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Original poster

The discontinued GERMOLENE pink ointment that we all loved.

33 replies

EGNILKUK · 19/11/2018 11:31

On the internet one can read how all lovers of this truly fantastic ointment are so unhappy with it's disappearance. I get my Germolene ointment from friends visiting South Africa. It's a cream/red/blue packaging, and it clearly states OINTMENT. Aspen Pharmacare South Africa manufacture it, and it's exactly the same as we all know it. Sold in Boots like shops or the pharmacist. A 50g tube costs about £ 4. I have noticed that the power of the ointment, does reduce some time after the expiry date. So to extend the expiry date, I keep my extra tubes in the fridge. So find some one who is visiting South Africa, or get a friend in SA to send you a few tubes. I have just now (19/11/2018) seen a 50g tube on Ebay UK at £24.99 with expiry date 11/2019, so watch out for the expiry date!. Hope this helps other lovers of this truly fantastic ointment.

The discontinued GERMOLENE pink ointment that we all loved.
OP posts:
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Original poster
EGNILKUK · 24/09/2024 09:48

The Germolene you get in Tesco or Sainsbury's is the Cream. The old pink discontinued Germolene is OINTMENT and it's the ointment which has the fantastic healing power which the Cream does not have. I still get mine from South Africa. Aspen Pharmacare South Africa manufacture it to the old recipe.
Aspen Pharmacare
One place where you can buy it in S. Africa Dis-Chem
and another place is Mopani

The discontinued GERMOLENE pink ointment that we all loved.
OP posts:
Abitofalark · 23/09/2024 16:17

Why open a thread from six years ago? People are reading it thinking it's contemporary and not old news .

CranfordScones · 23/09/2024 16:12

I bought some in Sainsburys a few weeks ago - it's pink (admitedly a bit lighter than I remember) - but it smells just like the original. It's £2.45 for a small tube.

ETA: The colourings in it are E110 (sunset yellow) and E124 (strawberry red) - which adds up to pink, I'd say.

RedPony1 · 23/09/2024 16:09

Londonrach1 · 23/09/2024 16:06

Sorry they cancelled it ...when ...got some week ago in tesco

This thread is 6 years old

But you didn't get this in Tesco last week, you got the crappier white cream version. They discontinued the pink stuff years ago here in the UK

Londonrach1 · 23/09/2024 16:06

Sorry they cancelled it ...when ...got some week ago in tesco

Rhythmisadancer · 23/09/2024 16:04

I really miss the ointment - WHY did they discontinue it? It was magic stuff

Cinderstheoneandonly · 23/09/2024 15:36

EGNILKUK · 19/11/2018 11:31

On the internet one can read how all lovers of this truly fantastic ointment are so unhappy with it's disappearance. I get my Germolene ointment from friends visiting South Africa. It's a cream/red/blue packaging, and it clearly states OINTMENT. Aspen Pharmacare South Africa manufacture it, and it's exactly the same as we all know it. Sold in Boots like shops or the pharmacist. A 50g tube costs about £ 4. I have noticed that the power of the ointment, does reduce some time after the expiry date. So to extend the expiry date, I keep my extra tubes in the fridge. So find some one who is visiting South Africa, or get a friend in SA to send you a few tubes. I have just now (19/11/2018) seen a 50g tube on Ebay UK at £24.99 with expiry date 11/2019, so watch out for the expiry date!. Hope this helps other lovers of this truly fantastic ointment.

I feel annoyed that they discontinued it. Why take it away, when it works amazingly well. The one they put on the shelves now does not compare. Apparently you can still get it on prescription. Thanks Germolene, why do that?You can buy it on ebay for £15.99 but why cant we the British public buy it directly from the pharmacy

user1473878824 · 29/10/2020 22:28

I feel so thick, what’s an ointment like if not a cream?

Tinawogitina · 29/10/2020 22:21

My husband was in a Major RTA on a Motorcycle. .He broke his Collar Bone , which was sticking out of the skin.(Compound Fracture) and the Brake Handle cut into his side.All the hospital did was blow antiseptic powder onto the wounds and nothing else.(Honestly) !! I was a nurse myself, so when we got home I bathed his wounds and put Germolene Ointment (which I prefer.) onto the areas and then Meloline and Micropore. I changed the dressings daily and cleaned and redressed them in the same manner.The outcome was, he hasn't a trace of a scar anywhere thanks to Germolene..God knows what would have happened had the wounds been left as they were initially. (What ever has happened to A & E these days..) (Short staffed no doubt.) Glad I was taught nursing when I did in 1976 onwards.

Chesntoots · 11/02/2020 14:29

I used to love Germolene! Can anyone remember the sweets that used to taste the same?

I also quite liked Lion Brand ointment. It looked a bit like earwax but if you put it on a splinter it would draw it out.

AngieH72 · 11/02/2020 14:07

where can I get a tin or tube of the old fashioned pink Germolene?

AamdC · 20/11/2018 13:04

Yes the round tin it was kept under the sink and you knew you had properly scraped your knee if it came out!

LucieMorningstar · 20/11/2018 13:00

@Jammydodger1981

I used to love those little tins! Looking at your user name though, you may have been an 80s baby like me too so it’s part of our history!!!Grin

Jammydodger1981 · 20/11/2018 12:51

Xpost Lucie!

Jammydodger1981 · 20/11/2018 12:50

I bought Germolene recently and was so upset it was not the same! I actually had a rant about to DP who had never seen the original so had no clue what the hell I was on about haha.

My mum has a little tin and it lasted forever, she only threw it out once we’d all moved out!

LucieMorningstar · 20/11/2018 12:50

I would have been more impressed if this had been about the germolene they used to sell in the circle tin!

Trampire · 20/11/2018 12:38

Pink Germolene smells like waterproofs.

Try it.

TansyViolet · 20/11/2018 12:30

This was the look we were going for

The discontinued GERMOLENE pink ointment that we all loved.
WeeDangerousSpike · 20/11/2018 12:30

Charmingly more to the point - where are you?! It must be the last bastion of pink germolene-ness in the UK!

Or are you in the 1980s? Could you have a quick peek at a newspaper and check please?

fortifiedwithtea · 20/11/2018 12:29

When I was a child (1970’s) any scrape was smeared in zinc pink healing ointment. It was magical stuff

TansyViolet · 20/11/2018 12:28

In the 80s, when pale pink lipstick was in fashion, we used to wear it on our lips to school, so we could say it was an ointment for chapped lips rather than lipstick if asked.

WistfulBarnacles · 20/11/2018 12:26

cross-post with lots of people - I'm obviously too slow at typing Grin

WistfulBarnacles · 20/11/2018 12:25

But the OP is specifically mentioning the ointment. What we can get in the UK is the cream - white and doesn't smell quite the same. No idea whether it works the same though!!!

DanielRicciardosSmile · 20/11/2018 12:23

Gahh I've not even opened it yet so I presumed it was the same thing. So disappointed now. Feel like demanding a refund.

CharminglyGawky · 20/11/2018 12:23

I buy that all the time. Although I prefer the cream to the ointment I know they still sell the ointment as I buy it accidentally on occasion. Where are you that it is difficult to find? It's in most supermarkets and pharmacies here in uk!