Research has shown that CBD-based skincare products can help reduce wrinkles and aging skin, acne, and psoriasis. However, are the claims marketed to consumers too fast-paced for the research? Let’s find out.
CBD for Wrinkles, Cosmetics, and Body Care
Cannabidiol (CBD) is something that you may not have considered to incorporate into your skincare routine. However, this is a product that you should start paying attention to.
If you have not noticed, CBD has garnered a fair amount of attention in the media as a new skincare trend. Is this just marketed hype? Or does it actually work?
How Does CBD Work for Skin Care?
Cannabidiol has exploded in popularity over the past few years, revealing several health benefits. The latest benefit is its “super” ingredients for our skin. CBD is even being marketed to consumers as an anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, moisturizing, and a way to reduce wrinkles.
As CBD makes the rounds as a new skincare “tool” it leaves us to question, how does it actually work?
CBD is well known in health care as a tool to help with a variety of medical conditions, including, epilepsy, arthritis, neurological conditions and brain trauma, anxiety, and depression. Through the endocannabinoid system, CBD acts as a type of key, unlocking downstream processes on a variety of tissues in the human body and modulating many physiological conditions (1, 2). In turn, this also helps to alleviate many skin conditions we would rather live without.
A variety of investigations examining the use of CBD in skincare has shown that topical CBD may help to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, acne, and other skin conditions (3).
CBD and Wrinkles
Wrinkles, something that we have all dealt with, or will deal with in the future, is an aging condition that is exacerbated by long periods of stress, sun exposure, smoking, and genetic predisposition.
The reasoning behind why we hate wrinkles is varied and vast, but what we can all agree on is that we just do not like them. Because of this, research into anti-aging products has been conducted since the dawn of time. CBD provides a glimmer of hope in a sea of potential, and questionable, anti-aging products.
CBD acts on the skin, our largest organ, through the endocannabinoid system. As mentioned earlier, CBD unlocks and modulates many processes in the human body, including as an antioxidant and as an anti-inflammatory (4).
What About Acne?
Are There Any Downfalls?
Unfortunately, as with all medications, there are some downsides to using CBD in skincare.
The largest of the issues is the fact that there is still much to learn about incorporating CBD into skincare products. It appears that the claims for CBD-containing skincare products have outpaced the current scientific understanding. This is especially true in the case of safety and efficacy.
Many investigations have shown that CBD has significant potential in treating a variety of skin conditions, but the fact of the matter is that we still actually just don’t know (14). Many of the available studies in this area lack the support of well-constructed and robust investigations.
CBD is marketed very heavily when it comes to skincare, but the benefits regularly touted to consumers actually have minimal data supporting the claims (15). It appears that in this case, marketing has hugely outpaced and outrun the current scientific understanding.
Further, there is still a lot of discrimination towards companies promoting CBD-based products, and CBD-based skincare products are no different due to its affiliation with drug culture (16).
This is where companies such as Silver Lion Farms, with its primary partner John Paul Dejoria, come in. Silver Lion Farms boasts equal and diverse operations that are passed on to the consumer. This type of model helps to alleviate stigma and discrimination around CBD-based products, including what CBD can do to help alleviate those wrinkles!
The Bottom Line
CBD-based products have been taking the media and public by storm. There are several studies that support the role of CBD in reducing the appearance of wrinkles, acne, psoriasis, and pruritus.
Despite this, these benefits, which are so often touted by the media, appear to be outcompeting the research into CBD-based skincare products. That said, companies like Silver Lion Farms are working to level the playing field.
