Is your standard drugstore body lotion just not cutting it? CBD is the newest skincare ingredient on the block to give you more bang for your buck, body-wide.
CBD is proving to be incredibly useful when applied on the skin for helping to support physical discomfort due to its interaction with the body's endocannabinoid system. However, before adding any CBD product to your cart, remember not all CBD lotions are made equal.
In this article, we'll go over everything you need to know about CBD lotion benefits, how to shop for a high-quality product, and how to use it.
What is CBD Lotion?
CBD lotions fall under the umbrella of topical CBD products, including lip balms, salves, creams, and massage oils. Each topical CBD product will have its targeted use, depending on the formula helping it to serve a specific function.
CBD lotions are generally designed for full-body moisturizing, as lotion-based formulas tend to cover large surface areas and leave a light, non-greasy finish.
Depending on the formula, CBD body lotions can cover a wide range of uses from supporting sensitive skin to healthy inflammatory function.
How Does Topical CBD Work?
To understand how CBD works, we need to get to know the endocannabinoid system (ECS).
The endocannabinoid system has the word "cannabinoid" in its name because cannabis helped with its discovery. It turns out, plant-based cannabinoids such as CBD, CBN, CBG, and even THC behave similarly to neurotransmitters that relay messages in the ECS, the endogenous cannabinoids.
The ECS plays an important role in regulating homeostasis (balance) of nervous and immune function. This system consists of three major components:
You can find key members of the ECS (anandamide, CB1 and CB2 receptors, and enzymes) in the brain, reproductive organs, connective tissues, and skin tissues. Therefore, when you apply a CBD product topically, you're activating the ECS directly in the skin.
CBD raises the amount of internally produced cannabinoids and facilitates the binding to receptors. Additionally, CBD blocks the enzymes that breakdown the cannabinoids, keeping them active in the system longer [1]. By using CBD on the skin, it can help to support skin irritation, discomfort, and a normal recovery response where CBD is applied. It performs a wide range of functions from helping to protect us from our environment, hormone regulation, thermoregulation, and informational transmission to the nervous and immune systems [2].
The benefits of CBD on the skin are gentle yet effective to suit a wide range of concerns and extremely user friendly. Simply massage the CBD salve, cream, or oil into the skin and allow its effects to take place alongside skin-nourishing ingredients.
Top 5 Reasons You Should Be Using CBD Lotion
1. Hydrate Dry Skin
There's no one cause for dry skin. It can be the result of dehydration, an arid climate, showering in extremely hot water, or irritating skin products.
Other times, dry skin is a symptom of a condition, which can be painful and frustrating to solve. CBD lotion combined with skin-conditioning ingredients rich in essential fatty acids is one of the best ways to gently rehydrate itchy, reddened skin.
If you live in a dry climate or are prone to dry skin, a lotion with ingredients that help protect your skin's natural barrier should be part of your daily routine. Add in a healthy amount of CBD to the formula, and you've got a product with the extra benefits of supporting your ECS for longer-lasting effects.
2. Support Physical Discomfort
Many people have been turning to CBD products to ease physical discomfort naturally. Rather than fussing with doses for CBD oil or capsules, CBD lotion can provide you with the same support directly at the source of soreness.
One of the benefits of applying CBD topically is that it can exert effects right on site due to the many ECS receptors found in the skin, making it perfect for supporting joint mobility and a normal recovery response from strenuous physical activity.
The best way to apply CBD infused lotions is to massage it into the skin for improved absorption of the active ingredients. Additionally, a gentle massage can help to support healthy circulation, aches, and relaxation, which can go a long way for improving physical discomfort and stress.
3. Replenish Sun-Kissed Skin
Prolonged sun exposure can damage the skin's outer layers by depleting the skin's natural supply of oils and burning skin cells, which can be irritating, uncomfortable, and ultimately, dangerous. The body reacts to this trauma by increasing blood supply to the burned areas to start the healing process. The rush of blood coming up to the surface of the skin can make your skin hot to the touch and red.
While the damage of sun exposure will heal with time, you can apply CBD lotion to your burn to make the healing process more comfortable.CBD has been shown to support health inflammatory function, and the nourishing ingredients found in lotions, such as vegetable glycerin, jojoba oil, and calendula oil, may help to replenish overly sun-kissed skin.
Additionally, CBD has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties that may help with supporting the skin's healing process.
4. Support Clear Skin
CBD may be useful for supporting happy, clear skin through several mechanisms.
Breakouts occur when sebum and dead skin cells clog hair follicles. An imbalance of hormones is one of the main reasons for excessive sebum production, allowing for zit-causing bacteria to flourish.
In a 2014 study on CBD's effects on sebocytes (where sebum is produced), researchers found that CBD prevented the overproduction of sebum, through its homeostasis mechanisms [ 3]. Thanks to its properties for supporting a healthy inflammatory response, CBD may help to block redness and swelling.
If your primary reason for using CBD cream is to get clearer looking skin, double check the ingredients. Some CBD lotions contain comedogenic (pore-clogging) ingredients such as coconut oil, beeswax, and palm oil. While these are excellent moisturizing ingredients appropriate for body lotions, they can be too much for the sensitive skin on your face and make the irritation much worse.
5. CBD May Have Anti-Aging Benefits
The best treatment for fine lines and wrinkles is simply, prevention. As we age, our skin loses elastin and collagen that keeps the skin plump and line-free. However, being exposed to free radicals from our environment that lead to damaging oxidative stress, breaking down skin cells.
Antioxidants are compounds that counteract the damage of free-radicals and CBD happens to be a powerful antioxidant [4]. Topical antioxidants are well tolerated on the skin, which is why you'll commonly find vitamin C and E in anti-aging products.
Again, when using CBD lotion for the face, make sure it contains non-comedogenic ingredients to avoid irritation and breakouts.
What Are The Key Features Of Using CBD Lotions?
Easy To Use
CBD lotion application is virtually fool-proof.
The product is ready and activated right out of the packaging, all you have to do is apply it to the affected area. A little massage to work the product into the skin wouldn't hurt.
CBD Lotions Cover A Large Surface Area
CBD lotions are moisturizing and absorb quickly into the skin, so it's not greasy.
As opposed to balms and salves, CBD lotions have a water and vegetable glycerin base, making it easy to spread over larger areas. This makes it practical for everyday use and on the go, and it's especially useful for when your skin needs full-body hydration.
Delivers CBD Directly To The Affected Area
With CBD lotion, you can target physical discomfort and irritation because you have direct control over where the product goes.
Topical CBD products such as lotions, balms, or massage oils absorb into the skin, where endocannabinoid receptors are present. It bypasses the bloodstream and digestive system and goes straight to work on the problem areas.
Many Options Available
In the world of CBD topicals, you have an enormous range of products to choose from. CBD is an excellent complimentary ingredient in lotions thanks to its ability to support a heathy inflammatory response and its anti-bacterial properties.
That being said, the magic of CBD lotions comes from the additional ingredients in the formula and it's important to choose a product based on the kind of support you're looking for.
Some CBD lotions are designed to be used to support clear skin, while others are used as an after-gym recovery. Thanks to CBD's gaining popularity, the options at your fingertips are virtually infinite.
Long-Lasting
High-quality CBD lotions are superior to regular off-the-shelf lotions because of CBD's effects on the ECS.
It goes beyond surface hydration and conditioning and interacts with the endocannabinoid system to support the role of our largest organ, the skin.
How Much CBD Lotion Should You Use?
The amount of CBD lotion you should use will depend on many different factors, including the product and what kind of discomfort you're feeling.
Just like dosing CBD orally, you may need to experiment with different product strengths before you land on something that works for you. Check out some common CBD skin products that we have to offer:
- CBD Clear Skin Cream: A gentle CBD-infused face cream designed to help support a clear complexion.
- CBD Face Cream: Helps to nourish and protect the skin with a natural collection of hand-picked skin superheroes like coconut oil, avocado, ginseng, and aloe.
- CBD Cooling Rub: A thick moisturizing salve designed to quench dehydrated skin while helping to support healthy joint mobility, a normal recovery response, and healthy inflammatory function.
- CBD Balm: The perfect remedy to support targeted aches and discomfort. Our thoughtful combination of natural ingredients include MCT oil, beeswax, and a dose of potent, non-GMO CBD.
The Problem With CBD Lotions And How To Solve It
While the list of CBD lotion benefits is promising, shopping for CBD lotion can be tricky.
Here are some tips you can use when shopping for CBD creams or lotions to make sure you're not wasting your hard-earned cash.
Find The Right CBD Strength
The effects of CBD has been shown to support skin conditions and physical discomforts. However, some manufacturers aren't putting enough CBD into their formulas to yield noticeable results.
Make sure you're using a CBD lotion with enough CBD. As a general rule of thumb, skip products that contain less than 5 mg of CBD per mL, as it might not be strong enough to reap the benefits of CBD. You can calculate this by taking the total CBD content listed on the bottle and dividing it by the product's volume.
5 mg of CBD per mL may be an appropriate amount for conditioning the skin, but if you're using CBD lotion to support physical discomfort, you may want to lean towards a higher CBD concentration.
Look For Third-Party Lab Testing
Even though you're not ingesting topical CBD, it's still important to know the hemp source's quality.
While it's not required, reputable brands send a sample of their product to a non-biased, third-party lab to verify the CBD content and make sure it's free from harmful contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, or solvents (from the extraction process).
Opt For Full Spectrum CBD Extract
Full spectrum hemp extracts contain a diverse range of naturally occurring cannabinoids that compliments the action of CBD. Because of this, full spectrum extracts may feel more potent than CBD isolate-based products and can offer benefits to a broad range of concerns.
Read The Ingredient List
Just because a product contains CBD in it, doesn't automatically make it good for you. Make sure your chosen product's formula contains ingredients that are appropriate for your concerns.
A full-body moisturizer may have intensely hydrating and skin conditioning ingredients that may not be appropriate as a face cream. And if you're looking for a lotion to support physical discomfort, look for a CBD lotion or a cream with warming or cooling ingredients to help with relaxation.
CBD Cooling Cream
Learn MoreNeurogan Topical CBD Products
When you shop with Neurogan, you can expect value for integrity ingrained in every stage of production — from sourcing premium quality hemp, thoughtful and effective formulas, and no non-sense marketing.
You won't find any smokescreens or tricks with us because we firmly stand behind our products with a 30-day money-back trial. If you're interested in trying CBD topicals with Neurogan, we've got quite the selection for you.
To Wrap Up: CBD Lotion Benefits
CBD Body Lotion
With the popularity of CBD ever increasing, there are so many different ways to use CBD. Whether you're looking to support physical discomfort or the condition of your skin naturally, then CBD lotions are worth a shot.
To get the most out of your purchase, you want to make sure you're buying from a reputable brand, are using a product with a high enough CBD potency, and you're using the product appropriately.
If you'd like to learn more about how you can use CBD to support your overall wellness, we've got plenty of resources for you on our blog.
FAQ
What is CBD Lotion?
CBD lotions are topical CBD products that, depending on the recipe, help it to perform a certain function. CBD lotions are typically intended for full-body moisturizing because lotion-based compositions cover large surface areas while leaving a light, non-greasy finish.
Can I use CBD Lotion for pain?
Many people are turning to CBD products to naturally ease physical discomfort. CBD can exert actions right on the skin's ECS receptors, making it perfect for maintaining joint mobility and a normal recovery response after strenuous physical exercise.
Can CBD Lotion make you fail a drug test?
Even if the CBD products contain higher levels of THC, they will not result in a positive drug test. Because the skin is such a good organ at insulating us from our surroundings, cannabinoids applied to the skin do not reach the bloodstream.
Can you use CBD Lotion while breastfeeding?
Since we don't know much about human breast milk and CBD, it's preferable to avoid anything that could harm the baby.
Resources:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5576600/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18424369/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151231/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7023045/
Disclaimer
The statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here is not meant as a substitute for or alternative to information from health care practitioners. Please consult your health care professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product.
