Herbie My (New) Love
Art By Lindsey Gunter
All Photos Courtesy of Reviewer
I like to think I’m an active person, at least four days out of the week. I take my self-care seriously, and one constant ordeal is tight muscles. One day, while doom scrolling on LinkedIn, I came across a post featuring Herbie Pain Balm. I knew right then and there, there wasn't a doubt in my mind, I wanted to get my hands on it. Or more like get it on me!
Who is Herbie?
Herbie is a family-owned business located in California. If I had to pick one word to describe them it's Compassion. Compassion for others. Compassion for yourself. They strive to make a positive impact on the world through self-care, “we must take care of ourselves first and foremost.” They spread that love by sourcing high-quality ingredients. They also ensure those they purchase from don't use pesticides. You can read more about them here.
Setting the Bar High
When you become active and start to challenge your fitness you find the "weak links" in your body. After working out my back becomes so uncomfortably tight that it causes headaches, neck pain, and cramps. I love topicals for muscle recovery post-workout for this reason. I have found that it is a critical key in my recovery. I truly don't feel the same without it.
Although I have so many lotions, potions, rubs, and balms I am still kind of picky about my topicals, since I use them multiple times a week. In fact, I even have a checklist of things I assess anytime I'm trying a new topical.
Find my go-to list below:
How does it smell? For example, I don't love when the menthol is so strong it burns my eyes (which has happened). I want to smell like me, not overwhelmingly like a pain relief product.
Does it absorb into my skin? I don't want to ruin my clothes, even for the sake of pain relief.
How quickly does it work? Most of the time when I use a topical I want relief sooner rather than later.
Does it actually work? I have had plenty of products that just don't do it for me. When I reach for pain relief I need to know I can count on it to be consistent.
Sweet Relief
I had a handful of tests in mind to see how well it fits into my life.
‘Ya girl loves a massage, and luckily I got someone to do it for me. My partner covered my back from neck to tailbone and just let it soak in to help my back calm down. After a few minutes, my back just melted. I wasn't numb, but for once there wasn't a single ache, pain, nor tight muscle. Once my partner came back around to massage me, it felt like my muscles had turned to butter. Even in the spots that were tender before were much less sensitive. If you told me this balm was actually a people tenderizer, I'd believe you.
The next way I really wanted to test this out was on the days I work out as a recovery option. I showered and had my partner help apply a “reasonable” amount to my neck, back, glutes/hip, and calves. I work out intensely 4 days a week in the mornings, so I applied this for all 4 days following my routine. I could feel the pressure building like my spine wanted to move, but my muscles were so rigid that it couldn’t. The reason I say this is because within about a minute of application of Herbie, my back started to relax. Two minutes after applying, everything from neck down to my hips had popped, releasing all that pressure.
Flex on
I wanted to additionally see if it could assist my stretches and help me get deeper. I have applied this product regularly for about a week at the point of writing this. I took note of how far I could get in my favorite stretches and I did notice a difference, although a small one. I wouldn't say it helped with flexibility per say, but it did help the muscles relax and accept the stretch rather than fight it.
I've mentioned my back a thousand times already, but it's been a huge issue and there are stretches I couldn't do because they caused back pain and sciatic nerve pain. But using this regularly has kept that pain at bay, allowing a fuller, less painful range of motion in general.
Did Herbie Deliver?
Let's talk a little about those points I mentioned earlier. How does it smell? I am so happy to say the smell is pleasant and once it settles in you don't notice any intense smell. Does it absorb into my skin? Yes 100%! I was surprised how well and how quickly it absorbed. I was able to get dressed almost immediately after and had no sticky residue. Bonus points for the fact it didn't break me out either which is another common problem I have with topicals. Does it work & how quickly? This may vary from person to person but I found it worked in about one to two minutes. It was consistent every time I applied the product I knew it would take effect quickly and last for a long time.
If you can't tell by now I absolutely fell in love with this product. It fits into my life perfectly, as well as being small and easy to take with me wherever I go. I am going to shed a few tears when I run out but I suppose that's a good thing. Herbie hit it out of the park with this product. I can't recommend it enough.
Stay Happy, Healthy & High!
