Courtesy Beboe Therapies
CBD is still reigning supreme as beauty’s queen ingredient and with winter arriving early this year, it’s the perfect time to experiment with adding the cannabis compound into your skincare routine.
Offseason is also the perfect time to catch up on your self-care appointments, which is why I was excited to learn that local massage therapist and esthetician Pila Xian has just added a CBD facial to her treatment menu. As owner of Heaven On Earth — a day spa dedicated to high-altitude living — Xian has led the local scene in cannabis-infused services. In 2016, she became the first in town to offer a CBD massage and now is also the first providing a custom CBD facial (Remède Spa at the St. Regis and O2 Aspen only offer CBD oil as an add-on to skin treatments).
Xian is most known, though, as a partner practitioner of the celebrity-beloved Intraceuticals Oxygen Facial, which is an all-natural alternative to more common clinical facials that use acid peels and irritating scrubs. After incorporating CBD into her own skincare routine, she’s combining it with her most requested treatment for an even more moisturizing and healing result.
“I’ve been using CBD on my face regularly for the past two years,” Xian explains. “Its natural properties are very soothing and calming to the skin and since it’s an anti-inflammatory, it minimizes issues related to skin sensitivity, especially irritations and redness. CBD is also a powerful antioxidant, which neutralizes free radicals that attach to and damage healthy skin cells. This damage leads to wrinkles, dark spots and even worse, disease.”
As her first client to try the Deep CBD Oxygen Facial last week, I left her studio with my skin looking smoother, lighter and brighter than it has all year. Xian is still vetting an official CBD brand collaborator, but for now is using GlyMed Plus and Color Up Therapeutics. Here’s Heaven On Earth’s step-by-step process for its debut Deep CBD Intraceuticals Oxygen Facial, plus my personally tested product picks to try at home to help put your freshest and healthiest face forward.
Step 1: Double cleanse with CBD-infused cleanser
“CBD excites the CB1 and CB2 Receptors of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and enhances skin’s elasticity and resilience.”
High Country at-home: The Balancing Face Wash, Lab to Beauty, $40, labtobeauty.com
Step 2: Exfoliate
“I choose an exfoliant based on the client’s skin needs and ability. While the exfoliating enzymes do their magic (dissolving the top layer of dead skin cells), I perform an arm, shoulder and neck massage.”
High Country at-home: Bota Protective Skin Toner, $19.99, botahemp.com
Step 3: Extractions
“Depending on each client’s skin, I carefully and manually extract clogged pores and impurities. Please allow for an additional $28 fee and 15 extra minutes for this service.”
High Country at-home: Do not try this at home!
Step 4: Apply CBD mask and Intraceuticals Oxygen Facial treatment
“I first apply a CBD booster to the skin and then start the application of the oxygen wand. CBD is a powerful antioxidant, more powerful than Vitamins A, C and E (the most common used in skincare products), which help to protect our cells and their functions to keep them healthy and active, preventing premature aging in the skin. Following a CBD mask with my signature Intraceuticals Oxygen Facial, creates an even more moisturizing effect.”
High Country at-home: Beboe High Potency CBD Sheet Mask, $18, beboetherapies.com
Step 5: Apply CBD Serum
“I like to compare using facial serums to wearing a camisole. It’s a lightweight protector, but you wouldn’t go out in one without anything on top of it. Always apply serum underneath your daily moisturizer.”
High Country at-home: Saint Jane Luxury Beauty Serum, $125, saintjanebeauty.com
Step 6: Apply CBD Moisturizer
“Topical applications of CBD work to reduce inflammation on soft tissue. It works very quickly because of the multitude of CB2 receptors directly underneath the skin. When used this way, the CBD does not cross the blood/brain barrier and is non-psychoactive.”
High Country at-home: Grön Time-Reversing Face & Neck Cream, $50, shopgron.com
Step 7: Apply sunscreen
“Sunscreen is a twice a day, year-round necessity in the mountains! However, we haven’t yet seen CBD on the ingredient list for face formulas yet.”
High Country at-home: EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46, eltamd.com
Katie Shapiro can be reached at katie@katieshapiromedia.com and followed on Twitter @bykatieshapiro.