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Each bottle comes with 1,000 mg of CBD
Image: Mashable Composite/Lord Jones
? Mashable Score 3.0
I’ve been using Lord Jones’ new multi-purpose CBD product, Royal Oil, for the past two weeks. Do I like it? Yes. Do I recommend it? God, I don’t know.
Marketed for „CBD purists,” Royal Oil is the company’s most concentrated CBD offering to date. (It’s also the highest-concentrated CBD product available at Sephora.) Each bottle contains 1,000 milligrams of CBD, which means one full dropper contains 40 milligrams. This makes it about four times more potent than Lord Jones’ CBD tincture.
The other key difference: While the tincture contains five ingredients (CBD, grapeseed oil, hemp seed oil, stevia, and either peppermint or lemon oil for flavor), the Royal Oil contains just two: CBD and grapeseed oil. It’s truly a CBD product for the CBD enthusiast.
The royal experience
If you’re taking the oil orally, Lord Jones recommends holding it under your tongue for a minute before swallowing. If you have sensitive taste buds, this might be an issue — Royal Oil does not taste particularly good. Because it’s only made of grapeseed oil and „broad spectrum CBD,” you’ll feel like you’re drinking cooking oil. (There is a mild cannabis scent, but I didn’t notice it after a while.) But if you’re looking for something unflavored? Royal Oil is your girl.
As with Lord Jones’ CBD tinctures, which I’d used and liked previously, taking a full dropper of Royal Oil before bed made me feel a bit more relaxed — if not sleepier, than at least more even. However, I didn’t feel a stronger effect with the oil than I did with the other tinctures. And I had to take a full dropper of the oil to feel any relaxing effects at all. When I took half a dropper, I felt nothing.
If you can’t handle the oil’s taste, using it as a „booster” for drinks and snacks is a good workaround. Perhaps you would enjoy drizzling some CBD oil onto your guacamole? I noticed no difference between CBD guacamole and regular guacamole, but maybe you will.
You don’t have to ingest Royal Oil orally, though. It’s designed to be versatile, which helps justify the price. For instance, it can be applied topically to the face or body, which makes it a strong candidate for those looking to test CBD’s genuinely exciting potential in the skincare department. Unfortunately, I could not put Royal Oil on my face — historically, grapeseed oil has made me break out. (Everyone’s skin is different, though — it’s worth noting that a lot of people love grapeseed oil as a moisturizer.) I did use it on my body after dry-brushing, which was a pleasant experience. It absorbed quickly and made my skin feel soft and supple, but it was not particularly earth-shattering.
The trouble with CBD
It’s worth noting that I am not the CBD purist for which this product is designed. In fact, I’m ambivalent about CBD in general. Before I tried Royal Oil, I’d been using the tincture for a few months, and I’d found taking a dropper before bed to be mildly and pleasantly relaxing. Or at least I thought it was. Even when I thought I was feeling tangible benefits, I couldn’t shake the nagging thought that it all might be a placebo.
After all, CBD’s actual effects — and how much CBD it takes to feel them — are extremely nebulous. For one thing, a lot of CBD enthusiasts don’t know how much they should be taking. Dr. Esther Blessing, an assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine, told the New York Times last year that CBD was „the most promising drug that has come out for neuropsychiatric diseases in the last 50 years.” However, she also pointed out that most CBD products don’t contain enough CBD per dose to guarantee impact. „A CBD coffee may only have five milligrams in it,” she said. „In order to treat anxiety, we know you need around 300 milligrams.”
It’s worth noting that I am not the CBD purist for which this product is designed.
300 milligrams is nearly a third of a bottle of Royal Oil. (I do not recommend chugging it.)
Is it worth the price?
Here’s the elephant in the room: Royal Oil costs $100. Is it worth it?
As with most CBD products I’ve tried, I didn’t have a bad experience with Royal Oil. Sometimes, I even had a hunch it was making me feel better. But if your relationship with CBD is like mine — if you’re not quite a devotee — this is a riskier buy than necessary. The $60 tincture, while still expensive, could be a better bet. If you know you just want a topical, consider giving the brand’s High CBD Formula Body Oil a try.
On the other hand, Royal Oil could be a good option if you’ve tried and liked Lord Jones’ tincture and are looking for something more potent. Its versatility is also a draw. If you want an ingestible CBD product that can also be used topically, it’s more likely to be worth the squeeze.
Reviewing CBD products is difficult business. What’s dubiously effective to me might be perfect for you. If you want to dive into CBD for medical reasons, though, be sure to talk to your doctor first. One thing we can all agree on: When you drop $100, it’s best to do it wisely.