My gateway drug into the world of CBD was topicals. Initially, I considered CBD to be a placebo effect, and didn’t really believe in its healing power. But after I began using CBD balms for relief post-yoga, I quickly realized there was nothing placebo about this alternative to THC, and even as someone who doesn’t really enjoy smoking or ingesting marijuana that much, using it to help heal my muscles and calm anxiety opened up a whole new appreciation for weed.
As I started wading slowly into the many, many brands that had begun offering CBD tinctures and balms, one that stood out to me immediately was Humble Flower. Not only was the packaging on point, but the formulations were focused not just on CBD, but aromatherapy, herbal blends that enhanced the power of marijuana, the plant, and centering their formulation in the world of herbal healing where it truly belongs.
And if the above doesn’t make it clear, the brand was formulated and founded by two women, Jordan Darian and Thea Wayne, who met a decade ago in Humboldt County while attending Humboldt State University. Jordan was already cultivating cannabis, and returned to school to find a community and some social life beyond her garage grow room. After they met, Thea began helping Jordan grow cannabis, and the experience really opened her eyes. “For me, helping her cultivate was my first view into indoor cannabis, and cannabis in general,” Thea said. “And the fact that she was pretty much doing it on her own as a woman was incredible to see. I was mesmerized.”
Eventually, it became clear the two would be great partners, as Jordan’s experience with cannabis paired perfectly with Thea’s background in business. Collaborating with Thea’s mother, who is a hospice nurse and an herbalist, they began working in earnest on formulations for a line of CBD products.“Thea’s mom Jennifer is also a hospice nurse, and she’s an incredible lady,” Jordan said. “She’s a very kind soul, a lot of love and care goes into everything she does, and having her be the person who really helped formulate created a really solid foundation that she helped build.”
Founding Humble Flower three years ago after marijuana was legalized in California, Thea and Jordan have been working to create a space for CBD products that are accessible for women who don’t feel connected to weed culture, or who have been turned off by the stoner stigma. As one of the only luxury topicals on the market, their packaging makes the line look more like high-end skincare line than a weed product. “Part of the reason we’ve branded so elegantly and made it look like it could be on the shelf of a very nice store is because we don’t want any of the stoner stigma attached,” Jordan explained. “And we want the product to be really potent because that’s changing as well, we’re the most potent on the market. It’s not just a pretty bottle.”
The Humble Flower line includes a Body Lotion that comes either unscented or with jasmine and rose ($75), a Body Oil with ylang ylang and lavender ($80), and two sizes of a Relief Balm formulated with clary sage and arnica (priced at $90 and $40). All of their products are excellent, but the body oil is the one that I really fell in love with, and now I use it every day when I get out of the shower, before putting lotion on. It eases the daily buzz of my anxiety, soothe any sore muscles, and keeps my skin lush and hydrated even in the dryest LA months. I wasn’t super familiar with ylang ylang before using this product, but now it’s one of my favorite scents and I can even pick it out of perfumes.
While the price point might seem a little high for some, consider that all the herbs and ingredients used by Humble Flower are vegan, ethically-sourced, and the highest quality possible. They used broad spectrum CBD grow organically in Colorado in their formulations, prioritizing a CBD that is extracted from the entirety of the hemp plant, a process that provides additional terpenes, wellness benefits and CBD related cannabinoids. These products are really another form of skincare, with the added benefit of addressing mental health, and helping heal your body, too.
Between the Italian glass bottles, stylish closures, and thoughtful, sophisticated packaging, Humble Flower is helping reposition CBD not as part of cannabis culture, but as part of the skincare and health space. “We wanted to destigmatize, because we wanted it to look nothing like cannabis,” Thea explained. “It could sit on a desk, and it does, or on your shelf out in the bathroom. The packaging is a great disarmer, it totally takes away the fear. People are comfortable with how it looks, so they’re comfortable with the experience.”
For the future, Jordan and Thea are working to expand their formulations into a face line, so if you’re ready to get a daily dose of CBD along with your moisturizer and eye cream, keep an eye out for their upcoming releases in 2020. But for anyone who is coping with anxiety, sore muscles, or just needs some extra hydration for their skin, I can’t recommend this subtle and sweet body oil enough.
