Could CBG be the skincare and wellness hero you’re looking for?

Perhaps you already know what CBD is, but have you caught up on CBG yet?

Six years ago you’d call me crazy if I told you the key ingredient in your salad dressing, face cream, dog treat, hair oil and joint-relief ointment is cannabis. Discovered in 1940, cannabinoid—or the not-so-elusive-anymore CBD—became mainstream a few years ago. However, cannabis’ rep began to get re-established as it slowly infiltrated our daily lives, becoming a safe and appropriate topic at dinner-table conversations, a discussion—and usage—once restricted only to labs and stoner circles.

CBD is still quite nascent commercially in India and in many other countries. As many clinical studies would prove, it has antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory properties. Our Endocannabinoid System (ECS)—responsible for regulating the body’s processes like inflammation, mood, appetite, metabolism and memory—is assisted by cannabinoid receptors to maintain homeostasis (or balance) in the body.

I keep a tincture of ‘stress-relief’ CBD oil accessible for days when my ECS needs a nudge to relax. But as I, like many of you, slowly accept CBD in my everyday life, the plant is ready to offer what is called the ‘mother cannabinoid’ in the hemp world, claiming to heal your heart, skin and mood. So, CBD but better?

The greener side of the grass

CBG, or cannabigerol, is the mother cannabinoid—the precursor to the other cannabinoids, such as CBD. While it does similar things to our body like CBD, CBG has its own unique qualities. According to Melissa Hago, VP of Beauty & Wellness at global trend forecasting agency, Fashion Snoops, inflammation is emerging as a central focus in wellness. “The key area that we’re seeing CBG emerge in is within inflammation, pain relief and stress reduction,” she says. Furthermore, it can calm your skin too. Touted as “the skin cannabinoid,” CBG contains naturally pain-relieving and inflammation-reducing properties. “Aside from facial conditions like acne, it also works on skin conditions including rosacea and eczema, and has shown promise for treating psoriasis,” says Hago.

Casey Georgeson, who launched the floral-infused, clean skincare brand Saint Jane in January 2019, expected sales to gain traction gradually. But in their first three months, the brand was picked up by major retailers in the United States like Sephora, Credo and Neiman Marcus. Today, a lot of Saint Jane’s products include CBG, like their very first night cream—Sacred Sleep Overnight Repair—which, in addition to retinol and CBD, has CBG. “CBG is a very precious and expensive cannabinoid and recent studies have demonstrated its potential therapeutic abilities for the heart, appetite and mood," she says.

For beauty, thanks to its antioxidant- and nutrient-dense profile, it is a true skincare superhero with antibacterial properties,” she says. According to Delhi-based dermatologist Geetika Mittal Gupta, CBG is beneficial for those with dry or severely dry skin, “It has shown a lot of promise in terms of keeping moisture in the skin, and aids in the prevention of early signs of ageing by keeping skin moisturised.” Her bet is on CBG as a candidate for acne treatment because, in addition to lowering inflammation, relaxing topical pain and preventing bacterial development, it has shown promise as an anti-microbial agent.

Roy Lipski, CEO of Creo—a California-based ingredients technology company that focuses on producing cannabinoids using the natural process of fermentation—has conduced research CBG’s efficacy for potential cosmetic and personal care formulations. They found that it affects genes involved in the skin’s circadian rhythm, skin irritation, skin barrier and skin tone. All of this potentially means that in the foreseeable future, CBG may be the key ingredient in blemish-spot treatments, as scar-repair balms, within rich anti-aging formulations, soothing lotions, as well as muscle-relief, stress-relief and sleep-enhancing tinctures.

CBD versus CBG

But how different is CBG really from CBD? “The key difference is in their mechanisms, and how they interact with the naturally occurring endocannabinoid compounds and receptors in our bodies, which are a key part of the nervous system that deal with pain sensations, mood, sleep and many critical functions,” says Hago. “While CBD works by boosting and regulating endocannabinoid compounds, CBG directly impacts the endocannabinoid receptors.” Mittal Gupta adds, “Because research on CBG and CBD is still in its early stages, we can't say whether CBG is healthier for skin than CBD. Full-spectrum CBD, on the other hand, has a variety of components, including CBG, so if you use full-spectrum CBD in your skincare routine, you'll reap the benefits of both.”

The roadblocks

Apart from being an extremely expensive and precious process, making CBG accessible to the world comes with its own set of obstacles. In India, it starts at the root—destigmatising the plant. Indian social enterprise Himalayan Hemp that works on preserving the indigenous variety of cannabis and hemp plants in the Himalayan Range, focuses on implementing a cooperative model to create eco-conscious products by the marginalised communities residing in the mountains. CEO Haneesh Katnawer says that one of their key priorities is working towards eradicating taboos associated with hemp.

“We face constant challenges in terms of the loopholes in the supply chain, lack of consistent availability of raw material, restricted cultivation, lack of organised funding and lack of community understanding in the fellow hemp companies.” says Katnawer. For brands, it affects their selling and education processes. “Marketing is an essential part of any business, but because our products include CBD, we were not able to use the marketing tools that every other beauty brand has at their disposal, like digital advertising, especially during our first year of business,” says Georgeson. She relied heavily on retail partners and the media for brand awareness. “Three years into the business, we’re still dealing with many of these issues, although there have been some small wins.” She, along with her team, thinks of it as a challenge to think outside of the box.

The future is green, but gradual

Harvesters like Creo work towards enabling the creation of value-added cannabinoid products that help people everywhere, at scale and in a more environmentally sustainable way, using advanced biology instead of the cannabis plant. CBG, however, has to fight a few battles before it can find prime space on wellness shelves across the world. For one, it is fairly difficult and expensive to extract, and harder to produce than other cannabinoids. Katnawer also points out the limitation of the availability of the cannabinoid in the plant because it is found mostly in the initial growth times of the plant and later on, most of it gets converted into CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). “That, and the lack of adequate research in terms of commercialisation potential is yet to be observed,” he says.

Hago predicts there will be a desire to learn more about different parts of the cannabis plant. Brands will experiment with hybrid formulas that naturally complement and strengthen each other, like terra/form, that uses CBD and CBG together in several of their products. Several health and beauty brands across the world have been exploring new cannabis compounds in their formulations. They are making the plant their primary ingredient: like Happy Dance, a line of premium CBD skincare from Kristen Bell; Fifth and Root, a brand that works with scientists and herbalists to craft plant-based skincare products; and Saint Jane.

Indian wellness brands like Awshad, India Hemp Organics and Boheco Life, too, seem to follow suit by offering CBD-infused products. Though the introduction and future of CBG in the country might be a gradual process, it isn’t something that’s bizarre or unthinkable. One thing is for sure: CBD, CBG or bring us any other form of the plant—cannabis is commonplace now. In a world where a little calm can do a lot to quell the chaos, a few drops of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid in our smoothie or serum only seems fair.

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