Skin care and growing cannabis are actually very similar practices for me. While this is my 20th year in the treatment room, it is only my third year in the cannabis industry, and I’ve come to learn that it is measured in dog years – for every single year of changes and advances in the industry it feels like three or more has passed. The common ground is simply that, like people, plants are organisms whose existence, health, and equilibrium rely on basic needs: air, water, sun, and sustenance. 

Just like plants, we operate as organisms in optimum pH. Internally, our bodies need to be slightly alkaline, meaning basic. Externally, skin is happiest functioning in a slightly acidic environment due to our acid mantel, the oil skin produces to protect our body from pathogens, provide hydration, and lock in moisture. Without our acid mantel, any little microbe or pathogen that lands on our skin could ultimately kill us. The soil a plant grows in depends on a particular acidity to thrive as well, and every plant has different needs. Without proper pH a plant can be stunted, sick, or even die. Thankfully, being a skin care professional rarely gets that serious. 

THE SKIN CARE-CANNABIS CONNECTION 

While there is so much overlap between our body composition and that of the cannabis plant, there is also a lot of overlap in the skin care and cannabis market. Both have an overabundance of products hitting the shelves on a daily basis. Some of them are good, some of them are great, and some of them leave a lot to be desired. Even as a professional, the competition for your attention is overwhelming, but the same common sense your superior education and pedigree has bestowed upon you as a skin care professional should be equally applied to your CBD and cannabis products as to your traditional skin care. First and foremost, know your state regulations regarding cannabis. While it is a cold hard fact that CBD does not produce a high, it is still a highly regulated ingredient on a federal and state level and demands respect, integrity, and understanding.  

There is an important lesson in the emerging market of ever expanding results-oriented cannabis products: there are many good products out there. They might not be legally compliant, but that doesn’t make them bad. It just makes them noncompliant (illegal). To flip the script, there are many legally compliant products coming out, and more to come as the industry expands, that may not be very good. Therefore, it is the skin care professional’s job to understand how to decipher the snake-oil from the good stuff. Consider this article an introduction to the process.  

Antonia Schreiber is a New York State licensed massage therapist, cosmetologist specializing in aesthetics science, and electrologist. With over 16 years’ experience in the industry, Schreiber’s work has brought her everywhere from the classroom to her certified green spa, the Windham Spa, to the United States Olympic Training Center and beyond. Outside of the treatment room she is a writer, speaker, and consultant with the New York State Department of Education, leading education firms and industry magazines. Antonia’s current passion projects include treatment research and development for burn patients, and assisting in the development of the United States Paralymic Bobsled and Skeleton Team.