CBD Trends
CBD has been popping up as a compliment to just about every part of lifestyle recently, from food, to beauty, to pain relief. Athletes use it to relieve muscle tension after exercise, and spas are incorporating it into their treatments and product ranges. The benefits of CBD are many, and include relief from anxiety, muscle tension, sleep deprivation, etc. It’s also been shown to be surprisingly good for skin; the anti-inflammatory qualities help to even out skin tone and reduce redness, although more research has to be conducted to come to conclusive information.
CBD based beauty brands have started popping up with increased frequency, including brands like Lord Jones, CBD Daily, and Cannuka. Spas like Pekar, in New York, founded by Ildi Pekar, use CBD in their facial services and offer CBD based skincare products. Pekar also offers a very simple at home recipe for a facial; sour cream, parsley, and CBD oil. She compares the anti-inflammatory benefits to that of tumeric. Depending on the needs of your skin, you can adjust ingredients as needed.
CBD History
The first recorded use goes all the way back to Northern India. A lot of strains of cannabis are still of Afghani lineage, and are originally thought to have come from Siberia.
CBD was first successfully extracted in the 1940’s, by a researcher called Dr. Walter S. Loewe. He was the first to test the effects of CBD on lab animals and prove that it had no psychoactive effects. By the 1960’s, the first therapeutic CBD was released in Britain. In the next few decades, laws surround cannabis evolved and by the 1980’s, a man named Dr. Raphael Mechoulam showed the effectiveness of CBD in the treatment of epilepsy.
Narcotics had been officially outlawed in the United States in the 1930’s, after recreational use of marijuana was made popular by Mexican immigrants in the early 1900’s. Prior to that it hadn’t been used frequently enough the U.S. to be of notice, although it was actually a required crop in colonial America because of the amount of uses it has.
These days, medical use of CBD is legal in all 50 states, which means more opportunity for research and treatment development.
CBD Facials
Because of the anti-inflammatory benefits of CBD, it’s use for facials has the added benefits of not only skin care, but relief from tension headaches, and tight muscles in the face. This adds another dimension to the experience of self care.
In general, the point of a facial is to relieve skin of toxins, impurities, as well as hydrate and replenish it with nutrients in order to smooth aging, reduce stress, and rejuvenate skin cells so that they continue producing collagen.
There are several ways to do this…there are many steps and it’s important to tailor treatments according to the needs of your skin. Generally, you’ll want to cleanse, exfoliate, do a mask, tone, moisturize, and then follow with a spot treatment if necessary.
Cleansing removes make-up, oils, pollution, etc. and primes the skin for the rest of the treatments.
Exfoliation is a deeper form of cleansing that removes dead skin cells, and encourages skin turn over. It also is beneficial in preparing skin for pore cleansing, because it sloughs off the upper layer to reveal clean, fresh skin underneath. It also increase circulation through stimulating blood vessels, which means a glowy complexion.
A good mask will hydrate, reduce irritation and redness as well as get deep into pores to draw out impurities. In this case, it’s a good idea to add clay, which will help do so.
Toning is a step that continues to cleanse further, as well as re-balance the skin’s PH level. Other benefits include shrinking your freshly cleaned pores, as well as adding an extra layer of protection.
Next, you’ll want to moisturize, which is important for maintaining skin texture and reducing the appearance of wrinkles. It’s also a good form of preventing new wrinkles from forming as well.
Finally, if you have acne, you’ll want to spot treat.
Wikileaf has a solid guide to making your own skincare products and includes all of these steps.
Happy pampering!
