Another Old Munki Guest Post – This time reviewing Pro Balm

As an Old Munki I have to take care of myself a bit more now. I’m sure all the Old Munkis out there will appreciate, that your skin can take a battering and is less resilient as you get older. I have been using various hand balms to stop the skin on my hands from tearing and breaking. So I was really pleased when I got the opportunity to do a pro balm review. It may seem a bit extreme but with weight lifting and the callouses, I get on the palms of my hands. Along with playing spider guard with my Brazilian jiu jitsu and the knuckles getting scraped. My Old Munki hands take a battering.

I have been using a particular brand of hand balm recently. It seems to do the job pretty well and not smell too bad either. I have found it interesting seeing the differences between the two products, whilst I have been using Pro Balm.

Pro Balm’s main market appears to be rock climbers, but their products are good for anyone who’s sport or in fact, job, gives their hands a hard time. One of the unique things about this product is, it is sold as a “puck” in a tin. So instead of having to scrape out too much or too little of your balm to use, which I have found to be a problem. You can start rubbing it between your hands straight away, almost like a bar of soap. I liked this way of applying the balm because it meant I could judge better how much I was applying. This might seem a small problem, but it is a point in Pro Balm’s favour.

Another really good point are the ingredients, all natural and all with a purpose. I really do like it when I know what I am using has a positive purpose and is genuinely good for me. I do try to get away from using products that contain stuff like parabens, and SLS.  The healing and nourishing that this product was supposed to deliver were backed up by every ingredient. The ingredient list can be found here. From the beeswax to the vitamin E all good and natural things for your skin.

The Pro Balm itself has beeswax, jojoba oil and grapeseed oil as its base, so you don’t actually have to use that much to get good coverage. On my skin, it initially took a little while to work its way into the skin. I put this down to applying the same amount as I had used of my previous hand balms and when I reduced the amount, it was fine. Mrs Munki tried it, it worked into her skin a lot quicker than mine too. After this, I would say be sparing with the application and build up if you need more.

One thing I also noticed was that some of the ingredients, black pepper oil, tangerine oil and cypress oil have a mild antibacterial effect. With cleanliness being a big thing in Brazilian jiu jitsu due to the amount of close contact, anything with a natural antibacterial effect is beneficial.

The smell of the balm on the skin was pretty nice too. I would say it is was a gender neutral smell, which I liked. Sometimes hand balms can be a little too flowery, probably because of their standard target market. So this was a definitely pleasant surprise for me.

Over the period I have been using Pro Balm, it has had a great effect on my hands. I don’t have to put as much on as other products, mainly one application has seen a great improvement in the condition of my skin. Also by keeping my hand skin pliable it actually reduces the impact my activities have on my knuckles and palms. Plus the act of rubbing the balm into my skin means I can massage out some of the stiffness I get as well. So it has helped with other hand problems I suffer with too.

Overall I would say this is a good product that you only have to use sparingly, which from a value for money perspective is brilliant. It smells good and does what it says on the tin, literally “it heals and nourishes”. If you do any type of sport that has an impact on your hands, I would definitely recommend that you try Pro Balm. You can find their website here and they sell both online and with local stockist too.