I’m so excited to write this post and share with you what I’ve learned so far about CBD and Equilibria – the brand I’ve been using on this journey. Even though I felt VERY nervous to initially talk about this topic, y’all seem just as curious as me and want to know more, which makes me happy! To make this information easy to read and skimmable (like if you just want to find an answer to one specific question), I set it up in Q&A format, but am also sharing my personal experience.

But before I dive in, I just want to say right away that the products I’ve tried and am going to talk about do not get you high. They are not psychoactive and only serve a medicinal purpose. I know there are a lot of questions in this area, so I’ll talk more about it below.

Also, hopefully this goes without saying, but I am not a doctor or even a CBD expert! I’m learning just as much as you are right now, but because I wanted to be able to answer your questions, I leaned on the Equilibria team quite a bit and all their knowledge to get you guys the most accurate answers to your questions.

At the end of the day, I really want this post to help educate you and help you decide if CBD could be a fit for you and your body. If it is, amazing! If not, that’s totally fine too! I’m just genuinely SO curious about the science of all of it and just want to LEARN.

OK, here it goes! This is everything I know so far about CBD, the brand I’m using and answers to some of the most-asked questions I’ve gotten:

My Personal Experience

To get this whole thing started, I thought I’d begin with my personal experience so far with CBD. I shared on stories about a month ago that my friend (and one of my favorite long-time bloggers!) Liz Adams and I were on a blogger trip together back in April and started talking about PMS, stress, hormones, anxiety, etc. This is when she mentioned Equilibria and her experience using their CBD products. She wrote a really great post on it so of course I went and read it ASAP (you should too!) and my interest was definitely piqued but I didn’t order anything.

Then, a little while after that, another friend of mine who is not a blogger mentioned Equilibria and said how awesome it is. At this point I was like OK, I have to give this stuff a try and placed an order.

But why did I want to try CBD to begin with? Well, as some of you might know, I’ve been struggling with energy levels, and feeling great one day and down the next. And to be honest, I haven’t found anything that consistently helps with it; so I really felt like I wanted to take the opportunity to learn about Equilibria and the science behind CBD!

It’s been about two months and I’ve tried all three of their products – the Relief Cream, Daily Drops and Daily Softgels. The product I noticed the biggest difference from right away was the Relief Cream. My neck muscles were incredibly sore one week after my workouts and I rubbed on some of the cream and it immediately made a difference. It made me think, OK if the cream is this good, I’ve got to try the drops and softgels too.

I started with the softgels and wasn’t noticing any difference so I started trying the drops (they’re supposed to have a more immediate effect while the softgels are delayed). Equilibria suggests starting with low dosages so I was only doing 10 mg at a time, but even with the drops, still nothing.

Then, this is when Equilibria really blew me away – I had an amazing phone call with one of their dosage specialists! This is a service available to any of their customers and it basically helps you determine what your health goals are – why you’re taking CBD to begin with and what you want it to do for you, etc. – and then the dosage specialist recommends an amount for you based on everything you share with them.

For me, I told the specialist about my energy issues and really feeling like if I could better balance my hormones, then I think I would feel a lot better on an everyday basis. She worked up a new dosage for me based on everything I told her and now I’m starting to take my new amount every day. I just made this tweak about a week ago so fingers crossed I start to feel a consistent difference. And speaking of consistency, that’s something the dosage specialist mentioned too – staying consistent with taking the CBD is what will help it work better in the long term.

Ultimately, I’m going through A LOT of change right now with the move and planning a wedding AND I’ve also been working out more and eating better (but still struggle a lot in this department), so there are tons of variables to consider when trying to determine if these CBD products really work for me. However, I do believe in Equilibria, their process and their products, so I definitely don’t have anything to lose by continuing to use them and see what happens!

OK so there’s my personal experience so far, but if you want more info on Equilibria and CBD, definitely read the Q&A below!

If you already know you want to give it a try, use code BRIGHTON at checkout for 20% off your first order.

CBD Questions & Answers

About a month ago when I shared my initial experience with CBD (saved to my highlights!), I put up a question box so y’all could ask all your questions. I’ve compiled them and answered the most popular below for you! Let me know if you have any other pressing questions and I’d be happy to get with the women at Equilibria for more information and get back to you!

What is CBD? What’s the difference between it and marijuana?

CBD is a natural compound found in cannabis. It has been “clinically proven to improve mental and physical well-being when taken properly and consistently” (pulled from Equilibria). It is completely safe and legal because it contains less than 0.3% THC (more on that below). And although it’s a powerful health agent, you will not get high from using it.

I totally get the confusion on the second part of the question here because I was kinda wondering the same thing when I first started hearing things about CBD. Hopefully this little breakdown helps it make more sense.

Hemp and marijuana are kind of like siblings – they come from the same parent (the Cannabis Sativa plant), but they’re bred differently. . Marijuana contains 5%-20% THC, and is still considered federally illegal. Hemp is grown with less than 0.3% THC, so it can’t get you high, and it’s federally legal. What makes hemp-derived CBD completely and totally legal is the fact that it only has 0.3% or less of THC in it. Anything above that marker is what’s considered federally illegal.

Equilibria grows only industrial hemp on their farm and produces full-spectrum products from their harvests. If you’re wondering what the heck full-spectrum means, keep reading!

What science is there to back up CBD?

LOVE this question and glad there were questions about it because I really wanted to dive into the science-y part of all of this.

Learning about my body and what I can do to keep it healthy is very exciting for me, but can also be majorly overwhelming because I’m not a doctor, nurse or anything in the medical field for that matter. Luckily Equilibria has been SUPER helpful in explaining how CBD works with our bodies to help keep us healthy and feeling good!

One of the most fascinating, science-based things I’ve learned so far is that CBD actually mirrors a function our bodies already have. Let me explain!

So, our bodies have a system called the Endocannabinoid System. It “plays a crucial role in regulating a broad range of physiological processes that affect our everyday experience – our mood, our energy level, our intestinal fortitude, immune activity, blood pressure, bone density, glucose metabolism, how we experience pain, stress, hunger, and more.” (Grabbed from the Equilibria glossary section on their website.)

See the word cannabinoid in endocannabinoid? Well, CBD is made up of cannabinoids! So CBD is only giving our bodies more of what it already has to help it better manage all those physiological processes I mentioned above. Crazy, right?!

For me, I think it’s pretty wild that one of the physiological processes called out is ENERGY LEVELS!! What?! Hopefully this means that after some consistent use, CBD is the answer for me! But isn’t it amazing all the ways CBD can help a natural function of our body do even better?!

What do full-spectrum and broad-spectrum mean?

SO glad y’all were just as curious about this as I was! This is what Equilibria has to say about full-spectrum CBD:

“CBD works best when combined with other cannabinoids and terpenes found in the plant, including its more well-known sister THC. Full-spectrum (or “whole-plant”) oil produces the “ensemble effect” which maximizes therapeutic benefit. All Equilibria’s products are based around full-spectrum, phytocannabinoid-rich hemp flower extract.”

Broad-spectrum CBD has 0% THC, which may sound great in theory, but you have to take a much higher dosage to see any benefits and like Equilibria said, the cannabinoid CBD works much better if it has just a little (0.3%) THC to help activate all the health benefits. Think of them as a power couple – one works better if the other is there to support it.

Long story short, you can get CBD that has zero THC in it (broad-spectrum), but Equilibria doesn’t make those products because they don’t feel it best serves their customers. They believe CBD provides the best therapeutic benefit when activated by very small amounts of THC (0.3%) and other cannabinoids (there are a minimum of nine total cannabinoids in Equilibria’s products) naturally present in the hemp plant.

What makes Equilibria different? There are so many CBD brands out there!

Equilibria is one of the coolest brands I’ve discovered in a while. Truly, I have loved getting to know the brand and everything they’re about.

First, they’re all about serving women specifically, which I love because let’s be real, we have a lot going on with our bodies. Second, they are involved in EVERY SINGLE step of the process when making their CBD.

They have a 1,100-acre farm in Colorado where they grow 100% organic industrial hemp. At their farm, they control every little detail. Specifically, they know exactly what’s going into the soil and also how and who is harvesting and processing it.

Why is being involved in the growing process so important? It’s important to note that the CBD industry is NOT regulated, which create a lot of uncertainty for consumers when it comes to the consistency and integrity of products. A lot of CBD companies just have their products shipped from distributors, so they’re not actually involved in the growing and processing phases. This explains why some CBD products test positive for pesticides and/or heavy metals – because the plant absorbs whatever is in the soil.

So being involved from step one is not the standard for all companies but it is for Equilibria! Equilibria isn’t just a cute brand that’s selling CBD products, they grow hemp specifically for their products with quality and the customer’s experience top of mind the entire time. You can even look at third-party test results of their products here. This is HUGE and something that makes me feel safe and comfortable trusting that every product is held to the same excellent standard.

Will CBD show up in a drug test?

I asked Equilibria this and they said they can’t guarantee a negative drug test result, however, no one on the Equilibria team has ever tested positive for THC while using their products. If you want to test this out yourself you can always buy a drug test at a local pharmacy.

What does CBD really help with?

Equilibria says their members are using CBD to help deal with a number of symptoms including but not limited to: stress, anxiety, hormone balance, PMS, sleep insomnia, chronic pain, and more.

But remember the Endocannabinoid System I told y’all about earlier? CBD will help support any of the physiological processes that are affected by that system – our mood, our energy level, our intestinal fortitude, immune activity, blood pressure, bone density, glucose metabolism, how we experience pain, stress, hunger, and more. To me, it sounds like all of these things are related to pretty much anything you could be experiencing, so CBD could be a great option for you!

If you have any more questions, definitely check out Equilibria’s FAQ page! They truly, TRULY want to educate women and make us all feel confident in our decision to take CBD.

I hope this was helpful and shined a light on a topic that you might have been curious about but were nervous to talk about with friends or your family.

Outfit Details: Coated Denim Jeans // Short Sleeve Turtleneck (wearing size XS)  // Snakeskin Booties (marked down!)

Thanks so much to Equilibria for sponsoring this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I really loved partnering with them on this topic and learning what CBD is all about!