CBD Balm UK | The 7 Best CBD Balm Brands Reviewed (2023)

One of the most popular of these are CBD balms, commonly used to apply CBD topically in order to treat external skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, as well as muscular aches, pains and inflammation.

Unfortunately such balms are plagued by the same copycat products and quick money making schemes as regular CBD oil, and so it’s important for potential customers to stick to the tried and true companies offering high quality products.

This can often take a lot of research and time, however, which is a luxury not everybody has.

With that in mind, we’ve put together our list of the top CBD balm brands in the UK - but first, what exactly is CBD, and why would you want it in the form of a balm?

Cannabidiol, better known as CBD, is a natural compound, one of more than 100 related compounds found in the hemp plant.

CBD has been suggested to hold potential health benefits when ingested, such as help with insomnia, or a reduction in anxiety symptoms.

It is less commonly known that studies have also hinted that CBD holds benefits when used externally. Such studies have led to CBD balms, creams and ointments growing in popularity in the UK and across the world.

These are most commonly used in an attempt to help manage chronic muscular pain, skin pain or irritation, stress, or as an anti-inflammatory, but can even be used for general skincare reasons and to prevent such issues.

While long-term research is necessary, CBD balms have been growing in popularity for a wide range of uses, and some leading brands are beginning to create CBD-based products.

Despite this, there are some less than savory companies out there offering low quality CBD balms to make a quick profit, or even worse, products that contain zero CBD. Even some of the better known companies have been found to use very small amounts of CBD simply to profit off of the name.

To help you avoid these pitfalls, we’ve put together a list of the best CBD balms and creams in the UK. These are all high quality products with high CBD content, so if you’re looking to experience genuine benefits from a CBD product and experience whether or not CBD works for you, we would advise sticking to one of the below.

Yes. While this wasn’t always the case, CBD has been legalised for use in the UK, as long as it contains less than 0.2% THC content. This limit is too low for any psychoactive effects or to be picked up on a drug test, meaning any CBD oil with zero THC or less than 0.2% will also be safe to drive or operate heavy machinery with.

Please be aware that there are countries and US states where THC is legal for recreational use. This means that if you buy a CBD product online from such a location, it may contain over 0.2% THC content. This would make it both illegal in the UK, and potentially psychoactive.

We’ve done the research so that you don’t need to!

The result is here -  our list of the top 7 CBD balms available in the UK. Everything listed here is legal, non-addictive, non-psychoactive, and made of the highest quality ingredients.

By sticking to these recommendations, you’ll ensure you get the highest quality product and avoid any potential issues down the line. Let’s jump right in:

Evopure is one of the leaders of CBD products in the UK, and the reason for this is that they are willing to go the extra mile in just about every area of their business.

All CBD in the balm comes from organically grown EU hemp. Not just that, but sustainability is prioritised from start to finish, both in regards to growing methods and in using unique CO2 extraction methods to get all of the benefits of the plant with minimal environmental damage.

Evopure’s CBD balm also uses all of the beneficial ingredients of the hemp plant - that means all 100+ cannabinoids (minus THC), terpenes, flavonoids, and vitamins and minerals. It is also blended with essential oils with anti-inflammatory effects to provide a natural cooling effect whilst supporting the health benefits provided.

Even better, Evopure’s website provides independent lab testing results for each batch, so you know exactly what’s in your bottle. Created initially as a cbd muscle balm, this product has great reviews and has worked topically for hundreds of people throughout the UK.

Customer reviews for the Relief CBD Balm are consistently good when reviewing the quality of the product, shipping & delivery and post purchase customer support. They’ve been voted the best CBD brand in the UK by the likes of Ecowatch, NetDoctor, Observer & Natural Health Woman.

If you are looking to try a topical CBD balm for complaints such as muscle pain, inflammation, skin complaints, or similar, you will struggle to find better anywhere.

Eden’s Gate is another great UK company providing CBD balm options. They offer multiple different options such as CBD eczema balm, sports relief balm or muscle & joint relief balm.

The upside of this is you can go for a balm to match your exact requirements, and while the bulk of the content will be the same, there will be some additional herbs and other ingredients thrown in to make it a little bit more personalised to your complaint.

Eden’s Gate is a little pricey compared to Evopure due to lower CBD content, and their environmental policy isn’t quite clear, knocking them into second place. Despite this, they beat most other competitors handily and are a great option for UK-based people interested in trying out CBD.

Provacan’s offering is one of the most expensive on this list, however it contains cocoa butter and beeswax, making it more of a traditional skincare product with a CBD kick, as opposed to a CBD balm first.

Regardless, this is a great option that generates fast results and is a great daily moisturiser.

If you are interested in the benefits of CBD balms to treat a specific health complaint, we would recommend sticking with one of the above options as they contain higher doses for a lower price.

However, if you want to try a smooth skin revitalising cream that also helps prevent such complaints, Provacan is an excellent solution that will leave you feeling smoother and softer in the long term.

HempTouch provides a great option for those with more sensitive skin. Free of all potential irritants and additives, their CBD skin balm is soft and gentle.

It is only available in a very small 50ml size, but does contain a wide variety of fatty acids, herbal anti-inflammatories and essential oils to increase the benefits.

This is a great option for those with dry or irritated skin, as it’s a great source of vitamin B and an effective skin moisturiser, while giving a healthy dose of CBD to help reduce any chronic pain symptoms.

One small downside is that HempTouch’s products are stored in the USA, meaning for UK customers it likely has the longest delivery time on the list. Although, as a highly rated CBD massage balm, for those looking for a gentle topical skin reliever, it is likely to be worth the wait.

Spruce’s CBD salve contains over 10x the amount of CBD that Provacan’s balm does, and is a good option for those who are experienced using CBD and looking for something a lot stronger.

Their product is organic and the company provides lab testing results, meaning you can trust the content listed is accurate.

Other ingredients such as shea butter and olive oil are used, and Spruce’s salve is a popular option for athletes with muscular aches and pains.

Endoca’s offering comes with a somewhat premium price tag, but uses 100% natural ingredients with CO2 extraction processes to back that up.

It also provides long lasting moisturising effects and a range of vitamins and minerals blended with skin health in mind, making it a nice option for those with rashes or irritable skin conditions.

A gentle, cooling CBD salve, Endoca’s balm is even suitable for infants or as a nappy rash cream. Endoca guarantees all products are vegan, cruelty free, and organic, which slots them right into this list in terms of quality.

While it can technically be used by anyone, we recommend it most highly for people with dry skin or chronic skin issues such as eczema. While this is the best option on the market for those conditions specifically, Evopure has most of the same benefits at a lower price, making it a better option for most other complaints or for general use.

The final spot on our list of the best CBD creams UK customers can buy goes to Cupid CBD.

Cupid CBD offers very affordable UK-based CBD products. They are mostly known for their vaping e-liquids, however they also offer a luxuriously smooth organic CBD balm which is just as effective and combines CBD with menthol and arnica for an immediate calming, cooling effect.

This combination gives it both fast acting results and a calming smell, ideal for settling down after a long day of exercise or physical work. It also comes in an upright pump bottle, making it easy to avoid waste.

CBD balm can be used to help manage symptoms related to a wide variety of issues, including chronic pain, arthritis and joint pain, muscle aches from illness, injury or exercise, and many more.

For a little more info on how CBD can help these conditions, continue reading:

CBD interacts with our internal endocannabinoid system in order to stimulate anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects. Endocannabinoid receptors are tiny proteins found in the brain and immune system. They receive chemical signals from different stimuli (including CBD). The endocannabinoid system helps to manage a state of balance between the other bodily systems and promote wellbeing. CBD is heavily suggested to be beneficial for this process and to help maintain homeostasis.

Studies into this interaction have found that the resulting pain relief is effective and comes with no significant side effects.

This includes chronic pain related to fibromyalgia, pain caused by cancer, neuropathic pain and more.

Everything we mentioned in the above section also applies here - however, given that CBD is also thought to hold benefits for inflammation, it is potentially even more effective for arthritis and joint pain compared to other forms of chronic pain.

In clinical trials, people who tried managing arthritis symptoms with CBD found improved sleep, pain reduction, and even anxiety reduction. This is also backed by animal trials, including one in 2011 that found CBD helped to reduce inflammation-related pain in rats.

Muscle pain can have numerous different causes, from serious pain caused by conditions like multiple sclerosis and injuries to more simple causes such as aching from a gym workout or run. CBD's interactions with the endocannabinoid system to help reduce chronic pain and inflammation are thought to be beneficial for all of these scenarios.

With that said, the bioavailability of CBD when taken orally is fairly low, suggesting it is more effective for muscle pain to apply CBD topically. This is without mentioning the other beneficial ingredients listed in the products on this page, which should work together with the topical CBD to provide noticeable benefits.

We would always recommend following the manufacturer's instructions for each product as individual formulations may require slightly different methods of application.

With that said, most topical CBD balms will work in a similar way, and should be applied to the entire painful area in a thin layer and left for at least an hour, ideally all day.

From there you can simply leave the balm to do it's work, or massage the area gently to aid absorption and pain relief. Anecdotally, many people swear that gently massaging a CBD balm into the skin increases it's benefits, although there is little evidence to support this.

However, even if the increased benefits are minimal - massage itself holds benefits for muscular pain, and it certainly isn't going to reduce results - so it's likely worth a try.

Any CBD balm that contains hempseed oil instead of CBD oil or hemp oil, is useless. Hempseed oil is a healthy cooking oil full of essential fatty acids, but doesn’t contain more than a trace of CBD and is unlikely to offer enough cannabinoids for improving health complaints or wellbeing

A product that lists “CBD isolate” as an ingredient is also best avoided. This means 100% CBD with none of the other cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenes, or vitamins and minerals that make CBD so beneficial to the endocannabinoid system. A broad spectrum CBD oil contains all of the above without any THC and therefore is much more likely to provide benefits

Rising demand and changing laws mean hemp farms are popping up all around the world and this increase is only likely to continue in the coming years. As a result, supporting a brand that prioritises ethical growth and environmental responsibility is a must.