooftop.

Desperate for a change in my at-home workouts, I leapt at the chance to once again embrace my past love affair with spinning. It felt so good to be back on the bike that I rode for what felt like hours and went extra hard in my workout—clearly way too hard with how I crawled out of bed the next morning.

Everything hurt: from my calves to my triceps, each and every fiber of muscle cried out in pain as I slowly made my way to the bathroom. I opened up my medicine cabinet to pop a few ibuprofen, until Mary’s Medicinals Muscle Freeze caught my eye. At that moment, I would’ve gladly jumped in my freezer for some relief, so this seemed like a much more sane solution.

I gingerly sat myself down on top of the toilet and opened up the roll-on tube. Before I even applied the pain-relieving solution, I was taken aback by the smell. It reminded me of that old-school Bengay that mother used to slather on her muscles after a long day, only much less synthetic. It was herbal and fresh, with hints of eucalyptus and spearmint that tingled my nostrils.

I took the bottle and rolled the Muscle Freeze onto my knee as a test area. The little ball effortlessly glided across my skin, and the product melted in within moments, leaving everything feeling soft and smooth. There also thankfully wasn't any weird sticky residue or overpowering odor like the pain-relieving salves of my mom’s generation. With zero mess on my hands, I closed the bottle and hoped the effects would save me from my misery.

I dragged myself over to my desk and began to answer my morning emails before a long day on my feet. It was one of those days where I was going to be standing for hours on end baking and writing recipes for the holiday season. I knew I was going to be in trouble if I couldn’t find some source of relief for my tender muscles.

Sinking into my desk chair, I basked in the rest that my emails provided me. I did not, and perhaps could not, get up. So I buried myself behind my computer screen, keeping myself busy with seated tasks. After about 20 minutes of checking things off my to-do list, I suddenly noticed my knee felt completely refreshed, as though it was wrapped in a comforting, icy-cold grip.

“I was soon cocooned in a blizzard-like blanket of relief.”

I literally stopped in my tracks and said, “This feels fucking amazing.”

I confidently made my way back to the bathroom and proceeded to cover nearly my entire body with Mary’s Medicinals Muscle Freeze. From my sore calves and thighs to my aching “bike-butt” (you know, the one you get from sitting on an impossibly teeny-tiny bike seat), I was soon cocooned in a blizzard-like blanket of relief. My muscles felt soothed as the pain of the previous day’s mistakes left my body.

Feeling loosey-goosey and energized, I began to prepare my mise-en-place for the day with almost no discomfort. I managed to whip up some mini apple pies, sea salt chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin dulce de leche pie bars without wincing in pain every time I bent down to open the oven. One baked good after another, the relief kept working its magic for much longer than I expected.

Even through a baking marathon, Mary’s Medicinals Muscle Freeze proved itself to be a real game changer for pain relief. While the initial icy effects faded after about an hour, my muscles felt soothed and tension free for the majority of the day. To top it off, the mess-free application and energizing scent make for an unbeatable combination. I’ll be storing this bad boy in my medicine cabinet for those post-workout pains, never-ending days or any time my muscles need an extra boost of TLC.