Recently, it seems like Cannabidiol (CBD) has been taking center stage when it comes to natural wellness. Today it appears you can find CBD in multiple products from beverage to beauty. CBD lip balm is a newer product of the health and beauty industry. Using a high-quality lip balm may nourish, soothe, protect, and regenerate your lips. Let’s look at what CBD lip balm is and how it may help the lips.
What is CBD Lip Balm?
When people think of CBD, they often envision CBD tinctures, topicals, or edibles. A CBD lip balm functions similarly to a CBD topical but is specifically designed for use on the lips rather than the rest of the skin.
To put it simply, a CBD lip balm is a combination of CBD and a soothing balm. In essence, this is still a lip balm. With the added CBD, however, it becomes much more than an ordinary lip balm. The soothing effects of the lip balm may actually help your chapped lips and protect them from harsh environments. To keep things easy, let’s look at the basic definitions of a lip balm and CBD. Then, we will get into the details of their uses.
Lip Balm
A wax-like preparation which is applied to sore or cracked lips in order to soothe, protect, and nourish them.
Cannabidiol (CBD)
This is a crystalline nonintoxicating cannabinoid that mainly comes from the hemp (cannabis) plant.
Combining CBD with lip balm creates a lip soothing powerhouse set to rise high above your average lip balms. Our lips are at a greater risk of getting chapped during windy, cold, dry, and sunny conditions. As many of us know when our lips get chapped it can range from inconvenient to excruciating. The most common remedy is to apply a normal lip balm or chapstick.
Many times these subpar products offer minimal relief from the discomfort of dry lips. To add, most common lip balms can take some time to heal your lips and nourish them back to normal. Some people even claim normal lip balms can intensify the irritation of dry lips. However, this may not be the case with CBD lip balms.
A high-quality lip balm should provide your lips with the protection and benefits they need. With the addition of CBD, these lip balms may support the healing process. They may also help take away the discomfort associated with chapped lips.
Healing Benefits of CBD Lip Balm
As mentioned above a CBD lip balm may help with your dry lips, but how exactly does CBD accomplish this. To answer this question some of us may need a brief explanation of how CBD works with our body and more specifically our lips.
CBD is short for Cannabidiol, remember, it is a cannabinoid that comes from the hemp plant. According to science, all mammals, including humans, are born with an endocannabinoid system (ECS) that is capable of interacting with cannabinoids (like CBD) via specific cannabinoid receptors. These special cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) are spread throughout your whole body including your lips. The ECS is responsible for regulating several responses of the body including inflammation and pain.
To explain this more basically, when you apply CBD lip balm to your lips the cannabinoid (CBD) interacts with the cannabinoid receptors on the skin of your lips. The interaction between CBD and cannabinoid receptors creates a reaction within your ECS. To sum it up, this is how CBD works with your body.
Antioxidant For Skin And Lips
Antioxidants are defined as a substance such as vitamin C or E that removes potentially damaging oxidizing agents in a living organism. Your lips are a part of your skin which is is a living organism, therefore antioxidants help to remove harmful agents from your lips. Essentially antioxidants protect your healthy lips and the rest of your skin from damaging free radicals.
During an interview, dermatologist Patricia Farris backs this up by explaining to Today.com that “We know it’s (CBD) a strong antioxidant — stronger than vitamin C and vitamin E, more like a botanical antioxidant, so that’s always helpful because it protects collagen and stops DNA damage and protects from sun damage.” Now that’s the type of protection that your common lip balms will lack.
As we can see CBD may be helpful towards healing chapped lips. However, even though CBD lip balms boast all these effects and more some people still might be skeptical to try it. They think that because CBD comes from the cannabis plant it will induce unwanted side effects or intoxication. We recommend you do your own research regarding the side effects of CBD products.
Does CBD Lip Balm Have Side Effects?
There potentially is a risk of side effects of anything you apply to your skin. Certain people can have adverse reactions to different applications of the skin or lips. Each person’s body is different and therefore some react to things differently.
However, generally speaking, CBD is considered safe. As for topical use, the chances of you having side effects or an adverse reaction is even lower in comparison to ingesting CBD. To add, any side effects from CBD are usually temporary. It is only a reaction of your body getting accustomed to CBD. Once the body is familiar with CBD, any side effects present usually subside and never surface again.
Minor side effects of CBD are extremely rare and can consist of mild drowsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, and upset stomach.
Related: CBD Skin Care [Applications & Tips]
How to Use Your Lip Balm
In order to get the most from your CBD lip balm, like other CBD products, you will need to use it correctly. To apply it properly is simple. Apply a thin layer to the surface of your lips just like any normal lip balm or chapstick.
You should start out by applying it 3 times spread throughout the day. Once you are accustomed to it you can increase or decrease the number of applications to your individual needs.
Do not overuse, using too much of any lip balm can give you the opposite effects you desire. Applying too much of any lip balm can increase irritation of damaged lips. You can use a CBD lip balm to help soothe your dry lips or to help prevent dryness from occurring.
If you are thinking of trying one of these lip balms you are probably wondering where can I find these products and what should I look for when selecting the best CBD lip balm? Here are the answers we have found.
Where to Find the Best CBD Lip Balm
Finding CBD locally may prove quite difficult depending on where you live and the leniency towards CBD in your area. If you live in an area where CBD is well tolerated you may be able to find a CBD lip balm at a local health and beauty store. However, don’t go searching for one any in your larger department stores such as Wal-mart or Target because you won’t find any there. Additionally, if you do find a CBD lip balm at a local store they probably will not have much of a selection for you to pick from.
If you want to compare products and source the most effective CBD lip balm for yourself your best bet is to search the internet. On the internet, you can find many CBD lip balms. When comparing products you will want to pay attention to how credible the company is. Only purchase your CBD products, like CBD flower, from a company which is well established, well-reviewed, and offers COAs (certificate of analysis) for their products.
An established company will provide you with a description of a product which should include a list of ingredients included in the lip balm. You may wish to avoid certain ingredients. Some of the best products contain 100% all-natural ingredients. To add, they are completely vegan and animal cruelty-free. This means they won’t even contain beeswax which is a common ingredient among your average non-CBD lip balms. Products of higher quality are usually a safer bet when trying out new CBD products.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6043845/
https://www.today.com/style/do-cbd-beauty-skin-care-products-actually-work-t150394
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6222489/
https://www.self.com/story/cbd-for-pain-topical