Hot Nevada Export: Mud

Skin product doesn't stink like that of competitors, says harvester
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2012 8:07 AM CST
Updated Nov 24, 2012 12:53 PM CST
Hot Nevada Export: Mud
Nevada mud is great for cosmetics: It doesn't smell, says a harvester.   (Shutterstock)

In Nevada, the prospectors are back, but this time, it's not gold they're after. The Wall Street Journal looks at a resident who has built a business out of a substance that's a little easier to find: mud. Out in the desert, hot water swells up from underground, transforming dry dirt into mud that's as "smooth as butter," packed with 50 trace elements, and great for the skin, according to harvester Shelly Egbert. She worked with her seven kids—including a 2-year-old—to produce this year's autumn harvest of 5,000 jars, sold for $59 each.

Unlike the mud already used by companies like L'Oreal, who source their product from exotic international locations, the Nevada supply doesn't smell, says Egbert. Harvesters of the smellier stuff say their product removes toxins and has preserved buried bodies for thousands of years. Plus, "some people like earthy smells. We don't have anything extremely stinky," notes a distributor. Some companies cover the smell with fragrances, but when it comes to the Nevada goo, "what you see is what you get," says a Reno spa director who buys from Egbert. (More mud stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X