A History of How Weed Has Evolved in Beauty & Wellness Products

Five years ago, every beauty brand wanted to leverage cannabis, but not so much anymore. what happened?

In 2018, following the Farm Bill, hemp was legalized and brands were allowed to create products with CBD, which they did. At that time, a number of brands and retailers emerged with a mission focused entirely on ingredients. But while CBD has lost some of its luster due to brand breakups and pivots, retailer hesitation and customer confusion, experts say it could be reawakened.

The CBD beauty boom took off in earnest in 2019, with several brands such as Saint Jane and Lord Jones gaining traction, while established brands such as Milk Makeup are also promoting the ingredient’s touted anti-inflammatory properties. version was used.

“CBD as an ingredient is one of the best because it attacks inflammation at its root, both inside and outside the body,” says Nicole, beauty industry veteran and founder of mushroom-infused skincare brand Neon Hippie・Mr. Ostoya said. “Topically, skin inflammation accelerates skin aging, becomes inflamed, and causes rosacea, and CBD is one of the few ingredients that truly eliminates skin inflammation.” [it]”

At the time, retailers were also bullish on the category.

“A lot of retailers were really attracted to this product and wanted to get it on their shelves as soon as possible,” says the founder and CEO of St. Jane, a flower-focused skincare brand that is currently in operation. said Director Casey Georgeson. “Sephora launched Prima with us and Lord Jones, and it felt like CBD was the dancing pretty girl.”

Then there were retailers like Standard Dose (which apparently quietly closed last year), which curated their selections based solely on ingredients.

The hype looked particularly promising for CBD topical brand Lord Jones. Lord Jones was acquired by Cronos Group in 2020 for his $300 million. Since then, the brand has disbanded its product line and gone all-in on the Canadian company and his THC. Only footprints for now. Experts say the barrage of brands in the aisles and customer confusion are to blame for the category’s loss of momentum.

“We started seeing CBD being used in gas stations, yoga pants, turkey gravy, things that just don’t make sense,” Jorgeson said. “The education needed for the majority of consumers and customers was more than most brands could support…the market was saturated. [and] Sales were not strong enough to support the number of brands. ”

Ostoya further added: “When the Farm Bill was enacted, there were a million people [products] I had it at the grocery store, the formula was crap, but I could buy it on Amazon. It wasn’t the quality, [such] That the rush to the market would destroy the ingredient. people didn’t understand it.There was so much information [and] Misinformation about it. People couldn’t get over that it didn’t get them high. ”

In addition to increased competition and consumer confusion, selling CBD products has also been incredibly difficult. Each state had its own regulations and major payment processing platforms were unable to process payments.

“Regulation is the hardest part,” Jorgeson said, adding that St. Jane still has some CBD-infused inventory storage units. Due to evolving regulations, there are some states where brands have stopped selling CBD products altogether.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the overall disruption of the category, wellness ingredients will not be able to sustain themselves in 2020 and things will start to change rapidly, leaving brands with nothing left or requiring new strategies. I did. For St. Jane, which was initially bullish on CBD, the pivot was the key to survival.

“We made a conscious decision to pivot away from CBD to more active flower,” Georgeson said.

The strategy is also helping brands, as retailers have once again become hesitant about the category. Sources say some companies, like Goop, are rejecting the ingredient altogether.

However, CBD is not completely gone. Some are successful, like Uncle Bud’s, which is available in more than 15,000 retail stores. At the same time, beauty brands are still leveraging its benefits, but not building their entire mission around it. For example, Dew’s fan-favorite Deliverance ($69), available at Sephora, employs a complex of cannabinoids to soothe skin. In the future, experts say, as the stigma around this ingredient continues to fade, more clinical data emerges, and regulations change, brands will formulate it like any other ingredient. It suggests that he is deaf.

“Formulators will look to CBD if they want a very calming ingredient story in their product, but they won’t see a CBD brand,” Jorgeson said, adding that the efficacy of the ingredient He added that more clinical evidence about the disease could help revive it.

Additionally, industry insiders said they are seeing high interest in this ingredient from the spa channel. For example, places like Chill House and Heavenly Spa at the Westin offer hemp and hemp CBD experiences and add-ons.

“They’re a captive audience. The esthetician or service provider says, ‘Do you want to add CBD?’ I can relax even more. I say, ‘It helps with inflammation,’ and they’re like, ‘Sure, I get it,'” Jorgeson said, noting that people are willing to pay a lot of money for these services. “That’s where there is potential for a resurgence of CBD.”

Additionally, there may be health opportunities, especially when CBD is combined with hemp-derived THC, which can be sold at concentrations of 0.03 percent dry weight/volume or less. This movement has manifested itself through microdosable formats such as Cann’s THC-infused beverages and Sweedies snack Mood Ring gummy packs. Both brands employ low levels of THC and CBD to provide a light buzz at a cultural moment when many are seeking alternatives to alcohol.

Additionally, brands like Sweedy’s, founded by industry veterans Olivia Sheehan and Rachel Richman, are actually choosing a beauty-centric strategy.

“To me, our products feel like a direct delivery of the promise of beauty,” says Sheehan. “This is an obvious way to look hotter when you wake up. You can reduce your alcohol intake or replace it completely. You can improve your sleep. It’s an obvious way that it can become part of a habit.”

While CBD certainly faces challenges, experts believe this ingredient is powerful and can be used across beauty and wellness, whether in a variety of forms, such as spas, single products, or THC-centered alcohol replacement brands. I agree that it has the potential to expand. Additionally, clinical evidence, rather than anecdotes, could help revive the category. “It’s by no means over,” Jorgeson said.