I've used this stuff for over 30 years.

The first time I bought any, at a frightfully posh department store now long closed down in Bradford, there was a hunky, rugged-looking man in front of me buying 6 tubes. I couldn't resist asking him why he needed so many, and he said he was a mountaineer. All his fellow climbers used it apparently as it's so good for lubricating the skin and keeping severe weather damage at bay.

It is very thick and does not smell like a 'cosmetic' but I think it's pure lanolin(?? might be wrong about that). I use it on my lips, on hangnails and also once on a scald (from my steam iron) where it worked miracles.