While we fade out of the summer and into the fall and winter seasons, a lot of our beauty and skincare routines are adjusting, but there’s one active ingredient that can always remain constant: CBD. In the beauty industry, CBD is known to reduce inflammation and redness in the skin and as a non-psychoactive compound of marijuana, it is often used for anxiety management as tinctures and topical creams, lotions and serums. Hemp-derived CBD, often confused with marijuana-derived THC, can come in the form of gummies, chocolates, bath bombs and more, but the important part of integrating the compound into your routine is doing what is best and most comfortable for you.
As the founder of Toastyy, a CBD wellness brand for women, Jamie Lea agrees that there is an apparent void in the cannabis industry that needs to be filled by an effective and impactful representative of Black women and women of color in the industry. While her experience thus far has been “positive” and “gradual,” Lea often noticed herself being the only Black woman — or sometimes the only woman — in a room full of white men. “I didn’t feel like I was represented or sometimes I’m not fully understood or I felt like I had to code-switch,” she admitted to ESSENCE. As she networked more with Black women in the cannabis field, Lea gained more expertise and realized the importance of connecting with other women and Black folks in the cannabis business. “We can help each other without it feeling, I don’t know, not understood fully.”
Lea founded the Toastyy brand as a former Uber executive launching VR dining experiences and while she already was business savvy from her corporate life and had the entrepreneurial drive, her experience as an athlete fueled her fire. “I’m a retired athlete myself and I’ve had many surgeries or injuries from playing sports from the age of six, and then obviously way more hectic and heavy in college,” she says. “The drugs that they prescribed to me when I was recovering made me feel really bad. They didn’t make me feel good. I was constantly nauseous, sick or just didn’t feel any better. I got off all my prescriptions, which was pretty much Oxys and different things like that, I started weighing really heavy on cannabis and CBD, and it made a huge impact on my recovery.” In addition to being an admitted cannabis user and smoker since 17-years-old, Lea assumed her position as a new entrepreneur in the cannabis space and began to partner with the Last Prisoner Project to donate funds.
“The cannabis industry is 6% African American, and that’s absolutely bizarre considering we are the highest number of percentages that are still in jail and previously been in jail wrongfully convicted for the things that everyone else gets to do on our day-to-day,” Lea says. “I wanted to jump on in and show younger Black women that maybe bud tenderers or wanting to launch a cannabis product to say, ‘Hey, if I can do it, you can do it too.’ It’s really important that we have that type of representation for generations to come and other women that want to branch into the space but feel intimidated or like they have no one to rely on and lean on for help and understanding.”
Below, check out these CBD-infused beauty and wellness brands including tinctures, gummies, and infused skincare. Get your shopping cart ready and stock up on these potential stocking stuffers!
Buena Botanical‘s Spa Bundle including 28 MG Bath Bar, 30 MG Bath Bomb & Face/Body Cream (Price: $41.00 – $66.50)
Highline Wellness’ Premium CBD Energy Gummies + Caffeine (Price: $29.00)
Lure‘s 1000MG Non-Intoxicating Premium Hemp-Derived CBD Tinctures (Price: $95.00)
Undefined Beauty‘s Indigo Rose CBD-Infused Glow Elixir (Price: $10.00)
Sky Wellness‘ THC-Free CBD Lavender Body Glow Butter (Price: $42.99)
Toastyy‘s Hand & Body 500MG CBD Lotion (Price: $55.99)
5to9 Wellness‘ Mind Unwind Powerful Herbal Tea Concentrate (Price: $64.00)
TribeTokes’ CBD Pumpkin Peel| Enzymes & Glycolic Stimulates Cell Turnover. (Price: $15-65)
SPERO CBD’s high-performance CBD tinctures in ‘Pure’ and ‘Peppermint’ (Price: $64.95)
BROWN GIRL Jane‘s 1000MG Aromatic Body Oil (Price: $82.00)
FORIA Wellness‘ CBD-infused ‘The Quickie Kit’ (Price: $44.00)
TribeTokes‘ CBD-Infused 500 MG Gummy Bears (Price: $45.00 – $105.00)
noyah‘s Food_Grade CBD Vanilla Lip Balm (Price: $5.00)
JustBeauty CBD‘s Eye Divine Lightweight, Nourishing Eye Serum (Price: $48.00)