ProBalm
What is Probalm?
Put simply Probalm is a skin balm, made predominantly form bees wax and oils, that promotes skin recovery. In this blog post we’ll be looking at two products from Problam. The Probalm Puck and the Lipbalm stick.
Probalm Puck
This is the flagship product, the 28 gram puck comes in a very neat and nicely branded plastic case with a screw top which proves very handy to ensure you’re balm doesn’t roll around at the bottom of your kit bag and gets fluff, hair and all sorts sticking to it!
Lipbalm Stick
This is as you’ve probably already gathered a smaller amount of probalm packaged to be a chapstick for your lips. In all honesty I usually use Vaseline to protect my lips (which may not be very macho thing to admit to, but who cares in the recent spate of high winds we’ve been having!) so to gain a balanced opinion we sought out a female perspective.
She was quite sceptic to begin with, instantly stating a dislike to the smell, which is understandable to a degree as this is an all natural bees wax based product, not chemically engineered to have a specific fragrance. That being said she was very happy with the length of protection given, even lasting longer than her usual lip balms. It seemed to do the job nicely, although didn’t leave any particular taste to the lips, so a thumbs up of sorts! Next time I think I’ll get the Lipbalm as it seems to be a more macho option than the Vaseline!
What they say
ProBalm is a highly effective skin balm for people who really push their skin to the limit! It’s designed to speed up the rate of recovery of your skin by feeding it really good stuff!
The science bit
Probalm prides itself for producing a product that is 100% natural which is not always the case with such products. They go to great lengths to ensure you know exactly what goes into their product, and what benefits they provide on their site, so take a look if you’re into the science!
For the rest of us here is a quick fire list of the ingredients:
Bees Wax, Jojoba Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Comfrey Infused Almond Oil, Petitgrain EO, Patchouli EO, Tangerine EO, Black Pepper EO, Cypress EO, Vitamin E.
*NOTE the Lipbalm is a different recipe to the balm in the puck.
Who, what and where?
ProBalm are clever in not restricting the market too much by stating it’s product is for anyone who pushes their skin to the limit! But you can see from their site that they are heavily nodding towards the outdoor activity market, though doesn’t seem to be aimed at any one particular type of sport. In fact it seems they actively try to accommodate any sports be it in Air, Rock, Water or Snow.
Test results
I invited a few of Tryfan’s Blog regulars, all from varying sports, to put it through its paces.
Crossfit
“Much more effective in aiding recovery than moisturizing. Waking up the next morning my hands did feel a lot better, the calluses were not as hard and the dry skin not as bad. Pro Balm is something I will be adding to my skin care routine especially in the coming months as the rugby season comes to a close and I will be doing a lot more WODs therefore a lot more pressure on the my hands.”
Surfing
“Great to have on dry lips before and after a surf session, I even used it on my face after being out on the winters waves to help sooth my sun and wind burnt skin. Highly recommend it to any surfers out there.”
Climbing
“Using ProBalm for over a month now and my hands are in much better shape overall. Not only that but applying during a session soothes the calluses and rips no end, even prolonging my bouldering sessions!”
Hiking
“Hiking at least twice a week I’ve suffered terribly from cracked heels! Until now I’ve used a normal cream based solution with minimal results. So when I was given Pro Balm I had nothing to loose. After a few weeks application I have to say I see a marked improvement in my heel condition!”
Price
1 puck (28grams) comes in at £7.95, and a £2.60 p&p cost.
1 lip balm stick comes in at £2.85, and a £1.00 p&p cost.
In a predominantly highly priced cosmetic industry any kind of skin repair product may well set you back a few bob, but Probalm prove to be much more competitive. It’s also cost effective as you don’t need a large amount every application, thus ensuring a puck lasts you a considerable time!
Verdict
This relatively new UK based company deserves all the luck in the world, though they might not need it with such a great product, branding, and ethos. Now shipping to Japan they seem to be gaining momentum, and with a friendly and engaging Twitter presence they will soon be exporting on a larger scale I should imagine. So I urge Tryfan’s Blog readers to try them out, and remember you heard it here first!
Aknowledgments:
Weight Lifting by Scott Lewis from The Noun Project
Surfer by Luis Prado from The Noun Project
Rock Climbing by Alec Dhuse from The Noun Project
Hiker by Luis Prado from The Noun Project
Tryfan Williams
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