00:00Hey guys, it's Mi-Anne and this is Beauty With Me.
00:02You may have noticed that the national conversation around weed is changing
00:05and the beauty industry in particular is abuzz with excitement around a
00:09particular ingredient called cannabidiol, or CBD, the non-psychoactive
00:13component of the cannabis plant derived from the stalks and stems of hemp.
00:18Thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties, brands have been infusing this
00:21stuff in everything from salves to lotions to facial serums, touting its
00:25ability to soothe aches and pains and treat skin conditions like acne, eczema,
00:29and even wrinkles. I have been absolutely inundated with emails around CBD
00:35infused everything and now I have tried my fair share of CBD products, some that I
00:40love and some that I don't love as much, but when I found out that Hungarian
00:44facialist Ildi Fikar launched a CBD facial, I knew I had to give it a go. I tried it
00:50out, obviously, and spoiler alert, it was the most relaxing facial I've ever gotten.
00:55I've done a few stories on CBD in the past, but I wanted to learn from Ildi
00:58herself who's been using the ingredient for years. When I got to Ildi Spa here in
01:03New York City, we immediately sat down to talk shop. So I want to ask you all
01:07about CBD because obviously I'm going to be getting your CBD facial today.
01:11So CBD is a great ingredient. CBD is not new, it's been in the market forever. They
01:16use them in the 30s for medication. CBD is made for inflammation.
01:20So pretty much everybody has inflammation and it doesn't matter if it shows up in
01:25your skin or shows up in your health. So taking it or putting on your skin, it has a
01:30lot of benefits. You know a lot of people think about CBD is, it's a drug. CBD
01:35doesn't necessarily have THC anymore.
01:38If you're looking for a CBD product, what's a good little threshold of like how
01:42much CBD you should be looking for in a product for it to be working?
01:45I recommend to do research on the company. There is, I think there is a lot of companies
01:49out there, they don't extract the plant right away or the right way. They come in
01:54different strength. I'm sure you saw 50 milligrams, 250, 500, 1,200.
01:58There's a lot of information out there and it's confusing to know how much you should be using.
02:02Very confusing. So being just spent well-being, 250, max 500 is fine. If you have kind of
02:08chronic illness, you could go above 500. So I'm about to get your CBD facial. You should feel
02:14really, really relaxed. You should feel really calm. You're going to be a very good
02:17people to be around today. Not that I'm ever bad to be around any
02:21other time, right? They're not saying anything. They're not saying anything, yeah.
02:26Once I was clear on what to expect, it was time to start the treatment, which Ildi described
02:30as more of a full body experience rather than a facial, thanks to CBD's ability to
02:35soothe and relax muscles. Unlike most treatments, Ildi started off by giving me a gentle massage
02:40using her CBD infused massage oil. Then she gave me an optional tincture, which Ildi created
02:47to allow her customers to ingest CBD orally. It tastes really good. Tastes good?
02:53It doesn't taste like bitter at all. And I've tried other ones before.
02:57The stevia takes the bitterness away, so it's easier to swallow it.
03:01Then we got to the facial portion, which was pretty standard. Ildi started with a gentle cleanse
03:05and then a nice chemical peel. Once my skin was all exfoliated though, that's when things
03:11got a little weird.
03:12Ildi brought out an electrostatic polarization machine, handed me this like metallic rod
03:20that was meant to ground the electricity in my body, put on these like white glove things
03:26and started massaging my body using electricity. The device is designed to send vibrations
03:31through your skin and muscles to improve circulation, soothe muscles and drain lymph.
03:36It felt really strange.
03:38It didn't hurt at all. I will say I was nervous that it was going to hurt.
03:42She handed me this like the metal rod and I was like, oh man, this is going to shock me.
03:46It didn't at all. It actually was super relaxing.
03:49A very gentle massage through my body, just felt vibrations all over and it was a very zen experience.
03:57Once Ildi had done a full pass on my neck, arms and face, she did a little bit of LED
04:01therapy
04:01and brought out the big gun.
04:04Ildi applied a CBD infused mask all over my face and then used an oxygenating machine
04:08which uses negative ion therapy to do everything from relax to balance your skin's pH.
04:15Now this machine was super weird and it was probably the machine that I was most excited about.
04:20It looks like a space helmet.
04:22She took this big plastic bubble, put it over my face and told me that it was going to be
04:28pumping oxygen in.
04:29I was going to be super relaxed.
04:30I might even have to fight the urge to sleep.
04:33Once I was in the cocoon, she put on the vibrating gloves again, massaged me more and I fell into
04:41this like really deep, beautiful nap.
04:45Now I know that I fall asleep in pretty much every facial that I ever get, but this one was
04:52different.
04:53It was the most relaxing sleep I've ever had in a facial, even like in massages.
04:59It's really hard to describe because Ildi basically predicted everything that I would feel before I felt that she was
05:06like,
05:06you're going to feel like you're floating in the bubble.
05:09You're going to feel like your eyelids are going to be heavy.
05:11You're going to start, your speech is going to get slower.
05:13She turned on this beautiful music and the massage was so nice.
05:17And then, I mean, I started snoring, which I don't think I do.
05:20I've asked my boyfriend many times and he said I don't snore, so yeah.
05:24But anyway, I woke up after 30 minutes feeling so rested.
05:28It was just a really nice way to wake up.
05:31It was just, it was nice, I don't know.
05:33Then Ildi put on some of her skincare just to protect my skin and moisturize
05:37and told me to drink a lot of water and sent me on my way.
05:41I totally agree with Ildi when she says that this facial is more of a full body treatment than it
05:47is a true facial.
05:48Sure, my skin was definitely like less puffy, less red, more even after I emerged from the cocoon.
05:56But it really was the like deep sleep and then relaxation,
05:59the muscle work that she did that made it so unique to me.
06:03Sadly though, CBD is an expensive ingredient.
06:06Ildi's facial is not cheap at $400.
06:09While it is legal to sell CBD, apart from making sure that there are appropriate levels of THC in the
06:15CBD itself,
06:16this stuff is largely unregulated.
06:19And there's obviously a huge placebo effect that can happen when you're using products like this.
06:23That being said though, there's a reason why so many people use CBD as a treatment
06:27for everything from sleeping disorders to period cramps to eczema.
06:32There's still a long way to go when it comes to CBD and beauty, but it's still an exciting field
06:36nonetheless.
