Why Hydrosol and Terpenes Matter To You

Mother Nature Knows Best

Have you ever heard the saying “Mother Nature Knows Best”? This is the idea that the natural state of a plant is its best, most impactful, most powerful state. 

One of our goals is to make all of our products as close to nature as possible - meaning that we want the properties of the fresh, whole living plant in our final CBD products. Why does this matter to you? Because these products can give you more results in smaller amounts.

Processing Hemp

When CBD products are made, it requires a long process that includes cultivating, harvesting, drying, and eventually extracting a hemp “oil.” While all of the details aren’t important for this conversation, what IS important is to create products that are as close to the fresh, live plant as possible. 

When hemp is processed,  we hang it up to slow dry (no really, we have hemp “clotheslines” where we hang it up to dry!) While this is a necessary step, it also poses a problem, because when you dry the hemp plant, all that moisture that evaporates isn’t just “water.” Terpenes, hydrosol, and more wonderful compounds evaporate - and are lost. You can read more about terpene extraction HERE. 

The Magic of Steam Distillation

Now, this is where steam distillation comes in! Before our hemp is dried, we put these fresh, live plants through a steam distillation process that creates a lightweight oil that’s mostly made up of hydrosol and terpenes. 

We capture, save, and reincorporate these components back into our products. Our goal isn’t to change or alter the natural state of the plant - our goal is to put these items that are traditionally lost back into our products in amounts similar to how they are found in the plant naturally - in its fresh and most potent state. 

What is Hydrosol?

Now that you’ve learned how we are able to save both hydrosol and terpenes, let’s get into what these components are - and why you should care. 

If you’re not familiar with the term hydrosol - don’t worry! You’re probably familiar with floral water (like rosewater) - the term people use for hydrosol outside of the cannabis world. Hydrosol is the “watery” part that comes from steam distillation. Think of it as “plant essence”. It retains the flavor and aroma of the fresh hemp plant it came from. But hydrosol does a lot more than just having the taste and flavor of the plant. It has other properties that can be helpful to your body.  

What Hydrosol Does For Your Skin

What happens when we put hydrosol on the skin? Hydrosol has a skin-cooling effect, and is useful to support your skin when dealing with skin irritation like rashes, bug bites, and many other irritations that are due to inflammation on the skin. So what happens when hydrosol is added to CBD products? I’m glad you asked! When we add hydrosol to our CBD Hydro Lotion, it does the following:

• Makes the lotion even more hydrating 
• Allows lotion to better absorb into your skin.
• Helps the other ingredients to better penetrate your skin - making their effects more noticeable.
• Better skin absorption means you receive more of the benefits of all the ingredients!
• Has a Skin-cooling Effect
• Supports your body in soothing inflammation that comes from things like rashes, bug bites, etc.

What are Terpenes?

The word “terpene” is thrown around a lot in the cannabis world. But if you aren’t familiar with it you aren’t missing out -  because we’re about to tell you that so much of what people think they know about terpenes is WRONG! 

Most people think “terpenes” describe only the aroma and flavor of cannabis. But it actually describes one of the most diverse chemical classes made by plants. It’s a very vague description - like if I were to say that the flavor of my favorite cheesecake (Tiramisu Cheesecake to be precise) is really good - rather than using more descriptive words - like the cheesecake tasting sweet, tart, creamy,  chocolatey, smooth, rich, etc.

So what is the proper term, then? One of the best ways to describe terpenes is to call them “cannabis essential oils.”  Cannabis essential oils (CEOs) are where the pleasant aroma of the cannabis plant comes from. Think of the vast variety of essential oils like lemon balm, peppermint, and lavender - and you can get a better picture of how there could be such a larger variety of cannabis essential oils - each with its own unique scent, flavor, and properties that can be beneficial to you. Read more about CEOs (terpenes) HERE.

What can Cannabis Essential Oils (CEOs) do for You?

Cannabis essential oils (don’t forget these are what people call terpenes) are an important part of CBD Hemp products. One reason is that cannabis essential oils promote the “entourage effect,” which you can read more about HERE.  Why does this matter? Because when your body experiences the entourage effect, that means that the terpenes, CBD, and all the other parts of the plant are working together to boost the effectiveness of CBD in your body. This translates to your body having a greater response at a smaller dose. And who doesn’t want more of a good thing?

Cannabis Essential Oils in CBD Products

Cannabis essential oils - like all essential oils - have unique properties that promote different responses in the body. You can read more about CEO’s and their unique properties HERE.  All CBD products have cannabis essential oils, but we take this one step further! By capturing the cannabis essential oils from the fresh hemp plant, we can select cannabis essential oils with specific properties we want to enhance in our products. An example would be adding myrcene (known for its relaxing and sleepy properties)  into a CBD product to further promote rest and relaxation.

Through steam distillation, we can make CBD products that are closer to the whole hemp plant than ever before - because, after years of farming and manufacturing, we have learned that Mother Nature knows best!