Health & Wellness

Budding Beauty with Jen Newton

Cannabis emerged as one of my earliest and most consistent habits of self-care, quickly revealing itself as a revered ritual: a choiceful behaviour, a mindful process—an experience just for me.

For me, that’s when the gift of self-care rituals—of thoughtfully using plants and herbs to better manage our daily lives—began to bloom. I started seeking herbal remedies over pharmaceutical, brewing teas to treat health ailments, adding floral essences to baths. All of it, and the mindfulness to go along with it, ushered in by the weed we know and love.

CBD and hemp-derived ingredients are some of the most moisture-packed, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant inputs on the marketplace. The transition also allows brands to evolve their product formulations to be vegan, as CBD is a substitute for beeswax (a common thickening agent used in the beauty and personal care industry), and unlocking a growing segment of new consumers for brands to reach.

Read on for some of the most intriguing cannabis self-care products budding up in Canada’s marketplace and how they help carry me through my day. This is HIGHTEA.life.

I rise bleary-eyed, a result of last evening’s shenanigans. Realizing this will require more than just a lemon-water, I whip up my signature green smoothie alongside a creamy hot coconut milk coffee. I’ve been experimenting with adding collagens and other nutraceuticals to my morning brews. Today I dose both with a few drops of Veryvell Exhale CBD drops: water-soluble, tasteless tinctures by Truss Beverages (available in CBD, 1:1 & THC formulas) designed to disappear in your favourite beverage, so you can dose your own way.

I’m talking to the woman in the mirror and I’m asking her for some help for my skin. I turn to the Ho Karan skincare line, a vegan French cannabis beauty brand entering the Canadian market. This standout skin brand is rich in active cannabis plant oils, which features cannabis sativa oil (to moisturize), cannaflavins (to protect the skin from oxidative stress), cannabis sativa essential oils (to maintain the natural balance of skin flora), Inca Inchi seed oil to stimulate the regeneration of keratin, and Tsubaki oil to increase the synthesis of photocollagen.

I slather the Cannabooster Énergie all over face and décolletage (an energizing serum that also boasts a dose of powerful Vitamin C) and follow up with L’huile Stupéfiante, a nourishing face and body oil I’ve been using on the ends of my hair as well (don’t tell).

I finish off with a few cranks of the eyelash curler and reach forMILK Makeup’s High-Volume Kush Mascara, a cult-favourite mascara blend that touts hemp-derived cannabis seed oil to condition and fuse the mascara fibres to the lashes. Our beauty habits these days require a return to natural beauty as best we can. There’s no place for eyelash extensions in a post-Covid world, nourishing our natural assets with care may require more patience than we’re used to, but is worth it versus any quick-fix.

My feet are aching after my long walk across the city; a combination of over-achieving my 10K daily steps and consistently poor (but cute) footwear decisions. I reach for Calyx Wellness’ Smooth CBD lotion, a 600mg-CBD moisturizing lotion formulated with hemp-derived CBD. Also infused with soothing natural active plant essences like lavender (for reducing stress) and sandalwood (for anti-inflammatory benefits), it’s an ideal product for pain reduction while nourishing my skin to feel fresh and soft.

Right out of the bath I reach for Apothecanna’s Extra Strength Relieving Body Cream. I put this sh*t on everything that hurts—achy elbows from tennis, creaky hips from my walk, shin splints, you name it—and wake feeling relieved and less-inflamed the next day. The brand has a wide lineup of cannabis wellness products (from pain relieving, to skincare, personal intimacy oils, even bug spray) that are destined to take a more holistic place in the household medicine cabinet. Apothecanna demonstrates full-spectrum understanding of a woman’s holistic health and wellness needs.

Until next time,

HIGHTEA.life