CBD Skin Care: Better Health at Skin Deep
You remember that one joke, where you nonchalantly look over at your friend or even a stranger and say, “Hey, you Epidermis is showing.”
They frantically start looking around to see what you’re talking about. You laugh and then explain what the epidermis is: the outermost layer of our skin, visible to the naked eye.
It’s a great joke. But it’s true… Our epidermis is showing, and it’s considered the entry point for better health.
Let us explain…
The functions of the skin
Believe it or not, the main function of our skin is to protect our internal organs from harmful chemicals, pollutants, and objects from the outside world [¹].
Think about it… Have you ever skinned your knee or elbow? Just injuring your first layer or two of skin might not seem like much to you, but the minute the wind blows on that open wound, the burning sets in. Suddenly, the only thing on your mind is covering up your exposed knee or elbow.
In other words, our skin is a shield. But it’s a shield with a thermostat.
As it turns out, your skin helps regulate our body temperature to know whether we’re too hot, too cold, or just right [¹].
And that’s not all…
In fact, our skin allows us to feel pressure, irritation, pain, and when it is touched by someone or something [¹].
When you really think about it, without our skin we would be in constant pain from the elements of the outside world. Not to mention, we would look downright terrifying.
But we all have skin, and it’s our duty to take care of it.
Better skin = better health
How many times per day do you look into a mirror?
One… three… too many to count?
Or are you one of those who avoids the mirror at all cost?
Whether you look into a mirror or not, your skin is like a mirror of your overall health and wellbeing, and everyone can see it.
You see, when something is wrong inside your body, changes will sometimes appear on the outside of your skin as well.
For example, yellowish skin and eyes are a sign of Jaundice, a high level of bilirubin, or bile in the body. It’s typically caused by hepatitis, tumors, gallstones, or liver problems [²].
Then, you have people who suffer from acne, which can be a sign of hormonal changes or imbalances, too much stress, unhealthy eating, or an excessive production of sebum [³].
Then there are cold sores, chickenpox, and other skin rashes that can indicate an internal infection that your immune system is trying to fight off. It can also be an allergic reaction to certain foods, chemicals, or environmental allergens.
In other, more serious cases, certain skin rashes like eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, or lupus are usually known as autoimmune disorders [⁴,⁵,⁶].
It’s also been shown that inflammation, diabetes, and even hormone changes can cause skin darkening or dark spots on the skin [⁷].
There are a ton of other underlying health conditions that appear on the outermost layer of your skin.
Which brings us to…
The Endocannabinoid System and our skin
Here’s what’s really amazing about the human body: Everything is connected.
Remember that song you sang when you were a kid? “The foot bone’s connected to the leg bone. The leg bone’s connected to the knee bone…”
As the song suggests, our bones, muscles, ligaments, veins, organs, tissues, and cells are all connected.
For example, do you struggle with puffy eyes? According to research, under-eye puffiness can be caused by humid weather, lack of sleep, hormone changes, or too much salty food [⁸].
Which means your hormones, your digestive health, and even your sleep cycles have a lot to do with your skin health.
But let’s get back to the Endocannabinoid System (ECS).
You may not know much about this system. In fact, this unique system wasn’t even discovered until the early 1990s [⁹]. But since its discovery, scientists and renowned doctors have been amazed at the functionalities of this system.
Our ECS is a biological signaling system that helps maintain balance throughout our body.
It plays a huge role in regulating and maintaining our brain, immune, and endocrine health. It also helps regulate the secretion of our hormones [⁹].
But here’s where scientists are really amazed: Our ECS also exists in the layers of our skin.
You see, our body contains its own endogenous cannabinoids, like Anandamide and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) [⁹]. It may sound like a foriegn language, but hang tight. This will all make sense in a second.
Believe it or not, these two endocannabinoids help regulate our inflammatory system and how our skin functions. They even regulate the production of our sebaceous and sweat glands.
According to some research, it’s been thought that an endocannabinoid deficiency could cause unwanted healthy conditions, symptoms, and even skin disorders or diseases.
More studies are needed to confirm this theory, but scientists are finding links between certain health conditions and cannabinoids [¹⁰].
Before we dive into what those cannabinoids are, we need to point out one last note…
Scientists have found cannabinoid receptor cells, which make up our endocannabinoid system, within the layers of our skin. Which means our skin may benefit greatly from certain cannabinoids.
CBD skin care benefits
According to some research, it’s believed that certain cannabinoids like CBD may help restore balance to our ECS [¹¹].
Now, cannabinoids alone won’t restore your ECS. It takes a healthy diet, quality sleep, less stress, and an overall healthier lifestyle to reintroduce balance back into your ECS.
But many people have found that CBD oil and CBD topicals help ease their aches and pains, calm their nerves, and relax their body so they can achieve restful sleep and less anxiety, while reducing unwanted stress.
But don’t just take our word for it, there are several studies that explore how CBD addresses anxiety, stress, and sleep. What’s more, many of those studies note anti-inflammatory properties [¹²,¹³].
There are even studies that show that hemp-derived CBD is a powerful antioxidant, which we know is a huge benefit for skin health [¹³].
In fact, there’s one study that boldly states [¹⁴]: “CBD is more effective than vitamin C and E as a neuroprotective antioxidant and can ameliorate skin conditions such as acne.”
If that weren’t enough, the hemp plant alone contains many of the properties you need in order to have healthy, glowing skin:
Minerals
Amino acids
Vitamins
Terpenes
Fatty acids (Hemp seeds)
Therapeutic cannabinoids, like CBD
Which means, incorporating hemp-derived nutrients and cannabinoids like CBD to your skin care routine may be what your skin is begging you for…
Topical CBD: A good skin care routine
Remember when we said that our skin is the entry point to our overall health?
Well, it’s true…
Our skin is very porous, which means it’s always absorbing the chemicals, toxins, and environmental contaminants.
In fact, one study found that the skin absorbed 64% of the chemicals found in drinking water. Other studies showed that the face, underarms, and genitalia had an absorption rate of 100% [¹⁵,¹⁶].
That’s amazing, but also really scary!
It means that because our skin is so absorbent, it’s constantly fighting off the harmful toxins of the outside world, like synthetic chemicals, fragrances, preservatives, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and more…
And the scary part is these harmful toxins are found in our commercial skin care products, laundry detergents, body sprays, candles, beauty cosmetics, and other products.
This means developing a good skin care routine that’s packed with healthy and organic ingredients is so important.
Hemp-derived CBD is a great skin care ingredient. Not only does it contain health promoting benefits for our skin, but it’s often combined with other healthy skin promoting ingredients, like MCT oil or coconut oil (a powerful fatty acid).
Some companies even infuse essential oils into their topical CBD products—oils like peppermint, lavender, lemon, tea tree, wintergreen, pomegranate, rose, jojoba, and frankincense—all of which are good for the skin.
But where you buy CBD skin care products will determine if it’s effective or not…
Buying topical CBD skin care products
Here’s the thing…
You can’t just buy any ol’ topical CBD or CBD cream and assume it will give you glowing skin.
It takes a little research to find the right brand that will meet your skin care needs.
If healthy skin is what you’re after, then you have to investigate CBD brands to see whether their topical CBD products are third party tested and sourced from organic hemp. You also want to see how they extract their CBD, to ensure there’s no funny business with synthetic chemicals that might linger in the final product.
The good news is there are actually a lot of reputable hemp brands out there. It just takes some due diligence on your part to find them.
If you’re struggling to find a CBD lotion or CBD cream that fits your skin care needs, you may find that pure CBD oil or CBD gummies might be a better option for you.
In fact, some people even consume high quality CBD gummies for glowing skin.
It all boils down to your own personal preference. Just be sure to follow the instructions on the CBD label, and remember to be patient with the results.
Sources:
2.Cleveland Clinic: Adult Jaundice
4.Health University of Utah: Autoimmune Skin Disease
6.NIH: Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis)
7.Cleveland Clinic: Diabetes Rash and Other Skin Conditions
8.Mayo Clinic: Bags under eyes
12.NCBI: Cannabidiol in ANxiety and Sleep: A large case series
13.NCBI: Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Cannabidiol
