End of the day
A slow shoulder and neck rub before bed, with the cinnamon and pine filling the room.
Traditional Chinese massage oil
Hysan Muscle Comfort Oil
活络油 · Huo Luo massage oil · also known as Huo Luo Oil
Open the cap and you'll know straight away what this is. Cinnamon, pine, a sharp hit of peppermint. Hysan Muscle Comfort Oil is a Huo Luo style oil, the sort of thing that sits in bathroom cabinets all over Hong Kong, and it comes from the same family as the old martial arts liniments.
Six botanicals, American ginseng and Chinese liquorice among them, in a 50ml bottle. You rub a little in by hand and it feels pleasantly warm. That's really all there is to it. Explore the formula
- Regular price
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£13.99 - Regular price
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£15.90 - Sale price
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£13.99
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- 5:1 strength
- DaoDi herbs
- Vegan & gluten-free
- GMP certified
- Free UK delivery £40+
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Where oils like this come from
Southern Chinese kung fu schools have kept their own rubs for centuries. The best known is Dit Da Jow, Cantonese for something like 'hit and fall wine', a herbal liniment that students massaged in after a hard session of training. Each school had its own recipe and guarded it jealously. Some still won't tell you what's in theirs.
You'll also see the phrase Tieh Ta Yao. Same idea, actually, just an older way of spelling die da in Western letters, and yao simply means medicine. So both names point back to the training hall and the bumps that came with it.
In the last century those liniments moved out of the martial arts world and into ordinary homes, mostly as oils. Huo Luo oil (活络油) became a household name in Hong Kong and across Southeast Asia. Huo luo means roughly 'quickening the network', a nod to the idea of keeping things moving through the body's channels. Hysan's oil draws on that whole lineage.
In Chinese medicine
Warming, the Chinese medicine way
Chinese medicine pictures Qi and Blood flowing round the body through channels, with a fine web of smaller branches called the luo. When you've been hunched over a laptop or out in the cold, the thinking goes, that flow gets sluggish and things feel stiff. Massage is one of the oldest ways of getting it going again.
Warmth matters a lot in this system. Cold is said to make things contract and tighten, so warming herbs like cinnamon (rou gui, which you probably have in your spice rack) have long been the natural pick for a rub. Peppermint brings a cool tingle on top, which is a nice contrast if you ask us.
Then there's the massage itself. Tui na, the Chinese style of bodywork, has always used oils and liniments to help the hands glide. A good rub with something that smells of pine and spice is half the ritual, really.
How it's used
Where it fits into your week
How people tend to use an oil like this. These are traditions and rituals we're describing, not claims about what it'll do for you.
After training
The old kung fu habit. Plenty of our customers keep a bottle in their gym bag.
In the treatment room
Massage therapists and acupuncturists like it, as it's an easy oil to work with during a session.
Cold, damp days
Our British winters, basically. A warming rub is a very traditional answer to them.
Hysan Muscle Comfort Oil is a massage oil for external use. It isn't a medicine and isn't meant to diagnose, treat or prevent any condition.
Inside the bottle · Ingredients
Six botanicals in the bottle
These are the six botanicals named on the product. We don't publish amounts for this one.
Warming botanicals
Cinnamon (Rou Gui)
Cinnamomum
Cinnamomum
Chinese White Pine (Hua Shan Song)
Pinus armandii
Pinus armandii
Cinnamon and Chinese white pine give the oil its warm, woody smell. You'll notice the pine first.
Cooling and calming
Peppermint (Bo He)
Mentha piperita
Mentha piperita
Lavender (Xun Yi Cao)
Lavandula
Lavandula
Peppermint's the tingle, lavender softens it. A good pair, those two.
Roots
American Ginseng (Xi Yang Shen)
Panax quinquefolius
Panax quinquefolius
Chinese Liquorice (Gan Cao)
Glycyrrhiza uralensis
Glycyrrhiza uralensis
American ginseng and Chinese liquorice, two roots that turn up all over Chinese herbal tradition.
How to take
How to use it
1Just a little
Tip a small amount into your palm. You honestly don't need much.
2Rub it in
Massage it into the area until it's soaked in and you can feel the warmth.
3Top up
Use it again later in the day if you like. Lots of people make it a nightly thing.
External use only. Patch test first, skip broken or irritated skin, keep it away from your eyes and wash your hands afterwards.
Choosing between them
Hysan Muscle Comfort Oil or Biofrost Cool Gel?
| Compare | Hysan Muscle Comfort Oil | Biofrost Cool Gel |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Oil, 50ml | Gel, 100ml |
| How it feels | Warming | Cooling |
| Smell | Cinnamon, pine and peppermint | Menthol and eucalyptus |
| Roots in | Dit Da Jow and Huo Luo oil | Mint and menthol rubs |
| Often chosen for | A slow, warm massage | A quick, fresh cool-down |
What does it smell like?
Like a Christmas walk in a pine wood, honestly, if someone had dropped a mint in their pocket. There's lavender in there too if you sniff hard. Strong-ish, but you won't clear the room.
Is this the same as Dit Da Jow?
Not quite. Dit Da Jow is traditionally a herbal tincture steeped in alcohol, and every kung fu school had its own. This is an oil in the Huo Luo style, which grew out of the same tradition.
Can I use it every day?
Sure. Loads of our regulars rub a bit in every night before bed, and a little goes a long way with this stuff.
I've got sensitive skin. Is it OK?
Try a patch test first, a dab on your inner arm, and wait a day. Cinnamon and peppermint can be a bit lively on some skin, so if it goes red or itchy, wash it off and don't use it again.
Anything else I should know before using it?
Only on the outside of the body, and never on broken skin or near your eyes. Wash your hands after. It isn't for babies or young children. If you're pregnant, breastfeeding or have a skin condition, have a word with your GP or pharmacist first.
Oil or the Biofrost gel?
Honestly, it comes down to whether you like warm or cool. This one's the warming rub for a proper massage, while Biofrost is a cold, quick gel. Some customers keep both.
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For external use only. Do not apply to broken or irritated skin. Patch test before first use. Keep away from eyes and wash hands after use. Stop using if irritation occurs. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or under medical supervision, speak to your GP before use. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.