How CBDfx is Adding Skin to the CBD Game

We interviewed Christian Graversen from CBDfx about CBD skincare products. Christian is the Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at CBDfx. With more than a decade of experience in the nutritional wellness and CBD space, Christian has continued to be a leading voice for CBD product development and research. When he isn’t in the lab making the next great CBD product of the future, you can find him in Denmark enjoying some quiet time with his family.

CBD skincare products. Do they work? How do you know?
(Laughs) Yes, they work. Cannabinol (CBD) is understood to affect the body internally and externally when applied. The explanation for this lies in the body’s endocannabinoid system. Think of it like a system of neural receptors. When those receptors interact with CBD, they produce the benefits that regular CBD users know and love. Those receptors are in muscle tissue and skin, as well as nerves. So when you apply CBD topically and the cannabinoids pass through certain skin layers, they can work quickly to alleviate both pain and inflammation.

Consumers are putting these products on their skin and want to be assured that products are safe. What should consumers look for when choosing CBD products to ensure their safety?
CBD consumers should always make sure the company shares their lab reports down to the specific batch.This is the only way for the consumer to figure out exactly what’s in the product. This also means brands should be able to showcase Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and ISO certifications in order to prove their products have been manufactured under quality conditions.

Some CBD products are failing safety tests primarily because of additives. How do
you ensure that the additives you source for your products are safe?
That’s true. Certain additives are failing the pesticide and heavy metal tests due to the natural ingredients that are used in the formulation. Although the CBD industry is the only industry to have mandatory testing for contaminants, it’s important to note that almost any product containing essential oils or conventionally-farmed products have trace amounts of pesticides or heavy metals in them.
In order to stay compliant with CBD industry standards, CBDfx is sourcing organic ingredients whenever possible. Thankfully, organic ingredients contain fewer contaminants which allow us to create compliant products with natural ingredients that are effective and safe for our consumers.

Do you work with clinicians on product formulations? How do you formulate
products?
Yes, we have a compound pharmacist formulate all of our products. This ensures that we have maximum integrity in our product line along with products that actually work. Whenever we create a new formula, we have a specific purpose in mind. We then search near and far for the best available natural ingredients for the specific application and we always have a “layered functionality” approach; meaning that we do not rely on cannabinoids only. Tapping centuries of wellness learning, we incorporate a wide array of natural plant extracts, minerals, vitamins and terpenes in our formulations to make our products as effective as possible. We believe in the benefits of all hemp compounds and when you combine it with the best ingredients nature has to offer, it’s a winning recipe.

What are your top topical products and why?
Our menthol, caffeine, and willow bark-infused Muscle and Joint Cream: Cooling Formula has received fantastic reviews and is available in thousands of stores around the world. It’s the first topical product we produced and it’s still one of our most popular formulas.

What new products are on the horizon?
We have plenty of new and innovative skincare products in the pipeline. We are launching a luxury
CBD-infused Foot Mask and intensive Foot Cream in the coming weeks and we have an exciting new beauty line set to launch in the near future.

The CBD industry as a whole is woefully lacking in research. What type of research
would you like to see?
There’s a pretty robust pool of research if you’re looking at animal studies, but we’d love to see more human studies with large sample sizes moving forward. However, it’s important to keep in mind that hemp has only been federally decriminalized for a little over two years at this point. Although consumers know and understand the effects of CBD, the research is still very
much playing catch-up to affirm what the people already know.
We’re excited to keep pushing ourselves to bring our customers some of the most effective, safe, and quality CBD products on the market!