Top 3 Essential Cannabis Trends You Can’t Afford to Miss

If you hear the word “trend,” typically, you might think of fashion, footwear, or possibly furniture and household furnishings. However, there’s something else that’s making waves for its exciting and somewhat surprising trends: essential cannabis oil.

Although people can purchase marijuana legally throughout many parts of North America and abroad to get high or for medicinal benefits, this oil is very different. We’ll explore the differences below.  

What Is Essential Cannabis Oil?

In simple terms, this essential oil comes from the flower of the marijuana plant. Although some people refer to it as hemp oil, these two oils aren’t the same. For hemp oil, harvesters cold press the seeds, whereas cannabis oil gets processed in a completely different way.

For essential cannabis oil, harvesters must separate resins from the plant’s flowers. This involves a steam distillation process. The oil is extracted not only from the flower clusters but also from the plant’s stem and upper portion of the leaves.

There’s another big difference between essential cannabis oil and hemp oil. Yes, they both have an earthy and slightly bitter smell. However, cannabis oil, also referred to as CBD oil, has a higher concentration of CBD. This compound offers numerous health-related benefits. In comparison, hemp oil has a much lower concentration of CBD, although it’s still rich in fatty acids, nutrients, and various bioactive compounds that support better health.

Harvesting essential cannabis oil has long been challenging. That’s because it has a high level of myrcene that oxidizes and then quickly converts into a resin. This causes the oil to become more viscous. At that point, it becomes useless.

This is the primary reason growers didn’t take the time to harvest the oil until recently, thanks to various new extraction methods. Now with essential cannabis oil available through dispensaries and head shops, it’s skyrocketed in popularity.

Essential Cannabis Oil With and Without THC

Please note that the information provided is for essential cannabis oil known as CBD oil. This doesn’t contain THC or cannabinoids. However, people can buy essential cannabis oil that contains THC, which is what produces a “high” or euphoric effect.

Here are the two types of essential cannabis oil options:

• Isolate – When buying essential cannabis oil, any product advertised as an isolate means it shouldn’t have any THC whatsoever. It also won’t contain cannabinoids other than CBD.
• Broad-Spectrum – This type of essential cannabis oil also doesn’t contain THC. On the other hand, it does have both cannabinoid and cannabis compounds that include flavonoids and terpenes.

Trend One – Oil Extraction Methods

Perhaps the biggest trend about essential cannabis oil is that experts can use several different extraction processes. That’s made it easier to get the oil at the opportune time so that different industries can turn it into exciting products for consumers to use.

CO2

This extraction method strips materials from the plant’s substances. For a long time, it was the preferred technique for other industries that used botanicals in their consumer products. The problem is it takes a long time to complete this process. The reason is that it can’t extract other plant structures and the essential oil together. Another drawback is the expense of using this particular extraction method. Even so, this remains an effective way to extract essential cannabis oil.

Hydrocarbon

With this, the hydrocarbon extraction process uses a type of solvent to wash the plant matter. The goal is to achieve a concentrate by removing the desired molecule from the biomass. Compared to the CO2 method, this yields more oil. Also, the equipment required for hydrocarbon costs less than what’s used for the CO2 extraction process.

For extracting essential cannabis oil, hydrocarbon works great. However, it too has a few downfalls. For instance, this method is strictly zoned because it involves the use of volatile gasses and flammable chemicals. In addition, it’s difficult to de-wax with this process.

Ethanol

Many experts prefer the ethanol process for extracting essential cannabis oil, as well as hemp oil. Not only is it scalable, simple, and safe, but it’s also highly effective. The companies that use the ethanol method can easily separate unwanted waxes and fats from the essential cannabis oil.

R134a Terpene Wash

Of all the trending extraction processes for essential cannabis oil, this is a breakthrough. The main problem with the other methods is they focus a lot on extracting cannabinoids only. As a result, sellers often refer to these oils as a full-spectrum product. However, they overlook the value of the remaining terpenes.

R134a is a solvent often used in aerosol products to make them spray. Although similar to the CO2 method, this process can strip the natural oils from raw marijuana products within a closed-loop system. This uses slightly pressurized gas, and the plant material separates from the essential cannabis oil.

Dual-solvent Wash

This is another method now used to extract essential cannabis oil from a marijuana plant. While the R134a method extracts all terpenes and cannabinoids in a live resin, the dual-wash solvent process quickly extracts just leftover cannabinoids in high concentrations without completing the distillation process. This overcomes problems associated with the CO2 and ethanol techniques.

Trend Two – Wider Acceptance

Since most essential cannabis oils don’t contain THC, they’re now more widely accepted. As an example, in the state of New Mexico, regulators ruled those selling medicinal marijuana and cannabis oils as essential businesses. As a result, they haven’t experienced a shut-down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The same goes for the state of New York. There, the Department of Health determined that medicinal cannabis providers, which include those that sell essential cannabis oil, are essential. They too have protection under the government. Not only that, but dispensaries and head shops in the state of New York can even make home deliveries, at least for a while.

Trend Three – Commonly Used Consumer Products

Considering that essential cannabis oil provides so many health-related benefits, many of the trends involve consumer goods. Below are some examples of those.

Promoting a Good Night’s Rest

Essential cannabis oil has come out as a natural remedy for millions of people who suffer from insomnia or other sleep disorders.

Not getting adequate sleep has a direct impact on an individual’s mood, work production, and health. More and more, people don’t want to depend on prescription medication but would rather use something natural yet effective. Essential cannabis oil can help a person fall and stay asleep without waking with residual effects.

Moisturizing and Nourishing Skin

Currently, the skincare industry is worth billions of dollars. Unfortunately, a lot of the ingredients used in products aren’t effective, and in some cases, they’re unsafe. Well, thanks to trends that involve essential cannabis oil, that’s changed. This particular oil boasts nourishing and firming properties. So, when added to skincare lotions and creams, it works wonders.

When using skincare products made with essential cannabis oil, people quickly notice their skin looks more youthful. However, they soon find that this natural product offers even more benefits. Because it has anti-inflammatory properties, it gets rid of itchy patches and red spots. Someone with psoriasis will get positive results by using a combination of lotion or cream made with essential cannabis oil and hemp seed carrier oil.

Scented Candles

As with the skincare industry, the candle market is worth a significant amount of money. After all, who doesn’t like scented candles? People can light them to create a romantic setting, or they can place them throughout their home to enjoy the scent.

It’s now possible to purchase scented candles made with essential cannabis oil. Not only can someone enjoy the fragrance of their favorite candle, but they can also benefit from the oil itself. Since essential cannabis oil helps to reduce stress and anxiety, this is a great way to unwind after coming home from work or school.

Bath Soaps

Bath soap made with essential cannabis oil is another hot trend. There’s nothing more relaxing than soaking in a warm tub of water while lathering the body with fresh-scented soap. Well, now there is. A person can have an even better experience by selecting a product that contains essential cannabis oil. They’ll end up with a clean body that smells great and also a sense of peace and relaxation.

The exciting thing about this particular trend is that people can make soap that contains essential cannabis oil at home. A quick online search will reveal hundreds of amazing options. While some are relatively complex, others are simple. Not only that, but many companies currently sell this type of soap for those who don’t want to make it themselves.

Perfume

This is another big market, so it’s not surprising that some innovative person came up with a way to incorporate essential cannabis oil in perfume. For someone who struggles with pain, they can smell fantastic by wearing their favorite scent and potentially also feel better because of the perfume’s special ingredients.

Culinary Specialties

Whether making food at home or enjoying a meal at a fancy restaurant, adding essential cannabis oil to dishes is yet another popular trend. When used correctly, most people can’t even taste it. Instead, they enjoy wonderful meals while benefiting from everything that this oil offers.

As with bath soap, people can find hundreds of fantastic recipes online. However, they can buy essential cannabis oil from a trusted source and use it as an ingredient in their favorite homemade dishes. This oil works just as well in beverages, too.

Proper Dosing

When purchasing essential cannabis oil such as CBD oil, dosing isn’t an issue. That’s because it doesn’t contain THC. Rather, it offers exceptional health-related benefits. In comparison, people need to use a proper dose of essential cannabis oil if it contains THC. This oil is no different than regular marijuana bud in the effects it produces.

As for the correct dose of essential cannabis oil that has THC, the decision depends on the overall effect that someone wants to experience. If the goal is to get “high,” they would use a higher dose. If they want relief from pain or anxiety, they should take a lower dose.

When someone first starts using essential cannabis oil with THC, it’s always best to start with a low dose to see how the mind and body respond. From there, they can adjust the dose accordingly.

Again, when using essential cannabis oil without THC, regardless of the delivery system, the dose doesn’t matter. Most importantly, when buying this type of product, always go to a reputable source. That means a dispensary or head shop that sells marijuana products legally and has a vast knowledge of the various products available.

Especially if someone wants essential cannabis oil to sleep better or to unwind after a particularly hectic day at work, they wouldn’t want to accidentally end up with a THC product that has them buzzing around the room. As long as they get all their marijuana products from a trusted source, they can feel confident.

A Growing Market

For hardcore marijuana users, it’s hard to imagine wanting to use a product that doesn’t contain THC. However, millions of people just want to enjoy the benefits of essential cannabis oil without THC to feel good or live an improved quality of life.

Since this is exactly what non-THC essential cannabis oil offers, new trends will emerge. This oil is already getting incorporated into all types of consumer products. However, with its popularity on a fast upward trajectory, there’s no question that it’s going to pop up in places that people never expected.

All it takes is one person to come up with an innovative idea to start a new trend using essential cannabis oil. The bottom line: For anyone who doesn’t sleep well, struggles with pain, or lives with depression or anxiety, it’s certainly worth trying essential cannabis oil without THC. Of course, essential cannabis oil with THC offers the same potential medicinal benefits but with a little something extra.