Best carrier oils for cbd salves, balms and other topicals. skin care

I want to start a thread for TOPICAL CBD PRODUCTS ONLY. (there are other threads for other thoughts). i have made many topical products over the years which i call CBD or THC Salves, some with better feedback than others. so i know some things work better for some conditions but don’t really understand the science behind it.

my main question is what carrier oils work best for absorbing CBDs through the skin? i have used MCT, olive and hemp seed oil as well as just 99% CBD isolate in shea butter .

second question is Isolate vs broad spectrum(BHO) vs traditional butters(Shea, coconut) and hemp flower simmered in a big pot.

my thought here is that less may be more as far as isolate working better than full spectrum pulls that may have extra plant materials blocking absorption.

as i now farm organic hemp, i am tempted to lean to using my hemp flower as much as possible but i see that the isolate may work better.

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You will always want to use extracts to formulate your topicals. There is a limit to the molecular size of compounds that can be carried transdermally, so if your active ingredients are all bound up in these high molecular weight compounds it’ll have a harder time absorbing and you’ll get more of a residue.

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Has anyone used cold/non-equilibrium plasma for topical infusion?

You are saying that cooking flower in shea butter or coconut oil would pull cannabinoids in a molecular compound too large to be adsorbed through the skin? it seems to work for some pain though not as well as the isolate based salve.
what about heating the flower in straight MCT oil to brake down molecular bonds, filtering that and adding it to the shea or whatever butter base?
also with isolate in shea butter is a carrier oi like MCT helpful?

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The solvent you are using (MCT, Shea, cocoa, whatever you’re soaking your bud in) is not the issue. The issue is doing a dirty biomass extraction with said solvent. You will always pull compounds that partially inhibit effective transdermal absorbtion when doing a warm extraction, and your product will be inconsistent due to variability in the input material. Always better to start with a clean extract that contains all the desired components and none of the undesirables, then dissolve at the desired concentration in your desired carrier/solvent.

Addition: if you want a truly full spectrum, yet well filtered hemp extract, reach out to @AppalachianExtractor or @Apothecary36
both of whom utilize hydrocarbons to extract high quality hemp.

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ok, i hear you on the concentrate being better than flower for topical.
on this batch i will use the concentrates i have on hand, CBD BHO and pure CBD Isolate mixed with pure shea butter this time.
any thought on adding MCT as a better carrier oil for the CBD and CBDa in the concentrates?
any thoughts on heating vs keeping it low temp? (when i did the traditional herbal extraction i decarbed the flower in the oven first)

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With the traditional herbal extraction salves I have noticed them “sweating” on certain batches with beads of moisture on top after awhile. Not great for retail.

Have been using a food dehydrator to eliminate moisture/decarb before processing, seems to work.

CBDa is wonderfully anti inflammatory, so I would only use as much heat as is needed to get everything homogenous. MCT oil will certainly assist in the absorbtion over having Shea butter only,

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Realistically cannabinoids will not readily permeate the skin in MCT or any “carrier oil”. There maybe some localized effects from using this type of topical but to really get your CBD to get under your skin you would need to create a Nano emulsion. This encapsulated form would allow your CBD to pass through the skin and work its way deeper into the problem area it is being applied. I have used both MCT based and nano emulsion topicals and the difference is night and day. I think the more pure your concentrated cannabinoids the better off you’ll be getting them to complete transdermal absorption. When extracting your compounds my personal favorite is super chilled Ethanol. This will allow you to skip winterization that you would have to go through with BHO to crash out undesirables. That being said you would still need to preform some type of distillation process in order to get your CBD more pure.

CBDa absorbs at a much higher rate. Just watch your temperatures when mixing. Get your mix too hot and you’ll convert the CBDa.

Nanoemulsions absorb better due to their water soluble components. If you can create a stable self emulsifying liquid with both polar and nonpolar bits, you’ll experience just as good of relief as with a nanoemulsion

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Just to add, I went to Esthetician School and also created my own healing botanical line that included two salves. Jojoba Oil is the closest oil to our natural body oil. It is very expensive though/ so cutting it with another oil may assist you in achieving what you want. I’m not a Chemist but have experimented with different recipes/ went to school for skincare. Hope this helps! Best of luck, I love CBD salves! Such a great healing product

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Jojoba oil is a great carrier oil. I second that. Also makes our skin look extra pretty (but really it does).

To add to that: Jojoba wax I may like even more since it’s got more of a butter consistency and isn’t as heavily pigmented. All of the jojoba oil I’ve had is always a deep golden color which looks good but can stain clothing which may deter customers from using it. Jojoba wax is a very light beige color and has a very nice feel to it. Spreading it has a very satisfying feel to it which is honestly a huge factor in cosmetics. I recommend trying it out.

Nerolidol and a couple special glycerine esters are the tech for absorption. Also reduce the greasiness on the skin after. Nanoemulsion is overrated unless you’re trying to make CBD water or something.

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Are you willing to share which glycerin esters you are referring to?

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This may be a poor suggestion or idea but what’s your thoughts on DMSO? Again this may be a poor idea but I’m curious. :v:

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Dmso is effective at bringing things through the skin, but have you ever ingested or rubbed on even 0.25ml of DMSO? Your sweat and breath become repulsive to everyone around you and is not suitable for a commercial product

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Not everyone experiences that effect but yes I know of that possibility. I was more curious about any worse reasons. I’m not using it I was just curious :v:

Its pretty safe and effective but the VAST majority of people end up smelling repulsive after use. Just doesnt make it a viable commercial product but works fine for solo use if youre fine with being stinky

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