Beauty Brand Kush Queen to Release All-CBD Product Line
Kush Queen’s existing CBD products include bright pink bath bombs. Image Credit: By Carolin Winkler on shutterstock.
Just when you thought the world — and the beauty industry specifically — had reached peak CBD mania, wellness brand Kush Queen announced that they’re releasing a whole new line of makeup products infused with CBD oil.
Known as Kingdm, the line’s first product is a primer, which is already available on Kush Queen’s website. A setting spray is due to follow on October 1, followed by a 20-shade foundation on November 1st. The brand, which was founded in 2015 by Olivia Alexander, says they’re working on an eyeshadow palette too.
Although Kingdm is Kush Queen’s first foray into makeup, this isn’t the brand’s maiden voyage into the murky waters of CBD. In fact, they’ve made quite a name for themselves within wellness circles thanks to their range of CBD-infused bath bombs, as well as a growing selection of topicals and edibles. Last year, the company announced a strategic partnership with Connected Cannabis Co., a top California-based cannabis dispensary chain.
“Since inception, Kush Queen has been committed to the highest standards and ingredients, innovation, education and offering a modern perspective on medicine and wellness to the world,” Alexander told MarketWatch. “Connected Cannabis shares our vision, beliefs, and standards, so receiving this investment from them is held in the highest regard. We are excited to work and grow together!”
Since then, Kush Queen has added womenswear label Alice + Olivia to their growing list of partners. As part of their collaboration, they’re developing a line of CBD wellness products which launches on September 1. The line will include a bath bomb, a body lotion, and a bubble bath.
“When learning about Kush Queen, and Olivia [Alexander], I immediately saw the alignment of our brands with her empowerment of women through wellness,” as Stacey Bendet, CEO and creative director at Alice + Olivia, told Paper Magazine.
What’s In Kush Queen’s New CBD Collection?
All of the products in the Kingdm line are (or will be) manufactured in Los Angeles using Kush Queen’s exclusive patent-pending Amplifi™ nanotechnology. The technology, according to their website, reduces the size of CBD molecules to just 25 nanometers, making them 2,000 times smaller than a pore. In theory, this means that the oil can be fully absorbed into the skin when the products are applied.
Increasingly, brands are using nanotechnologies to increase CBD’s bioavailability for products ranging from sleep-promoting tinctures to pain-reducing topicals, which is thought to intensify their effects. Another CBD wellness brand, Living Water, recently explained to Forbes that their CBD water “has 2.5 milligrams of CBD per bottle, but due to the nano application, you can get up to nine times the effect.”
In addition to harnessing this technology, the not-so-affordable $40 Foto Blur primer from Kush Queen is vegan (a growing trend in CBD skin care) and isn’t tested on animals — although this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s cruelty-free. It’s also free of artificial ingredients like parabens, fragrances, and phthalates. The primer is described by Kush Queen as having a silky texture that doesn’t dry out during the day and could reduce breakouts, redness, and irritation. However, there aren’t any reliable reviews of it at this time.
Foto Blur contains 250 mg of CBD isolate, which means it doesn’t have any high-inducing THC — although even full spectrum CBD products (which are generally regarded as more effective) are limited to 0.3 percent THC, which isn’t enough to cause intoxicating effects. While lots of people love the purity that isolate oils offer, there is a distinct downside to them: mainly, CBD isolate has been proven to be less effective than full spectrum oils. Studies show that cannabinoids like CBD are much more effective when used in conjunction with each other and other cannabis compounds like terpenes.
Kush Queen’s choice to use a CBD isolate in their products is interesting to say the least, and calls to mind the beauty executive who testified at a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hearing in May that the use of CBD in skin care products was less about its actual effects and more about marketing. It’s also a curious decision considering that Kush Queen plans to release a THC-rich line of beauty products in the near future (though unlike the CBD-only products, you’ll only be able to get these in states where cannabis is legal).
As Alexander told Allure, “Especially the foundation, it really does get you high. That’s really what I’m most excited about, not only the creation of a beauty product inside a dispensary but seeing how far we can push this boundary of experimental beauty.”
There’s still no detailed information available about these THC-rich products from Kush Queen — nor their to-be-released CBD-only ones —but chances are you’ll be hearing a lot about them before long.
