What Is CBD — Top 10 CBD UK Products Reviewed
Today, we’ll explore the fact and fiction behind CBD and, along the way, look at what we consider to be the 10 Best CBD UK Products available right now. We decided to evaluate UK CBD oil products across all the most popular applications, from CBD oil tinctures to CBD gummies, in an effort to provide the broadest range of products for a variety of needs.
Top 10 UK CBD Oil Products of 2022
These 10 products are, of course, only a drop in an ocean of CBD offerings. But rest assured, these recommendations meet strict criteria for purity, concentration, and processing. The way your hemp is farmed and the manner in which cannabinoids are extracted from the cannabis hemp plant are crucial to the quality and safety of a CBD product. Now, let’s have a look at our picks for the best CBD oil UK products of 2022.
We top our list with a simple, pure, effective hemp tincture from CBDfx. As you can probably tell from our list, we consider CBDfx to be a trusted source for quality CBD products, including CBD gummies, CBD tablets, CBD oil tinctures, CBD creams, CBD cookies, and several more. They’re an established name in the world of CBD supplements, and one of the reasons is that their CBD comes from organically grown, pesticide- and GMO-free hemp, and it is extracted using a CO2 process that produces a pure extract, free of added chemicals or toxins. In addition, they provide documentation from third-party labs attesting to exactly what is (and is not) in their CBD oil products, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience.
In addition, CBDfx’s products simply work great, and they come in a wide variety (as you’ll see below). This CBD oil tincture is a perfect introduction for CBD newcomers, as it’s a pure broad spectrum CBD product with no added ingredients. This means you can experience the effects of CBD on their own to know exactly how well they work for you. This tincture is available in three strengths — 500mg, 1000mg, and 1500mg extra strength, giving you great optionality to dial in just the “chill” you seek.
CBD’s a go-to supplement for those seeking relaxation and a better night’s sleep. When we add to that the fact that gummies are perhaps the funnest and certainly one of the yummiest ways to get your daily CBD, this CBDfx product is a proven winner.
Made with a healthy 50mg CBD per serving, these handy gummies are bolstered with magnesium, as well as chamomile, lemon balm, and passion flower — some of the most popular natural sleep remedies around. Their delightfully mild flavour makes an excellent end to a long day.
While CBD makes a great product to help you get a good night’s rest, it’s also great for kicking off a new day, especially when combined with the cannabinoid CBG, which works in tandem with CBD for what users describe as a focusing effect.
Add to that extended-release caffeine for a steady supply of energy without the jitters or crash, and this is an even better way to start a big day than a trip to the corner corporate coffee shop. In addition, CBDfx formulated a special mix of terpenes and L-tyrosine to enhance this energising and mentally focusing effect of these convenient capsules.
CBD creams and balms are increasingly popular products for fitness enthusiasts and athletes. From footballers to long-distance runners, people find that they can provide soothing relief for soreness, stiffness, and body pain. This award-winning CBD cream from CBDfx comes in 500mg and 1000mg CBD strengths, and also contains powerful natural ingredients for fighting pain and inflammation, including white willow bark and menthol.
This is a water-based topical, and it absorbs quickly and cleanly without leaving a greasy sheen on your skin. We highly recommend this CBD cream for any soothing rubdown — you don’t have to be a marathoner or pro athlete to reap its benefits!
For those who want the quick relief that inhaled CBD can bring, CBDfx offers a self-curated bundle of their best vaping pen blends, allowing the customer to choose their favourites. Each of these pens is made with pure CO2-extracted CBD, and they come in flavours designed to please every palate, from fruity Blue Raspberry, Strawberry Lemonade and Tropic Breeze to cool Fresh Mint to classic cannabis throwbacks, OG Kush and Pineapple Express.
5. Blessed CBD CBD Capsules
Based in Scotland, Blessed CBD is a beloved UK brand. Like CBDfx, they also source non-GMO, organically grown cannabis hemp, and they use CO2 extraction for a pure CBD oil product. Each of their CBD capsules contains 30mg of CBD and no other ingredients, making this another great product for those who want to test the CBD waters.
6. Vibes CBD CBD Oil
The premium oil products from Vibes CBD are made from GMO-free, pesticide-free cannabis hemp, and come in their signature fruit mix flavour, designed to mask the earthy taste of CBD. They’re made with both CBD isolate and broad spectrum oil (more on those below). Like CBDfx and Blessed CBD, Vibes CBD extracts all of their CBD from the hemp plant using solvent-free CO2.
7. Provacan CBD Balm Cocoa Butter
This potent CBD topical from Provacan combines the soothing power of CBD with moisturising cocoa butter and the moisture-sealing properties of beeswax for an incredibly hydrating and skin-calming CBD balm. We love its purity and simplicity, as well as the robust CBD oil they formulate it with.
8. Excite CBD Gummies
Excite CBD is a family-run business based in Glasgow that uses organic cannabis hemp from Colorado, USA. Every powerful and delicious little treat contains 25mg CBD per gummy, and comes in indulgent mixed tropical flavours. Excite CBD uses broad spectrum CBD in their gummies, and extracts the CBD with CO2, ensuring a pure and safe product.
9. Evopure Flow CBD Oil
This UK-made CBD tincture from Evopure is formulated to promote calm through the combination of broad spectrum CBD oil with stress-busting ashwagandha and mood-smoothing maca root. Like the other products in today’s list, this effective oil is organic, non-GMO, and lab-tested.
Now that we’ve identified the Top CBD Products in the UK, let’s return to our overview of cannabidiol (CBD).
What is CBD Oil?
CBD is short for cannabidiol,[1] which is a type of molecular compound found in the form of cannabis known as hemp.
So, what’s hemp? Is it different from marijuana? Yes and no. Essentially, they are both cannabis plants, but with one fine legal distinction. It’s all about tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the compound in cannabis that causes psychotropic effects (it’s what gets you “high”).
Hemp, a.k.a. cannabis hemp or industrial hemp, contains less than 0.3% THC. Marijuana is the THC heavy-hitter, and it is most definitely psychotropic. UK-legal CBD products are made from hemp that contains less than 0.2% THC, which is not enough THC to get you high.
Back to the cannabidiol (CBD). It’s one of many molecular compounds, called cannabinoids,[2] that appear in the cannabis plant. Other cannabinoids include the aforementioned THC, as well CBG (cannabigerol), CBC (cannabichromene), and CBN (cannabinol). Two other important compounds found in hemp are terpenes and flavonoids, and we’ll talk about them more soon.
How Does CBD Work?
Cannabinoids interact with our bodies via a cell-signalling system known as the endocannabinoid system.[3] The ECS is a series of receptors closely integrated with our central and peripheral nervous systems, as well as organs and systems throughout our bodies that regulate sleep, mood, digestion, immune response, pain, stress, and more.
When a cannabinoid interacts with a receptor in our endocannabinoid system, it imparts its therapeutic effects, providing the benefits we seek. The way we ingest a cannabidiol (CBD) product influences how it works, how long it takes to work, and the span of time it does its work in our body.
Inhaling a CBD product, for instance, by a CBD vape oil, is the quickest way to feel its effects. This is because the CBD enters your bloodstream very quickly (2–5 minutes) via your lungs, bypassing the digestive system and liver. Once in the bloodstream, CBD finds its receptors and goes to work. Although vaping takes effect quickly, those effects don’t last as long as other methods.
When we ingest a CBD tincture (holding it under the tongue for 60 seconds), it is absorbed by our sublingual membrane and enters the body more quickly than an edible (approximately 15–30 minutes), but more slowly than through inhalation. Many people prefer an oil tincture because of the “Goldilocks” space it fills in CBD products — absorbing relatively quickly, but lasting for hours.
A CBD edible lasts the longest out of all our options, but it also takes the longest to kick in (between 30 minutes and two hours). This is because it must first be digested and metabolised before CBD and other cannabinoids can enter the bloodstream and find their receptors. With an effective time of 6–8 hours, a CBD edible is definitely worth the wait.
With a CBD topical (creams, balms, lotions), the CBD product is massaged onto the skin and then absorbed. CBD topicals don’t enter the bloodstream, but rather go to work on receptors in your epidermis. Once there, it targets points of inflammation, tightness, and pain. Many CBD aficionados, including professional athletes, rely on CBD topicals when they want to address post-workout discomfort or when they need to speed their recovery.
How to Shop for CBD Products
In our list, we threw around a lot of terms, like broad spectrum CBD and the Entourage Effect. We’re well aware that CBD terminology can get confusing quickly and lead to an impression that the world of CBD is inaccessible and complex. The good news is that it’s neither. Here’s a brief and simple guide to what to look for in a CBD product that will address these terms and why they’re important.
With CBD oil UK products available in most of the high street shops and petrol stations, it’s vital to know the difference between a quality product and something that may prove ineffective or unsafe.
Pesticide-Free Hemp
When you’re shopping for any CBD product, the first thing to look for is how the hemp plant is cultivated. Cannabis hemp is an incredibly effective phytoremediator, which means that it’s powerful and efficient at cleaning toxins from the soil in which it grows. Where do these toxins go? Into the cannabis plant. That includes pesticides, heavy metals, and other potentially dangerous chemicals. Your CBD product should always come from organically grown, pesticide-free plants. (Safety first!)
Clean Extraction
Many cheaper brands use unsafe methods for extracting CBD from the cannabis hemp plant. These methods can include submerging the hemp plant in butane, propane, or acetone solvents. This is a cheap method, and can lead to dangerous chemicals carrying over into your CBD product. CO2 extraction is considered to be the most efficient and the cleanest method of extraction, with Ethanol extraction a close second.
Documentation
You need to know exactly what is in your CBD product. The best way to learn this information is through a report provided by an independent third-party laboratory. These reports not only tell you the exact percentages of CBD and other cannabinoids in your product (including any trace amounts of THC), but also tell you what other chemicals may be present. This is crucial to selecting a quality product, ensuring both potency and safety.
Spectrums and the Entourage Effect
There are three types of oil used in CBD products: full spectrum, broad spectrum, and isolate. Full spectrum CBD products contain all the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids found in the hemp plant, including trace amounts of THC (less than 0.3%, which is above the UK legal threshold of less than 0.2% THC). Broad spectrum CBD filters out that trace amount of THC, but retains almost all of the other naturally occurring compounds. CBD isolate contains only CBD.
The reason people look to products containing broad spectrum CBD is to attain what is known as the Entourage Effect.[4] This is a synergistic effect in which all the cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids found in the cannabis hemp plant work together. Different cannabinoids modify and enhance the effects of others, and all of them work in concert to deliver a greater overall effect.
Terpenes and Flavonoids
Okay, we keep mentioning the terpenes and flavonoids that occur naturally in the cannabis hemp plant and other plants.
Terpenes are the chemical compounds that create the scents of plants. They’re particularly abundant in cannabis, tea, herbs, and citrus fruits. In addition to giving plants their scent, they’ve been found to possess a host of beneficial properties, from fighting inflammation to soothing anxiety.
Despite their name, flavonoids actually have nothing to do with flavour. Rather, they give plants their colour. They’re also phytonutrients that can help our bodies fight off illness and inflammation, and help our overall wellness.
Additional Ingredients
Sometimes, you may be shopping for a CBD product to address a specific issue — better sleep, calm, discomfort, pain. It’s wise to look for products that include other natural ingredients, including chamomile, menthol, ashwagandha, adaptogenic mushrooms, and more.
Give It a Go!
Now that you have the cannabidiol fundamentals at your fingertips, and a list of some of the best CBD products on the market in the UK, we hope you’ll get out there and give CBD a try. If you rely on our recommendations and on our tips for safe and effective CBD shopping, you’re sure to find a product that suits your unique needs, providing a wonderfully soothing and therapeutic experience any time you need it.
[1] Kristi Pahr, “Beginner’s Guide to CBD,” Healthline, 2 April 2020, https://www.healthline.com/health/your-cbd-guide
[2] Adrienne Dellwo, “What Are Cannabinoids,” Very Well Health, 17 September 2020, https://www.verywellhealth.com/cannabinoids-4847186
[3] Peter Grinspoon, “The Endocannabinoid System: Essential and Mysterious,” Harvard Health Publishing, 11 August 2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-endocannabinoid-system-essential-and-mysterious-202108112569
[4] Sari Goldstein Ferber, et al, “The ‘Entourage Effect’: Terpenes Coupled with Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Mood Disorders and Anxiety Disorders,” Current Neuropharmacology, 18 February 2020, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324885/