Problem Salved

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Pamela Maguire, a bartender at Cambridge’s Viale, knows the occupational hazards posed by stinging citrus, sharp tools and hot water firsthand. “Your hands take a beating,” says Maguire, who was frustrated by skincare products that greased up glassware or failed under frequent hand washing. So she and fiance Eric Uhrynowski, a bartender at the Oysterman in Duxbury, whipped up Vincent Bartender’s Hand Salve ($9), starting with experiments in their kitchen. “We wanted to use a shea butter base because we knew it was super moisturizing,” she says. “Eric came up with this awesome formula that actually worked. It had avocado, sesame and vitamin E. We just wanted to help out our people and make it easier to do this really hard job we absolutely love.”

The pair had gone to art school—Maguire at MassArt, Uhrynowski at RISD—so they designed the packaging, naming the product after a mischievous fox in their yard. “It became this perfect symbol because foxes are nocturnal, and he was welcoming us home from busy shifts when we were tired.” They field-tested Vincent this spring at Yvonne’s, where Maguire worked at the time. Now it’s sold online and at the Boston Shaker, Sault New England and Commonwealth Market. “To see bartenders in Plymouth using it, and people who work at Applebee’s, all the way to people at Yvonne’s,” Maguire says, “I feel like for the first time I’m able to give back to my community—in more ways than giving them cocktails.”


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