The skincare industry was worth almost $150B in 2021 and is projected to come close to $275B by 2031. As a 36-year-old who spent much of the first 20 baking sans-SPF in the Southern California sun, I have a five to six-step skincare process. I hope to shrink my pores, combat wrinkles, and improve lustrousness.

RELATED: Could cannabis help your skin? Here’s what science has to say

While hunting for new products to add to the regimen, cannabis and hemp ingredients are rarer than I’d expect. With such monumental projected growth, it is interesting that few cannabis brands have gotten in on the game.

Topicals are a common weed product but they often have a focus like pain relief or sensual stimulation. Few cannabis lotions exist to revive dull skin, combat wrinkles, and shrink pores. Few, but not none.

GALYNA is a science-backed cannabis skincare line that launched with three products. Rather than create a complete infused skincare routine, The Repair Balm, Dream Rejuvenating Creme, and Soothe Pain Relief Cream do different jobs with the same endgame: supple, soft skin. Each full-sized jar contains 400 mg  of 99.5 percent CBD isolate according to the COA shared on the website. 

I decided to test them and set out to use each over the past two weeks.

Trying GALYNA cannabis skincare

The team behind these product formulations came from traditional beauty labs like Procter & Gamble, Shiseido, and L’Oreal—and it shows. Each product is intentional and provides a luxury experience. The company spent years developing the formulations in an independent lab using ethically-sourced real human skin samples.

“Our intention is to solve common skin health problems by infusing scientific rigor with the natural properties of cannabinoids,” Dr. Marnie Peterson, chief scientific officer of GALYNA, said in a press release. “By focusing on active ingredients and their benefits, rather than the novelty of possibilities, the GALYNA formulations are universally replicable for proven results.”

The team developed a molecule that stabilizes cannabinoids by encapsulating them, making them easily absorbable. I probably couldn’t tell if that molecule worked while I used the products, but I can speak to my experience.

REPAIR Healing Balm

REPAIR is a thick balm meant to regenerate and restore everything from cuts and scrapes to skin conditions and tattoo aftercare. The formulation includes lanolin and lavender flower oil to calm inflammation and irritation. It is not plant-based, as the first-listed ingredient is non-invasively collected from sheep’s wool. It is cruelty-free, however, and sustainably sourced. Other ingredients include meadowfoam seed oil, vitamin C, vitamin E, and bran wax.

This is a balm for specific jobs, it’s not something most people use daily. I did put some on my ashy knees and they were perfectly moisturized the next day. I say the next day because the thick topical is something I can only put on if I don’t have anywhere to go, like at night, because it’ll definitely leave a slug trail.

The formulation utilizes lidocaine HCL to address itching and certain pain. I tested that out on a pesky bug bite. Applying Repair staved off the itching for a while, it was a sweet reprieve. This one is worth having in the medicine cabinet.

DREAM Rejuvenating Creme

An effective night cream is this millennial’s best friend. In fact, I picked up the Philosophy Miracle Worker night cream the day before I was supposed to start this trial with the GALYNA line. I love that product so much, I was sad to switch to DREAM, but the sorrow was short-lived.

Many face creams and serums make me break out. I have combination skin, it loves to be oily one month and dry the next–and that doesn’t even account for hormones and gut issues.
Anyway, those powers combined make me a skeptic with new skincare, but DREAM impressed.

After applying the cream I passed out, hard. This isn’t the first time a topical has made me sleepy. I was once instructed to apply Moon Mother CBD Dream Balm to the bottoms of my feet and between my toes. Doing that gave me the best night’s sleep I’ve had in years–until that first GALYNA Dream application.

This sleep induction is probably due to the melatonin in the cream, the lavender, or both. The other ingredients activate collagen and fight acne-causing bacteria. Most are plant-based except for retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A often made with animal components.

DREAM did more than make me sleepy. It applied well, soaked in quickly, and made my skin softer by morning. Also, no breakouts. DREAM will stay in my bathroom beside my Miracle Worker–I’m a fan.

SOOTHE Pain Relief Cream

Pain relief creams, lotions, and balms are the most common weed topical products, as much of the industry grew behind medical programs. I use cannabinoid pain creams often for my neck and shoulder tension, especially in the event of a tension headache.

This cream did the job, but it required a lot of rubbing in. In hindsight, this incites a small massage, which doesn’t hurt a tense neck, but sometimes leaving a slug trail of lotion gives me sensory overload. That said, it rubbed in eventually, just not immediately.

Though not my favorite of the line, SOOTHE followed through with its promise and relieved my neck and shoulders before a tension headache kicked in.

GALYNA cannabinoid skincare works for me

The tricky thing about skincare is that products don’t work the same for me as they might for you. For that reason, these are much like cannabis products–especially from GALYNA. With 400 mg CBD, science-backed formulations, and a team of experts behind them–these products are worth trying. After this trial, I will be keeping them in my medicine cabinet.