Ask any wellness or beauty aficionado, and they’ll all agree: CBD oil is having a moment. But, unlike other super beauty ingredients making a splash in skin and hair care, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the cannabis-derived ingredient. Nonetheless, its beauty benefits and promising future in beauty are hard to ignore.
We tapped three experts to find out the beauty benefits of CBD oil, plus everything you need to know before trying the popular beauty trend. See what they had to say, below.
What Is CBD Oil and How Does It Work
The cannabis plant boasts a variety of compounds—also known as cannabinoids—believed to contain medicinal benefits. Among these cannabinoids is cannabidiol, or CBD. “Oils that are pulled [from] the plant that contains a high concentration of CBD are known as CBD oils,” says Dr. Alissia Zenhausern, NMD.
In order to understand how CBD oils work, it’s important to know what cannabinoids are and what they do. Cannabinoids are chemical messengers that activate a class of cell membrane receptors located throughout the body. These body receptors are part of the endocannabinoid system, which is involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, sleep, mood and memory. Cannabinoids are either naturally produced by the body (endogenous) or outside the body (exogenous). The cannabinoids found in marijuana and hemp, such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and CBD, are considered exogenous, which, when consumed, also interact with cannabinoid receptors in the body and can generate similar physical and psychological effects.
There are currently two known subtypes of cannabinoid receptors in the body, CB1 and CB2. The CB1 receptor is expressed mainly in the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys. The CB2receptor is expressed mainly in the immune system and in hematopoietic cells. Before the CBD beauty trend took off, Dr. Zenhausern says CBD-infused drugs were most commonly used for pain management and inflammatory conditions, as “CB2 receptors are most commonly found as part of the immune system [and they can] affect inflammation and pain.
Now, it is important to note that CBD will not produce the same euphoric sensations as THC, which means using CBD won’t make you feel “high.” “The way cannabinoids work is by attaching to CB1 and CB2 body receptors. However, new research has found that CBD doesn’t seem to attach to either receptor directly and [might] help your body use its own cannabinoids,” she adds.
The Beauty Benefits of CBD Oil
Although some CBD enthusiasts experiment with adding the oil into homemade beauty tinctures, the CBD beauty trend mostly refers to products formulated with the cannabinoid. Similar to other natural beauty–benefiting ingredients—such as spirulina, which can be ingested on its own or used topically in a beauty product—the oil is the ingredient, and the beauty product is the delivery system that helps provide the skin with the beauty benefits of CBD. Read more
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