Ah, the ignorance of youth. When I was in my teens and 20s, I washed my face with whatever was on sale at the drug store; I rarely moisturized; I only wore sunscreen when I was at the beach; and I never took my makeup off before bed.
Now that I’m older and hopefully wiser, I’m one of the millions who buys multiple skin care products a year to try to get my skin back to how even, firm and bright it was when I was younger. In the United States, skin care is big business, with the industry’s 2017 revenue estimated at just above 17 million dollars.
In the quest for youthful skin, it turns out cannabidiol (CBD) may be the secret weapon. We’re just starting to understand how CBD works in the body, but we know it interacts with the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS is a network of receptors found pretty much everywhere in the body—including in the skin.
We know that CBD has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. This means CBD applied topically can help soothe red and inflamed skin.
You can also use CBD from the inside out to help you achieve youthful, supple and glowing skin. When you balance your ECS, your body can achieve homeostasis, which is key to a healthy body and healthy skin. And one way to balance your ECS is to introduce CBD into your daily routine.
CBD contains vitamins:
- A, which in certain forms can be an anti-inflammatory and also support the production of collagen
- C, which helps protect against free radicals, and brightens and evens out skin tone
- E, which moisturizes and helps reduce the appearance of scars, lines and other pigmentation
So, if you want your skin to appear more youthful, here are a few key skin concerns where CBD may help.
CBD Can Calm Red & Inflamed Skin
While redness can strike anyone, if you have particularly sensitive skin, you probably have to deal with redness on a regular basis. There can be lots of different reasons why skin gets red, like:
- Eczema
- Rosacea
- Dermatitis
- Over-exfoliation
- Sun damage
- Inflammation
No matter what causes your redness, CBD can most likely help. If the underlying cause is a condition like rosacea, CBD can help balance your ECS, hopefully meaning fewer flare-ups in the future.
If underlying inflammation is why your skin goes red, CBD helps curb inflammation. Studies show the cannabinoid seems to lessen inflammatory signals and gets in the way of proteins called cytokines. Cytokines signal to the body that something needs fixing. But too many cytokines result in excess inflammation, and is a marker in such conditions as arthritis and asthma.
So, a CBD topical could help soothe red skin, calming it and lessening inflammation. If you go this route, just be sure the product you choose doesn’t include other ingredients that may irritate your skin.
RELATED: ALL ABOUT TOPICAL CBD & HOW IT SINKS INTO THE SKIN
Help Prevent Wrinkles & Ease Inflammation With a CBD Moisturizer
So, what does youthful skin not have? Wrinkles. And how do you prevent wrinkles? You moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.
Wrinkles are folds in the skin that develop as we age, because skin becomes dry, thin and unable to repair itself. Wrinkles can appear because of:
- Smoking
- Sun damage
- Genetics
The most important thing you can do to prevent wrinkles, and keep your skin looking youthful and even, is to maintain a healthy level of moisture.
So, if you want to ensure your skin’s moisturized and smooth, picking a nourishing CBD oil to add to your skin care routine is a must. Choose a CBD oil where the cannabinoid is the first ingredient and the other ingredients are ones that will add extra moisture, but won’t irritate your skin.
And moisturizing with CBD can do more than just make your skin appear more youthful. It may also be good for your health. Aging skin has an increased number of inflammation sites. And high inflammation markers seem to be correlated with conditions like Alzheimer’s disease; moisturizing can help reduce these inflammation sites. And since CBD has proven anti-inflammatory properties, using a CBD-based moisturizer can help even more.
You can moisturize by patting a CBD oil directly onto your face (patting, instead of rubbing ensures more of the CBD makes it deep into your skin, instead of just wiping it around the top layer) or add a few drops of CBD to your favorite moisturizer to give it that extra boost.
CBD Can Help Restore Skin Firmness From the Inside Out
While complexion, tone and wrinkles may be the first things you consider when it comes to youthful-looking skin, firmness is also an aspect of healthy skin that shouldn’t be overlooked. A firm, smooth surface is important to skin health and looking your best.
Skin starts to lose firmness over time, and you may notice some sagging in areas around your jaw, eyes and neck. Skin sags, because it doesn’t have enough elastin and collagen.
- Collagen: Collagen is a protein that makes your skin firm and flexible. Unfortunately, our bodies produce less and less collagen over time.
- Elastin: Like the name suggests, elastin acts as an elastic, flexible fiber deeper in the skin. When elastin breaks down, skin isn’t able to snap back to where it was before being stretched, and so skin begins to sag.
Free radicals, which can cause a host of bad health conditions, are also responsible for breaking down elastin in the skin. Luckily, CBD has antioxidant properties that can help fight these damaging compounds.
In addition to topical CBD, if you’re worried about the firmness of your skin, consider ingesting some CBD daily to help your body fight free radicals. This can also help balance your ECS to slow down the oxidative process.
RELATED: TAKING CBD TO BOOST YOUR BODY’S ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS
Even Out Your Complexion With Vitamin C & CBD
Sun damage, acne scars, dark spots—they all add up to uneven skin tone. This can leave skin looking damaged, unhealthy and old.
If you look at the skin care products out there that claim to help even skin tone, you’ll see they almost all feature vitamin C. Vitamin C in most skin care products appears in the form of L-ascorbic acid. It’s a powerful antioxidant and can help even out skin tone.
We know that CBD contains vitamin C and is also a powerful antioxidant in its own right. So, a few drops of CBD oil mixed in with your vitamin C-rich serum will boost these vitamins to help brighten skin and fade dark spots.
Hopefully you’ve seen how CBD can help keep your skin bright, supple and youthful. But of course, CBD will work best as part of a holistic skin care regimen. In addition to CBD, don’t forget to:
- Wear sunscreen daily.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Moisturize every day.
- Eat a healthy diet.
- Wash your face with your products of choice when you wake up and before you go to bed.
Work all of this into your daily routine, and your skin will be looking as young as ever.
Photo credit: Ann Haritonenko/Shutterstock
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