Why Cannabis is the Next Big Thing in Skincare

Guest post by Bridget May of Little Green Bee.

Why Is Cannabis the Next Big Thing in Skin Care? One Word: Antioxidants

It’s common knowledge today that cannabis topicals are great pain relievers — a good cannabis balm can alleviate muscle and joint pain caused by injuries and soothe the aches of daily living. But did you know that topical application of cannabis can also help keep your skin looking young and healthy?

The Importance of Quality Skin Care Ingredients

When I’m looking for a great product for my skin, I read the ingredient list hoping to find the things that I know are proven to work. This may mean reading a lot of labels (and a lot of scientific articles!) but it’s important to know what you are putting on your skin. It’s the body’s biggest organ, after all. The two most important types of ingredients I look for are antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, and if you keep reading you’ll see why. Cannabis is abundant in both antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, and a very cool little-known fact is that our skin has natural built-in receptors for cannabis. For these reasons, cannabis just might be the most important ingredient we’ve all been missing from our skin regimen.

A good skin cream or serum will do three things: protect against, prevent, and (if we are lucky) reverse the signs of aging. If we look at what is causing the damage on a cellular level, which shows up as pre-mature aging of the skin, we can apply that knowledge to our choice of ingredients.

Oxidative Stress

While free radicals are formed during the natural process of daily living, too many free radicals cause oxidative stress, which, in the case of our skin, can show up as wrinkles, loss of collagen, spots, reduced elasticity, and other signs of aging. Pollution, fried foods, sun, pesticides, alcohol, smoking — yes, even smoking cannabis — all contribute to the formation of free radicals in our bodies. Our bodies’ natural defense system against free radicals are antioxidants, which neutralize them before they cause damage to our cells. Premature aging and skin damage caused by oxidative stress occurs when there are more free radicals than there are antioxidants to neutralize them.

Hand reaching towards sunshine through the trees

What Are Free Radicals?

You’ve probably heard of them, right? The cells in our body are made up of molecules, which are made of atoms, which contain electrons. When a molecule is in its relaxed state it has an outer shell filled with electrons. When it loses an electron due to stresses such as those I mention above, it becomes agitated or ‘excited’ and tries to fill it by stealing one from another atom.

These uncharged, unpaired molecules are called free radicals and they are highly reactive and can cause damage to proteins and DNA in our tissues and organs, and if we don’t protect against them, they can cause a domino effect of further damage. This loss of electrons is also called oxidation. Don’t get me wrong; some free radicals are used by our immune system to destroy invading microbes, so they aren’t all bad. But many that originate from toxins outside the body, such as chemical pollutants, UV rays and parabens, are dangerous to our health and take a lot of energy to neutralize.

When an electron gets stolen from one molecule it can start a chain reaction by leaving another molecule with an empty spot to fill, sort of like musical chairs. Only in this case, there is always one empty chair left, and that’s the problem! What cell damage means to your skin is: loss of collagen and firmness, wrinkles and fine lines and sometimes cancer. Chronic inflammation is one of the causes of free radical formation and oxidative stress, which can lead to these age-related diseases.

Antioxidants to the Rescue

The role of antioxidants in our bodies (and our skin!) is to hunt for the free radicals and neutralize them before they do any damage. This is where cannabis comes in. Cannabinoids like THCTHCA and CBD all have both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties (in fact, they have been shown to be even stronger antioxidants than vitamins C and E), and because our bodies’ natural endocannabinoid system includes a multitude of cannabis receptors in our skin, it makes a lot of sense to have cannabinoids in products for your face and neck. Our bodies do produce endogenous antioxidants internally, and they do a good job protecting us from the barrage of invaders and toxins around us. But if we expose ourselves to body stressors such as excessive sun, smoggy air, unhealthy foods, or skin products containing harmful ingredients — we may need a boost. Note: I find the Environmental Working Groups’s website super helpful to look up an ingredient to get a quick idea of whether it’s good or bad. The caveat here is that this site has been known to be a bit “Chicken Little” at times, so take it with a grain of salt. Always more to learn!

plate full of skin healthy colorful foods

5 Ways to Prevent and Repair Aging Skin Now

I don’t mean to scare the twenty- and thirty-somethings reading this, but trust me, when you get a little older you will be kicking yourself for not doing more preventive maintenance sooner. I think I can safely say the rest of us of a certain age are! I thought sunscreen was just to prevent burning, but actually, the damage that causes wrinkles comes from different wavelengths than the ones that cause a burn. So just because you aren’t turning red doesn’t mean your skin is not being damaged. That all shows up later after years of incremental exposure. AND, any sun exposure, even while wearing a sunscreen can cause damage. That’s why you need antioxidants to pump up your body’s ability to fight. With that in mind, here are five simple but highly effective steps you can take now to prevent and repair your skin:

  1. Wear a good sunscreen.
  2. Drink plenty of water.
  3. Eat the rainbow! Colorful fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants and ingesting them is a great way to keep the free radicals in check internally.
  4. Reduce chronic inflammation by getting sufficient sleep and exercise.
  5. Apply topical forms of antioxidants such as serums and moisturizers directly to your skin every day. There is real scientific evidence out there that this works.


Bridget May is founder of Little Green Bee, a medical cannabis company that produces potent topicals made with cannabis to treat pain and inflammation and to protect the skin, including medicated massage oil, eye cream, and serum for the face, neck and décolleté.