Colorado Skincare Companies Using CBD for Beauty and Wellness

Whether you rub it on your body or swallow a capsule, CBD-infused oils, lotions and ingestible products are  rapidly becoming a lifestyle choice for many people.

CBD, the non-psychoactive component of cannabis, has long been known for the many clinical benefits it provides to consumers. It’s used to treat certain types of epilepsy, and many people swear by it for other conditions, including pain, insomnia and anxiety. Many even give it to their pets.

Now, a number of Colorado companies are discovering that CBD has benefits in the beauty realm — and on the bottom line. Some are focusing their business efforts solely on beauty products, while others have added them to their mix of wellness offerings.

Here are three Colorado companies finding a myriad of ways to help people incorporate CBD into their lives.

Blue Forest Farms
Trina Johnson, the co-founder of Blue Forest Farms in Longmont, is passionate about the hemp plant. Materials made from the fibrous plant are fire- and mold-resistant and stronger than steel. It has more protein per gram than meat and contains an SPF of 15. It can be used to make clothing, build houses, help people sleep and relieve pain.

“It can save the world,” says Johnson, whose company recently launched a line of hemp CBD-infused health and beauty products using CBD derived from the genetics it’s developed at its 150-acre farm. “Once you’re in hemp, you just drink the Kool-Aid. Our mission is to have a CBD product in every hand,” she adds.

BFF recognizes that CBD is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, however. The company has developed a numerical system to help consumers determine which of its products will work best for them.

Numbered 01 through 06, BFF’s CBD products can help with everything from relieving aches and pains to providing an energy boost. For example, consumers looking for pure CBD to help with aches and pains, sleep or anxiety might try BFF’s 01 True hemp oil, which promotes a sense of calm and balance, while the 04 Inspire tincture combines CBD with other cannabinoids to create an uplifting, energizing effect.

“Science is just starting to look at all the different cannabinoids the plant has,” Johnson says. “They can be calming, anti-inflammatory or balance your mood. We’re trying to make it our new way of health care.”

In addition to those wellness products, BFF makes a line of CBD-infused beauty products that include a face-and-body scrub ($29.99), a facial serum ($49.99) and a body lotion ($59.99) that has 1,000 milligrams of CBD and helps relieve aches and pains as well as moisturize the skin. The scrub and serum are believed to slow the signs of aging and can help to reduce inflammation to soothe irritated skin.

“Our beauty line and body care are fun to me,” says Johnson. “And they work.”

Eossi Beauty
After spending nearly a decade in the hemp and cannabis business, Eossi Beauty co-founders Shannon Kaygi and Rochonne Sanchez launched their company in order to create an affordable, high-quality, high-concentrate CBD face oil.

Eossi’s Facial Glow Oil #8, which sells for $49.95 on the company’s website and at the Wish Gifts stores in Denver’s Bonnie Brae and Happy Canyon neighborhoods, has 1,000 milligrams of CBD and can be used as a moisturizer, makeup remover or even a base for all-day lipstick.

“The game is changing a little bit,” Kaygi explains. “You have to have that lower price point to really have a play in the game. The higher the cost, the fewer people can afford it.”

For now, the Glow Oil is Eossi’s only product, but the company is in the process of formulating and testing a line of cosmetics that will include products such as BB Cream, a lightweight tinted moisturizer that includes SPF. The company is also working on formulations for a body oil, a tattoo balm and an oil to soothe razor burn.

“All of our products will be for a multitude of uses,” Kaygi notes.

Mary Jane’s Medicinals
Working as a massage therapist in Telluride, Dahlia Mertens was always interested in natural medicines and holistic health. She used a number of product lines in her practice, and gravitated toward natural products.

While helping out at a friend’s California cannabis farm, Mertens began to understand the healing properties of cannabis. She started infusing it into massage oils to use on her clients, and soon developed a line of products under the Mary Jane’s Medicinals name.

Today, Mary Jane’s Medicinals makes a line of THC- and CBD-infused topicals ranging from salves, lip balm and lotion to massage oil, bath salts and tinctures. The aloe lotion can be used as a facial moisturizer and to relieve sunburns and reduce the appearance of sun and age spots.“If I get sun exposure, I slather up with the aloe lotion and it turns into a tan right away,” Mertens says.

Topicals are a good way to introduce people to the healing properties of the cannabis plant, she notes: “Topicals act as a wonderful ambassador, because rubbing a salve on your skin is a lot different than smoking a joint. Older adults are open to trying a salve. I’ve seen a lot of people change their minds about cannabis.”

Mary Jane’s cannabis plants are grown outdoors, with organic compounds. Then, instead of using a concentrate made from extracting one or two of the compounds from the cannabis plant, Mary Jane’s infusion process uses the entire plant in order to maintain the full spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes — the compounds that give cannabis its aroma.

“Our whole-plant process really tries to keep the integrity of the whole plant,” Mertens explains. “I don’t want to mess with the evolution of the plant. I want to honor the plant, and it makes for a better product.”

Mary Jane’s has also created a CBD hemp line, Mary Jane’s Botanicals, that it can send to customers in states where cannabis is not legal. The Botanicals line relies on Mary Jane’s whole-plant infusion process, too.

“Tourists come and try the products and get them home and run out, but we can’t send it to them, so we came out with a CBD line so we can offer something for them,” Mertens says. “It’s a good alternative if you’re in Mississippi and you can’t get our products.”