Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Trind Nail Balsam

A while ago, I was given a bottle of Trind Nail Balsam to review.  Before I go into that, I'd like to say a few words about the company.  I first heard of Trind from one of my readers about 8 months ago, which prompted some late night searching for nail care stuff and beyond.  I must say after many months of communication with the company and the president (US Chapter, Trind Nail & Hand Corp), I have nothing but utter respect and admiration for their products and philosophies on nail care.  I have had amazing conversations with the president and find myself totally smitten with his knowledge, commitment and passion.  I have so much love for nail care that meeting someone with the same passion is enthralling.

I first became interested in the Trind Nail Balsam after reading that it was a moisturizing product you could apply right before nail polish.  This is a bit surprising because normally we aim to remove dirt, oil and other grime from the nail surface before polish application to get the best polish wear.  I was a bit skeptical, yet not totally enraged because after all I put glycerin in my acetone and don't have much problem with polish wear. 

~$13-19 for 0.3oz/9mL

The consumer website can be found here.
















How I use it:
The product comes with a brush.  The Balsam smells flowery and fresh; it has hints of the perfume Sun Moon Stars ... to me.  At first I noticed the scent a lot, then I guess I got immune.












I shake the product well, then apply a thin layer to each nail.

I have gotten quite good at taking pictures with my chest and chin no?










Allow the product to soak in for about 2 minutes.  It will look wet.  Sorry my nails are a bit yellow; that situation was remedied here.



I massage any excess into the nail and cuticle.  The product penetrates really well and leaves the nail and skin nicely hydrated.






The nail surface does not feel sticky or dirty, just hydrated.

Now I am all ready for base coat and polish without having to further prep the nail with alcohol or acetone!




In terms of polish wear ...
I don't remember ever having any problems with polish wear.  As an example, I remember wearing

China Glaze - Stella

for about a week while I was at a conference and it looked flawless.



This product does not contain oil which probably helps with proper polish adhesion. 


So what makes this stuff so special?  A few key ingredients:

Liposomes!
I don't know about you, but I first heard of liposomes when I discovered Prostrong.  They had a moisturizing product they included with the accelerator that was pretty great.  Later they made it pink (using Red 33) which I have an allergy to and our relationship ended real fast.

Liposomes are really neat little things you can read about here.  Simply speaking they are fatty sacks filled with, well with whatever you want to fill them.  They can vary in size. 

What is most important is not that this product contains liposomes, because many do, but about the quality and quantity of  the liposomes.  You can be sure you are getting high quality liposomes that allow moisturizing ingredients to penetrate the nails and provide real moisture.

Biotin:
Normally we are accustomed to hearing about biotin as a vitamin/supplement taken internally.  It is metabolized by the body and delivered ... well everywhere.  However, in this product the chemists have specifically formulated it to stay on the nail.  An exact amount is stabilized and its delivery is controlled on the nail bed.  Does that mean no pimples?!?  That could be a plus.

Allantoin:
I love this stuff as I have mentioned in this post.  It has the capacity to increase the hydration levels in the skin and has exfoliating properties.  Read this if you want more info.

Panthenol:
Simply speaking, this is a moisturizer.  More fancy ... this is a provitamin of B5.  It can absorb water from the air and is an emollient. 

Phytantriol:
Helps retain the moisture in the nail bed.


Overall thoughts: 
What a great little product!!  The winter months bring me a lot of trouble with dry skin and nails.  I need all the help I can get in the cold weather.  You can be sure I will continue to grease up my cuticles extra hard with oils and balms while I'm wearing polish and apply this Balsam under new manicures.  *Don't forget to wear gloves when it gets cold outside to protect your nails from the lower temperatures and wind!*

Trind has many other fantastic high quality products from nail hardeners to nail colors.  Solveig from Nailin' It! has had fantastic results with Trind Nail Repair.  Have you tried any of the Trind products? Thoughts?

*This product was provided by the company for review*

40 comments:

  1. Oooh, interesting - and like a magpie I am drawn to the packaging. I remember how much Solveig liked the Nail Repair, too.

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  2. Never tried this brand, but according to the website they can be found at Sephora here in Italy, I may give the Nail Balsam a try (I love hydrating products)!

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  3. Yay, I'm mentioned by loodie! *jumps* :D
    I've never tried the balsam before, but scent of Sun Moon Stars sounds delicious!
    Trind Nail Repair is my holy grail treatment, my nails are stronger than ever! :D

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  4. I love how moisturized your nails look after soaking the balsam in for two minutes!

    I've never tried anything from Trind, but I'll be sure to take a closer look at some of their products next time I visit the grocery store.

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  5. I love that you love it, basically if you love it, I'm sure I will as well!

    I think I'm definitely going to try this product out sometime!

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  6. Hmm, very interesting! Just cause you like....means I want to try it! Awesome review!

    And uh....CG Stella looks effing gorgeous on you!

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  7. I fell in love once again with Stella after this post! I know it's not the subject but I couldn't help!

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  8. Delurking to proclaim my love for Trind. The nail repair is my HG base coat - and has totally transformed my nails!

    I also love the nail balsam and the cuticle balsam - super hydrating and non greasy.

    I wish I could remember which nail blogger turned me on to the wonders of Trind - but it totally escapes me.

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  9. You're welcome Loodie-I know I'm your secret reader who told you about this!! Am glad you agree with me about this stuff! It's THE product that has made my nails grow-so much so that I started my blog because of it. I swear by this balsam and the nail repair. I have used it faithfully for over 2.5 yrs now. I will never go without ever again!!! XOXOXOX

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  10. This product sounds amazing. I use your glycerin/water/acetone recipe for polish removal, wash my hands, and then moisturize like crazy. I then carefully 'clean' just my nails with q-tips dipped in pure acetone, making sure not to touch my moisturized skin or cuticles. My skin and cuticles get lots of moisturizing love...but what about my nails? I wear polish 24/7 so I always wondered, how can I truly moisturize my actual nails? This product seems to be the answer I've been looking for. I am so excited to try it! Thank you so much for this awesome review! <3

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  11. This sounds great! If you recommend it, I'll try it.

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  12. This is amazing! Winter in Montreal can be positively brutal: if the cold doesn't suck out out all your moisture, electric heating indoors will take care of any last remaining ounces of liquid in your body, so I really love the sound of this product....going to check it out right now!

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  13. I'd like to try this. I think sometimes my nails get brittle and I suffer with breaks.

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  14. hmmm, wonder if it will help with crazy Montana weather wear...my cuticles and nails are better, but still would love to have nails that don't feel like they could break at a moment's notice...

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  15. Here in Sweden we have a nail oil and the company says that you should put it on before polish, if the nail is hydrated it'll not be yellow from the polish...I don't see the diffrence between this special oil and others, so nowdays I always put oil on, let it sink it, just wipes of with paper after some minutes and then apply polish, works just fine!

    I´ve triend trind nail balsam, and also the cuticle balsam, they are nice!

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  16. This stuff looks AWESOME!!! I would like to try it! BTW your nails are so beautiful!!! **Hugggggssssss***

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  17. @Deborah and Landa - Thanks! :D <33

    @Nicole - The bottle is really pretty. My only complaint is that she can't stand up in my Helmer. She's constantly on her back ... whoe.

    @maisenzasmalto - Oh that's great! You can play with it before you buy it, yea! I hear you can ask Sephora for samples, maybe they will allow you to take a bit home.

    @Solveig - It's my freaking pleasure. I love you forever :D

    @Chaosophia - I'm a bit jealous that you can get it so easily, that's awesome!

    @Elizabeth Life and Polish - :D I am sure you will love it as well.

    @Crystal - I know, I was as well.

    @Angie - <3 I love Stella too, she is so alluring and glowy from within. Even better in real life!

    @Simona - I totally understand. She is gorgeous. My pictures don't do it justice!

    @lishlash - Yay! Thanks for de-lurking!! :D I love that you love it as much as I do.

    @Fingers - Doh! You're not my secret reader but you are my secret lover, LOL. I am stoked you love it as much as I do.

    @I Drink Nail Polish - And it doesn't interfere with polish which is great!

    @Sinead - Your nails will love the extra moisture!

    @ommorphiabeautybar.com - It is so soothing and kicks dryness in the butt!

    @Ms. Lizard - oh the dreaded brittleness. I hope this will help you gain extra flexibility.

    @Camilla - That's great and interesting. Do you know what oil is in that product?

    @Arlyn - It IS! Thank you, you are not too shabby yourself! ;)

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  18. I wish I could, but Italian Sephora shops are not really sample-friendly (at least not the ones I visited so far :-P ).

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  19. so interesting and awesome i never knew there was such a thing existed thanks for sharing.

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  20. maisenzasmalto - Darn! You must come to the US ;)

    ♥beauxs mom - :D

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  21. It´s sesame oil with lavendel and myrrh volatile oil in that special oil and it´s called Scratch nail food! =)

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  22. I'm using this probably 2 years. And it's absolutely awesome. One of my favourite products... :)

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  23. So would you say that the nail repair and the Balsam would compliment each other? Since the repair contains formaldehyde and can dry you out or make you brittle, this would help keep it moist and supple?

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  24. Great Question Precious! Yes, the two products work synergistically but not because of the formaldehyde present in the Nail Repair.

    There is a trace amount of Formaldehyde used in the Trind Nail Repair which will not dry out your nails. Products that over-use formaldehyde will dry your nail plate by becoming over reactive with the protien in your nail plate by glueing the nail plate layers togethe. Between the layers is where nail moisture is supposed to be present! Not with Trind Nail Repair! It maintains the integrety of the nail plate so you can maintain moisture between the layers

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  25. Could I use the Trind balsam before I shellac my nails? I know that shellac's system has users wipe down their nail beds with scrub fresh to dry out and cleans the nail bed but I feel like this is so drying. I would love to try the Trind and then use the shellac. Has anyone tried it yet?

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  26. Or has anyone tried using both the Trind Balsam and the Trind repair and after it dries thoroughly applying the complete shellac manicure?

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  27. Actually, Trind Nail Repair ruined my nails. They were so peely and brittle I had to file them down to the quick. What happened was that they gave several of us a duo pack with the balsam and nail repair in it and we had to use only these products every day for two weeks. The nail repair doesn't soak into your nails, in fact it looks like a fabulously shiny top coat on your nails. Anyway, they recommend that you remove it with polish remover and reapply (using the balsam first) and I think it was the over use of remover and too much formaldehyde that did it. I wasn't the only one, several of the other women said that their nails were brittle, peeling, and cracking too. I'm not saying the product is bad, but I don't think it should be used every day, maybe only 2-3 times a week, eventually only 1 time a week once the formaldehyde strengthens your nails enough. And the balsam is an awesome product in it's own right.

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  28. Well, I've been using the whole Trind system and I am completely smitten. In fact, my nails are so long, it's difficult to type this. I tried the Trind system after reading about the nail balsalm from Loodie and I could just kiss her! The whites of my nails are super white and I just apply a light coat of pink and voila, a French manicure without the hassle. Soooooooo many people have complimented me about my nails! So, in a nutshell, I don't ever want to be without this product. And I've tried them all...Isomers, Ask Cosmetics, Flexinail, NailTek, Perfect Formula, ProStrong.....

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  29. Hi Loodie, aside from liposome, the other ingredients sound a lot like many 'treatment' base coat, e.g. butter London's Horse power and Mavala's Barrier base. I am a bit unsure how liposome can retain moisture (as fatty sac) and 'release' moisture onto keratinized epithelial cells of the nail plate.
    Great post btw, just started reading and I'm sure I'll read through all of them. xx Ann

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  30. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  31. I have used Trind for a while now & really love what it does for my nails. There is formaldehyde in the Trind Nail Repair. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen but I wonder if the amount in the nail repair is harmful? Did you discuss this with the Trind president? Love my nails but want it to be safe for my body!

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  32. hi guys, i have used trind for about ten years, and though i will admit that 1. it works and 2. it works like nothing else ever has, it also; 1. sometimes gets so thick that it wont ever dry and doesn't respond well to thinners,2.when it's applied too thick or too many coats burns like a thousand suns and 3. perhaps caused my (and my stepmoms) reynauds syndrome, where the ends of my fingers go pure white at the slightest cold (winter, cold drink, sometimes even cold paper) and feel pins and needles and can only be warmed by hot water or a portable heater. it's strange that my step mom (who turned me on to trind) also developed this condition? have any of you experienced this? so now i don't use it unless i have really bad nails and/or i only use a thin coating of the nail repair. the balsam doesn't seem to be a factor. (but really? who knows!) but literally i still use it because it's so amazing. i look like french manicure all the time. people comment on how nice my nails are.
    i'd love to hear your follow up on this stuff!

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