Hooray For Hemp!

Discover why this powerful plant can benefit your hair, skin and whole body!

- Natalie Millman

HEMP IS HITTING THE headlines in 2018 as one of the latest natural trends in skincare. But it has long suffered an image problem. Despite being grown in Britain since Roman times, it’s been marred by its association with marijuana, and the accompanying hippy vibe. While hemp and marijuana are both part of the cannabis family of plants, hemp has been bred to contain virtually no THC – the psychoactive compound in cannabis – so it definitely won’t get you high! Instead, hemp is thought to have around 25,000 uses including providing the raw materials for paper and fabric (the original Levi’s were said to be made from hemp), medicine, food and toiletries.

‘When used in cosmetics, hemp yields two main ingredients: hemp seed oil, which is produced by cold pressing the plant’s seeds, and CBD hemp oil, which comes from the seeds and stalks thanks to a CO2 extraction method,’ explains Lorraine Dallmeier, director of Formula Botanica (formulabotanica.com), the online organic cosmetic science school. ‘Both oils have great skincare benefits, because they contain vitamins, fatty acids, flavonoids and more,’ she says.