Could Cannabis Be The Beauty Industry’s Next “It” Ingredient? CBD For Life Is Banking On It!
As legislators continue to squabble over the prospect of legalizing marijuana not just for medicinal purposes but also for recreational usage, cannabis has quietly made its way into the beauty business — and yes, the hemp-infused products beginning to gather buzz are completely legal. How so? Technically, only a few states allow the cultivation of hemp (fibre-type cannabis) or marijuana (drug-type cannabis) and, even in cases where growing weed is legal, the regulations vary from one area to the next and are riddled with technicalities that can make any grower’s life nightmarish. But here’s what’s fascinating: while growing cannabis in the US (even hemp) is, for all intents and purposes, forbidden, it’s perfectly legal to import hemp products (importing marijuana, on the other hand, is completely illegal). Countries like China, Chile, and Canada all produce large quantities of hemp that is, in turn, imported into the States. Now, beauty companies like CBD For Life are focusing on sourcing a specific hemp-derived substance: CBD, the primary cannabinoid found in fibre-type cannabis (otherwise known as hemp), which research suggests has beneficial properties ranging from anti-proliferation of cancer cells to anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-anxiety effects. In order to create its soothing beauty and pain-relieving products, CBD For Life sources CBD from Germany using a proprietary method whereby the substance is extracted from the stems and stalks of industrial hemp, thereby yielding a 99% pure CBD extract with a THC level under 0.3%. According to current guidelines, sourcing CBD directly from other hemp-growing countries is perfectly legal — as long as the THC level remains under that 0.3% mark.
So now that we’ve gotten through the whole legality issue and established that, yes, you can in fact use hemp-infused lotions and cleansers without fear of the DEA coming after you, it’s time to talk about product formulations and performance. CBD For Life actually specializes in two product realms: pain relief and skin care. In the pain relief realm, the company offers an array of products including: its Pure CBD Rub, a salve-like substance made using beeswax, camphor, menthol, eucalyptus oil, mint oil, clove oil, lanolin, cassia oil, and CBD that’s designed to soothe body aches and muscle pains; its CBD For Life Menthol Camphor Pain Relief Spray, a topical analgesic that soothes sore muscles, suppresses itching, and relieves pain stemming from bruises, scrapes, cuts, insect bites, and minor burns thanks to a combination of camphor, menthol, eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, lidocaine (a numbing medication), and aloe vera; and its Pure CBD Oral Spray, which is designed to help ease anxiety.
Now, out of the aforementioned products, I really enjoyed the Pure CBD Rub, which I used after a grueling workout session left my legs and arms in agony. Here’s what the CBD For Life Pure CBD Rub in Lemongrass ($16 at CBDforLife.us) looks like:
It proved even more efficient than Icy Hot (my go-to when I have muscle pain), and while it was a bit stickier than Icy-Hot, it wasn’t too viscous. Also, the Lemongrass version of the rub had a much more pleasant fragrance than Tiger Balm or Icy Hat, which is always a plus!
I did not, however, care for the Pure CBD Oral Spray. The idea of spraying CBD directly into my mouth felt a little like eating the “special cupcakes” in Smiley Face (minus the baked goodness, of course). And, while I certainly wasn’t speaking to an imaginary smiley face in the sky or having a conversation with an omnipresent Roscoe Lee Browne while on a Ferris wheel, I just didn’t like the idea of ingesting anything with a degree of THC — however low that concentration might be. Moreover, spritzing anything under my tongue isn’t a pleasant sensation, one of the many reasons why I don’t use breath sprays (gum and mints are more my jam).
In the beauty department, CBD For Life offers: a Pure CBD Face & Body Cleanser, a Pure CBD Face Cream, a Pure CBD Eye Serum, a Pure CBD Lip Balm, a Pure CBD Body & Massage Lotion, and a Pure CBD Foot Cream.
Out of all these, the standout product is the foot cream, a really rich and indulgent lotion featuring CBD extract, coconut oil, apricot kernel oil, safflower seed oil, jojoba oil, peppermint oil, arnica extract, and aloe vera leaf juice. Here’s what the CBD For Life Pure CBD Foot Cream ($19.99 at CBDForLife.us)looks like:
What I love most about this cream is that it hydrates feet, softening any rough and callused areas, while also helping to soothe any pain. Those of us who spend so much time in heels that we’re practically stilt walkers know that, all those stilettos and platforms can lead to sore ankles, bruised toes, and a throbbing pain along the balls of the feet. This cream makes all that discomfort ebb away and, once the product is fully absorbed, feet feel nice and smooth. I’ve applied the foot cream on a nightly basis and have been blown away by how much it’s helped not only in terms of staving off cracked heels and ashiness, but also in terms of reducing swelling whenever I’ve endured a minor sprain and relieving any impact-related stress along different areas of my feet. Moreover, the cream doesn’t smell like a Cheech & Chong van — instead it has a minty and green aroma that’s fresh and invigorating. It’s one of the best foot creams I’ve tried in recent history — if not ever.
Another star product in the line is the Pure CBD Hand & Body Massage Lotion ($22.99 at CBDforlife.us), shown below, which I’d recommend as a hand cream since it’s rather rich and should be used for areas that are prone to dehydration. Like the foot cream, this lotion contains coconut oil, CBD, safflower seed oil, aloe leaf juice, apricot kernel oil, arnica extract, and jojoba seed oil, but it also contains lemon peel oil, which has astringent properties and is also known to help brighten the skin thanks to its vitamin C content. The CBD in the formula, meanwhile, is said to help the body produce essential fatty acid lipids that, in turn, help to tackle everything from eczema to psoriasis. Now, as a hand cream, I was pretty pleased with this product, but I can’t say I’d ever use it to moisturize my entire body since it doesn’t contain a lot of the rich and indulgent ingredients I covet in lotions and body butters (shea butter, argan oil, olive oil, cupuaçu butter, mango seed butter, and soybean oil among them), and it doesn’t have the luxurious sensory qualities of a Korres, Pacifica, L’Occitane, or Kiehl’s lotion or a Jurlique, Tata Harper, or Tammy Fender body oil. Still, as a hand cream, it did the trick — especially when I applied it and then placed my hands inside cotton gloves for a more long-lasting treatment.
The one product I really avidly and fervently disliked was the CBD For Life Pure CBD Face & Body Cleanser ($16.99 at CBDForLife.us), shown below.
I started out using it as a body cleanser and, luckily, I never applied to to my face or I would’ve been even more displeased. See, my first impression of this cleanser was a positive one: it didn’t smell too crunchy-granola (again, the smell of eucalyptus and peppermint are the most discernible) and the texture was lightweight and gel-like. As I smoothed the cleanser onto my damp skin, however, I started feeling sticky all over. I figured that, once I rinsed, the sensation would vanish and yet it never did! No matter how many times I rinsed my skin, it still felt like I had this gooey, gummy, sticky coating atop it. At one point, I was so frustrated I reached for another cleanser, thinking I could shower yet again and finally remove any trace of the cleanser but, no matter what, I couldn’t shake that irksome sensation. Funny enough, a day or so later my husband asked, “What is in that shower stuff you have there? I used some and I feel dirtier than I did before showering.” As it turns out, he’d experienced the exact same sensation. Both of us had used this cleanser and wound up feeling like we were slime-covered slugs. Ironically, the cleanser contains willow bark extract, a natural source of salicylic acid that, in turn, helps to facilitate the skin’s exfoliation process and stimulate cellular regeneration. After using, however, it didn’t feel like we’d polished off any dead surface skin cells — it felt like we’d draped ourselves in Crisco. Remember that sticky and revolting goo covering Jeff Goldblum in The Fly as he transformed into the winged insect? That’s what I felt like after using this cleanser!
Moving on to the products meant for the visage, none of them blew me away, but they performed adequately enough. The Pure CBD Face Cream ($34.99 at CBDForLife.us) contains softening and moisturizing ingredients like olive oil and soybean oil; avocado extract, which is rich in fatty acids and known to have superior anti-aging properties; soothing cucumber, aloe, and lavender extracts; licorice root extract, which fights hyperpigmentation and helps to produce a more even skin tone; lemon, orange, and lime peel extracts that work as anti-bacterials while also brightening the skin; and hyaluronic acid, which draws moisture from the environment and binds it to the skin, immediately plumping its surface and minimizing the appearance of wrinkles while also creating a hydration reservoir. Is it my favorite face cream? Not at all. But it’s perfectly acceptable. My one caveat: the cream contains retinol which has amazing anti-aging benefits but which can also increase the skin’s sensitivity to the sun, so it’s important to use a sunscreen religiously while moisturizing with this cream.
Similarly, the Pure CBD Eye Serum ($32.99 at CBDforlife.us), shown below, didn’t do much in terms of eradicating any fine lines or banishing dark under-eye circles, but it did help a great deal with puffiness.
The lightweight, gel-like serum literally feels like a drop of aloe and it contains many of the same ingredients found in the face cream, among them olive oil, avocado oil, grape seed extract, rice bran oil, cucumber extract, licorice root extract, orange peel extract, lemon peel extract, lavender extract, and soybean oil. That said, the serum contains coffee seed extract, which is great at stimulating circulation, eliminating any swelling resulting from water accumulation or pooled-up blood. Moreover, the CBD in the formula also helps to alleviate any puffiness so, when it comes to getting rid of the bags under your eyes, this serum will get you on the right track. The only thing that might make it even more effective in reducing puffiness would be if it came packaged in a tube with a rollerball tip that could cool and massage the area while stimulating blood flow.
Overall, while I didn’t love every single product in the line, I had extremely positive experiences with the CBD For Life Pure CBD Rub, the Pure CBD Foot Cream (seriously one of the best I’ve tried in years!), the Pure CBD Hand & Body Massage Lotion, and the Pure CBD Eye Serum. When I think about it from a scientific stance, it makes perfect sense that these products would perform so well — after all, research has shown that CBD is particularly helpful in reducing pain, inflammation, and swelling, and in increasing blood flow, and these are the properties that are most valued in terms of these products’ efficacy.
I see a lot of potential for this line and, moreover, for CBD-based skincare, bath and body, and muscle relief products as a whole, so it will be fascinating to see what transpires in the next few years!
