A reliable skincare routine can do wonders for your skin — serums, creams and oils can infuse your skin with moisture, even its tone and rejuvenate its appearance.
While CBD oils are typically consumed orally, they can also be applied to your face to enhance your skin’s appearance. But, does CBD oil tighten skin? Not exactly. However, it may offer additional benefits, such as helping manage blemishes, dryness and other types of irritation.
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about CBD topical skin products and how to choose the right oil for your skin.
What Causes Fine Lines, Wrinkles and Creases?
Before we delve into the specifics of CBD, let’s first discuss some common skin issues that you may want to address. Skin aging is often a result of:
- Decreased collagen production – As you age, your body slows down its production of collagen. Collagen is the substance that plumps your skin and promotes elasticity. When your skin loses elasticity, it can start to sag. Eventually, this leads to more and more visible lines on your skin.
- Drying out of the skin – Your skin also becomes thinner and dryer as you get older. Drier skin is more prone to wrinkling than fresh, moisturized skin.
- Exposure to environmental toxins – Unfortunately, the polluted air can also contribute to fine lines and wrinkles.
- Sun damage – The sun is another potent environmental contributor to aging skin. As such, you should always wear sunscreen, limit your sun exposure and see your dermatologist regularly to monitor your skin.
- Lifestyle choices – Lastly, your lifestyle choices will etch themselves firmly in your skin. Smoking, drinking alcohol and eating a poor diet are all significant contributors to skin aging and bad health. As such, eating well, drinking in moderation and protecting your skin from the sun are critical to keeping your skin healthy.
Aging skin is a badge of honor — a physical imprint of your life. However, dry or red skin can be uncomfortable. Luckily, CBD may help to refresh your skin.
CBD and Your Skin: What You Need to Know
One step you can take to give your skin a little TLC is to incorporate CBD into your day or night skincare routine.
Let’s take a slight detour to help you understand how CBD may benefit your skin — when ingested, CBD is absorbed into the bloodstream. From there, it may support your endocannabinoid system and help maintain homeostasis by interacting with CB1 and CB2 receptors.
When topically applied, CBD isn’t absorbed into your bloodstream. Instead, it’s thought to interact with the receptors in your skin. That means topical CBD oil interacts directly with your skin to provide you with many skin-brightening benefits.
Benefits of CBD For Your Skin
Research into the specific benefits of CBD for your skin is somewhat limited. However, there is some belief that applying CBD topically to your skin may:
- Soothe your skin – Do you suffer from blemishes or uneven skin tone? CBD’s properties may help ease redness and swelling. Additionally, it’s likely that CBD oil won’t clog your pores, meaning you can apply it liberally without having to worry about blemishes.
- Moisturizing your skin – If you have very dry skin, CBD or hemp, oil might bring relief to your parched face. Hemp oil can ease some of the discomforts of dry, itchy and irritated skin. You’ll be left with fresh, hydrated and glowing skin.
How to Use CBD For Your Skin
If you’re looking to soothe and moisturize your skin with CBD oil, it’s easy to incorporate into your skincare or beauty routine. Common types of CBD products that may benefit your skin include:
- CBD moisturizers
- CBD-enhanced serums
- CBD creams
When applying a CBD product to your skin for the first time, begin by slowly adding a pea-sized amount of the new product to your skin. (You may even want to avoid your face on the first try and apply the product to your arm instead.) Additionally, limit your application to one or two times per week until your skin gets used to the product.
If your skin reacts well to CBD oil, moisturizer or serum, you can increase the amount and frequency of application.
Types of CBD For Your Skin
Skincare products that are marketed as containing CBD are made with hemp oil. There are three different types of CBD oils in commercially available products. These include:
- Full-spectrum – Full-spectrum CBD oils contain all of the naturally occurring compounds from the cannabis plant, including trace amounts of THC.
- Broad-spectrum – Broad-spectrum CBD, on the other hand, contains many naturally present cannabinoids exceptfor THC
- CBD isolate – CBD isolate is pure CBD, meaning no THC is present.
Selecting the Right CBD Product For Your Skin
So which type of CBD is best for your skin type? This depends on your specific skin care needs, but sharing a few CBD skincare tips below:
- Dry skin – A rich moisturizer containing CBD oil might be right for you. Zebra CBD Face Cream & Body Moisturizer uses only natural ingredients and hemp seed oil designed to rejuvenate and enliven dull, dry skin.
- Aging skin – As you age, your skin can become dryer, which can cause fine lines and creases. Keep your thirsty skin hydrated with a CBD-infused moisturizer to keep your skin feeling healthy and moisturized.
- Blemish-prone skin – CBD serums and lotions may aid your skin tone for healthier-looking skin. However, if your skin is prone to blemishes, you may want to consult your dermatologist before adding a new product to your routine. A heavy moisturizing day or night cream may be too rich for oily skin.
Can CBD Irritate Your Skin?
While CBD is generally well-tolerated, some people may experience irritation or other side effects from applying topical CBD products to the skin. Signs of irritation may include:
- Redness
- Rash
- Itching
Those with sensitive skin and those who are new to using CBD products may want to do a skin patch test before applying the product more liberally. To do a test, you should:
- Dab a small amount of product on your arm or in the crook of your elbow
- Cover the spot and leave it alone for up to 24 hours
- Check around the area for any itching, rash or redness
If everything looks fine, then it’s probably OK for you to use a CBD product on your skin.
If you do notice some irritation, you may need to try an alternative product. It’s also possible that the product you used contained other essential oils that may cause skin irritation, such as sunflower, peppermint, lemongrass and sandalwood oils.
How Do You Find High-Quality CBD Skincare Products?
The FDA doesn’t regulate supplements, CBD included. This means you’re on your own when it comes to ensuring that you get what you pay for when you buy CBD. That being said, there are several steps you can take to be a critical consumer of CBD products and better understand how CBD topicals work:
- Research the company’s reputation – A little old-fashioned internet sleuthing can go a long way toward discovering how others have experienced a CBD product. Look for products with consistently positive reviews and feedback.
- Read the label carefully – Does the label of the product list CBD as a primary ingredient? If so, that’s a good sign. Look for language including cannabidiol, hemp seed oil, hemp extract or one of the three specific types of CBD — full-spectrum, broad-spectrum or isolate. Furthermore, identify how the company makes its products and whether or not the CBD is tested by a third-party laboratory.
- Find the COA – A certificate of authenticity (COA) tells you that an independent third-party laboratory has analyzed the product. The COA lists the ingredients found in the product during their test. You can compare the list from the laboratory with the product label for an accuracy check. Usually, the COA is available on the company’s website or by scanning a QR code on the product’s package. When you find the COA, the items listed on it should match what the label claims are in the product.
Reveal Your Best Skin With Zebra CBD
CBD topical products and oils may help support healthy, glowing skin.
If you’re looking to invest in your skincare routine, look to Zebra CBD.
We provide CBD Moisturizing Cream with hemp extract that’s crafted to help relieve dry skin and even skin tone. In addition to hemp oil, our moisturizer is infused with safflower seed oil, avocado oil, jojoba seed oil and amaranth seed oil to rejuvenate your skin to its full potential.
Find a healthy glow with Zebra CBD.
Sources:
American Academy of Dermatology. 11 Ways to Reduce Premature Skin Aging. https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-secrets/anti-aging/reduce-premature-aging-skin
Forbes. Everything You Need to Know About CBD Skincare. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nomanazish/2020/12/30/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cbd-skincare/?sh=dc2bfe03abf4
