Hemp oil and CBD products have become all the new craze. You may have seen more of a presence of these products in the last few years. While it is exciting to see the industry growing, there is still a lot of grey area in the regulations, meaning that some of the products you see are made with very little oversight.

To start I want to talk a little bit about our endocannabinoid systems (ECS) that we have naturally occurring within our own bodies. Even if you don't consume cannabis, you still naturally have an ECS. "Endocannabinoids, also called endogenous cannabinoids, are molecules made by your body. They're similar to cannabinoids, but they are produced by your body. These help keep internal functions running smoothly."

The way certain cannabinoids interact with your body may be different from someone else, so it is important to find the right type of cannabis for you.

You may hear a lot of different words or terms used when it comes to the cannabis industry. Things like hemp, hemp-derived, cannabis, marijuana, hemp seed oil, and CBD to name a few. Do they all mean the same thing and how can you distinguish what is what? For someone who is just getting into cannabis or even an avid user it can be overwhelming to find the best products for you.

Cannabis Sativa is the parent to all hemp and marijuana. The cannabinoids that it produces are dependent on the strain.

For example, you may have heard of Sour Diesel or Pineapple Express, which are strains with a high THC (tetrahydrocannabinol THC) content and will get you "high". If it produces high amounts of THC it is considered a marijuana plant.

You may not be as familiar with hemp strains. A few common strains are Lifter and Suver Haze. Both of these produce high amounts of CBD (cannabidiol) and are what we refer to as a hemp plant.

In hemp plants you will still find small amounts of THC. The THC is removed in the extraction process. The purer the CBD becomes the less you find of other cannabinoids.

If you want a wider array of benefits you would want to use products made with a full spectrum CBD oil, which includes cannabinoids other than CBD, such as CBG, CBDV, CBN etc. There are more than 100 cannabinoids that have been found in the cannabis plant. For products to be legally sold under the 2018 farm bill the THC Delta-9 cannot be above .3.

Hemp became mainstream a few years ago after the 2018 farm bill was passed, which made it possible to sell hemp across state lines opening e-commerce to the industry. As it became more popular there was an influx of products and brands flooding the shelves of stores like CVS or your local grocery store or Walgreens.

You may think most of these are CBD products, but that is not always the case. Because an ingredient comes from hemp doesn't mean that is has CBD in it. CBD oils come from the hemp plant extracted through a variety of methods.

The most common types of extraction is critical CO2 or solvent extraction. You can find health benefits in this type of oil.

Once the CBD oil is extracted from the hemp plant that is then used to create products. One thing to note is the extraction process is complicated and there are several different types of extract that can be used in your products. One being full spectrum like we talked about above.

Depending on the type of hemp derived ingredient you use, it can change the consistency, potency, and color of your products, and can give the consumer a whole different type of effect. There is also a difference in topical CBD products. Some of it is made only for the surface of the skin, while other CBD products can help with pain. Not all topical CBD is made for reducing pain.

Some of the benefits of CBD oil include anti-inflammatory, reducing redness and soothing extra dry skin such as psoriasis. If you are looking for something to help with reducing pain, you would want a product made with a transdermal CBD, which means that the molecules would be small enough to break the skin barrier.

There are some beautiful products that are made with hemp seed oil or cannabis sativa seed oil. These oils do not have any CBD in them. They are extracted from the seeds before they ever become any type of cannabis. Hemp seed oil has essential fatty acids such as omega-3 and Omega-6, which can help with inflammation, soothing problem skin and hydration.

Hemp seed oil is usually cold pressed from the seeds of the hemp plant. It is used in a variety of beauty and skincare products. You should be able to identify on the label which products use hemp seed oil vs which ones use CBD. For the most part CBD products will have some sort of milligram (MG) dose somewhere on the packaging, which will tell you how much CBD is in the product, by either total volume or single dosage.

As CBD becomes more mainstream, it is more common to add CBD only to the ingredient list, without adding a dosage or calling attention to it anywhere else on the packaging. Eossi Beauty has not gone in that direction yet, mostly because we really want to highlight CBD and the beautiful ingredient that it is.

My last little bit of this blog is dedicated to testing. It is so important that you are checking for third party testing on your CBD products. Most companies have a COA (certificate of analysis) for the potency of their products from a third-party testing lab, which will tell you how much CBD is in your product. It should match what the label says.

You can also check for full panel testing, which includes testing for pesticides and residual solvents, both of which are important. We test throughout the entire manufacturing process to ensure our products are safe.

Long story short there is a lot of misinformation out there about hemp-derived ingredients. Do your research. Make sure you are looking into the brands you are using and understanding the ingredients they are using. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at info@eossibeauty.com.

Healthline: "A simple guide to the Endocannabinoid system" https://www.healthline.com/health/endocannabinoid-system