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The Promise Of CBD Skincare

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Heyday

The phytocannabinoid CBD has become inescapable. In the last two years, the cannabis-derived molecule has hit consumer markets from food and beverage to health and skin care, available in a host of topical and ingestible forms. Rapper 2 Chainz gives a nod to the emergence of the lifestyle trend on YG's 2018 track "Big Bank" in a verse that lists his proclivity for luxury goods: Goyard accessories, Rolls-Royce cars, fine jewelry, "and my CBD got chocolate on it."

For how mainstream CBD has become, it's still relatively opaque. "Right now, CBD is the chemical equivalent of Bitcoin in 2016," Jason DeLand, an advertising executive and a board member of cannabis brand Dosist, aptly told The New York Times. "It's hot, it's everywhere, and yet almost nobody understands it."

From an average consumer standpoint, the bullet points on CBD are that it isn't psychoactive, it isn't addictive, and in the right doses and application can soothe anxiety, promote a sense of calm, and even alleviate pain.

It's also a promising up-and-comer in the skincare world, allowing optimization of active ingredients in other products, allowing them to more deeply penetrate the skin. In this industry, CBD is beginning to be seen as less of a standalone wonder and more of an ingredient to enhance one's existing regime.

Heyday

Facial shop Heyday is jumping on the buzz — and the potential — with a new service exclusive to its sole Los Angeles location. Priced at $140, the 75-minute Back to Balance CBD facial begins by drinking a few drops of CBD tincture dissolved in water before heading in for a customized treatment using a suite of products developed by CBD wellness brand Mowellens in addition to non-CBD product.

Not a spa and not a salon, Heyday is part of a new trend in the beauty and wellness business that focus on a single service, like Drybar with blowouts or The Now with massage. In addition to the LA shop, Heyday operates five locations in New York City. Among its innovations in the space, Heyday has managed to collect insights with its Facial Record, a system that tracks what is observed and practiced in each treatment. Customers benefit from on-going personalization while Heyday is able to observe broad trends and adapt accordingly.

"CBD is the ingredient du jour in just about all forms, but for us the ingredient has powerful skincare benefits around calming and inflammation, which is an incredibly common condition we've seen in the 200,000 facials we've done," Heyday co-founder and chief brand officer Michael Pollak said by email. While benefits of CBD are still being researched and understood, Heyday wanted to take matters into its own hands by capitalizing on known benefits and observing results within its own business. "We wanted to be able to see how well things work in the laboratory of our treatment rooms every day," Pollak said.

Heyday

The new service, which is currently exclusive to its LA location, also allows Heyday to be an informative source to its client base as they begin to hear more about CBD. "As we've grown, one thing has remained consistent: we're about educating clients," Pollak said. "With the proliferation of CBD in skincare, we wanted to ensure we were part of the conversation and creating a space for clients to try the new ingredient live and in-person. It's an opportunity for us to be the place where we can provide answers from brand-agnostic, ingredient-obsessed experts about what the industry is putting out there."

It chose to collaborate with the California-based company Mowellens on the lineup of CBD products, all of which customers are able to purchase for at-home use. Mowellens was founded by Amy Duncan, who formally studied the lab testing behind cannabis products as the chief operating officer of a genetics lab prior. She personally came to learn about the medicinal benefits of cannabis after her husband was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. "She's developed really clean products that are a great intro for someone new to CBD," Heyday Skin Therapist Ava Lemons said. "We're really excited about working with Mowellens because Amy comes from a biochemistry background, so she's really done her technical homework on CBD."

Heyday Los Angeles

Heyday

As Pollak sees it, Heyday isn't merely pouncing on a fly-by-night trend, but investing in the early stages of the auspicious collision of cannabis and self-care. "With the legal landscape around CBD (and marijuana) shifting quickly at the state level, it's probably stating the obvious that this niche of the industry will continue to grow," he said. "It's a bit Wild West right now, but I see the skincare and product side of CBD moving towards separating what's efficacious from convenient, of-the-moment marketing. I also think that we'll begin to see CBD integrated into skincare products in a way where it's merely part of an effective formula without being specifically called out as a star."