I’ve spoken about CBD (cannabidiol) before and since it’s become quite popular in the beauty and wellness sphere, there’s a high chance you’ve tried some products containing CBD or at least considered it.
As someone always on the look-out for easy ways to combat stress and anxiety as well as a messed-up sleep pattern (anyone else?), I thought I’d test the Pure Sport CBD 1000mg tincture and body balm over the course of two weeks.
I’m not going to go into much detail on the basics of CBD, but check out this post to find out more. The main thing to remember is that CBD doesn’t contain the part of the plant that gets you high (which is THC) so don’t worry, this isn’t drugs!
The oil tincture contains 1000mg (20% CBD) produced with MCT oil. As with all such tinctures, put a few drops under the tongue wait for 30-60 seconds and then swallow. As this is relatively strong it sounds ideal for the nighttime, which is how I will test it. If you know me, you’ll know how much I value my sleep (more than most things) and when I don’t sleep well, I don’t function well, I’m moody and irritable (so much fun for everyone). I’ve been trying some CBD tinctures before bed to see if they help so this has come in at a good time.
For the tincture, they recommend “starting with 3 drops twice per day”. As the tincture contains 20% CBD, 1-2 drops should work well for stress relief and 4-6 drops for sleep (6 drops is 30mg for this product) – this is just from my personal knowledge and research but every person is different, so start slow and see how it works for you. You can also add to your coffee, tea or smoothie. Don’t exceed 180mg per day!
There are various CBD skincare products popping up all the time, but the balm caught my eye because of the level of CBD it contains, at 1000mg it packs a punch. Way more than your standard 300mg creams from other brands.
As I train quite a lot, I’m hoping the Muscle & Joint Balm will help with my always achy muscles. As you might know from my Instagram, I’m on isotretinoin/roaccutane medication for acne, which has made my joints incredibly painful, constantly, so I really really hope this works well for me!
It contains the CBD extra, MCT Oil, Raw cacao and some other oils like peppermint, lemongrass and lavender. They recommend to apply it up to three times a day on the area of choice to help your muscles recover faster so you can continue training. This sounds perfect for me as I’m currently training a bit more (6-7 times a week) and definitely need some support on the recovery side.
The packaging is simple, all CBD tinctures come in dark glass bottles to protect the oil from the sun etc. and the balm is in a dark glass pot as well.
Once I received my parcel, I tried out the balm immediately. It was after a workout, so perfect timing. I decided to test it on half my body and see if after 14 days of testing it would be less sore. It’s such an interesting sensation – it goes hot and then cold, it feels a bit like some eucalyptus creams I occasionally use for my sore upper back. It feels soothing right away actually.
I had 6 drops of the CBD 1000mg before bed and continued to do that nightly for two weeks. I can’t be certain this worked for me, as my sleep hasn’t been the best during quarantine. Overall it seems to have helped, but perhaps I need a higher dose! I will continue to use this, but I wish it came in a bigger size. After daily use, I’ve used up 2/3 of the bottle in two weeks.
In terms of the balm; on day 3 I noticed that the right side of my body was less sore than the left one, it was very obvious that the balm has worked perfectly well! After two weeks of testing just on my right side of the body, I am certain this has helped me so much with muscle soreness and has improved my recovery. I have to admit seeing how great this worked, I’m annoyed that I didn’t apply on the left side, which is in so much pain from training! The balm is a winner for me and as you only need a very small amount, I see this product lasting me a while.
Two friends and professional athletes founded the company to help fellow athletes (and themselves!) recover faster and decrease the muscle pains that come with any workout-heavy/active lifestyle. Co-founder Grayson Hart is a rugby player and after a knee injury was relying on pain killers, but after discovering the results CBD had in reducing pain and inflammation he wanted to share with others.
They really focus on the athlete side and have done rigorous testing (Olympic standard BSCG) to ensure none of the products contain any traces of THC, which can show up in a drug test and would cause issues for an athlete. They already have quite a few athlete fans.
