How We Make Our Full-Spectrum CBD Lotion

How we make our full-spectrum CBD lotion starts with the cream itself. It should spread easily over a shoulder or knee, feel comfortable while you massage it in, and leave your skin feeling cared for rather than coated in a heavy balm. We think about all of that when we make our Full Spectrum CBD Lotion.

The hemp extract is central to the formula, but the base around it matters. We make ours as a water-based lotion, beginning with an herbal tea instead of adding plain distilled water to the recipe.

It begins with an herbal tea

We prepare the water portion of our CBD lotion with wintergreen, wild lettuce, comfrey, and mint. These herbs have a place in traditional, comfort-focused body care, and we choose them to bolster the experience of our full-spectrum hemp.

They come into the recipe through the work we do with plants. We forage wintergreen and wild lettuce, and we grow the comfrey and mint. Once brought together in the tea, they become one part of the lotion rather than four separate additions made for an ingredient list.

Wintergreen gives the blend its crisp, familiar woodland character—the kind of scent many people associate with a body rub. Mint brings a brighter freshness. Comfrey has a long history in preparations made for the skin, while wild lettuce contributes a quieter, comfort-focused herbal tradition. We want the tea to have depth: refreshing when you first apply the lotion, but grounded in plants chosen for more than fragrance.

We make that tea using distilled water. The distinction is simple but important to our recipe: the water is there to help form the cream, and preparing it as an infusion also lets it carry the herbs into the finished topical.

Building a water-based CBD cream

Many CBD topicals are thick salves made primarily from oils and waxes. We wanted a different feel. A water-based lotion can be worked across an area in a thin, even layer, making it well suited to hands-on use.

To turn our herbal tea into a cream, we bring its water portion together with shea butter and hemp seed oil. An emulsifying wax helps the water and oils hold together, while the other ingredients give the lotion its body and smooth texture. Water-based does not mean oil-free: getting those parts to work together is what creates a cream that feels rich without feeling overly greasy.

Texture is a practical part of the craft. If you are applying lotion to your hands, back, or a joint after a long day, you want to spend a moment massaging it in—not struggling to spread a stiff balm or waiting for a heavy layer of oil to settle.

Keeping the hemp true to the plant

The extract in our lotion comes from hemp we grow in Massachusetts. We use full-spectrum extract, so the CBD comes with the plant’s naturally occurring cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds. We do not build the formula around CBD isolate added to an otherwise ordinary cream.

That approach guides how we think about the entire lotion. The hemp should retain its broader plant character, and the base should be thoughtfully made to accompany it. The herbal tea, shea butter, and hemp seed oil each have a reason to be there. The full-spectrum extract brings them together as a hemp topical. You can see testing for our products on our lab results page.

A number on the jar tells you how much CBD is in a product. It cannot tell you what the cream feels like, which hemp extract was used, or what went into making the base. Those details are part of the product you use every time you open it.

What that work feels like in the finished lotion

The result is a lotion you can massage directly into the area you want to care for. It has the refreshing character of the herbs, the smooth feel of a water-based cream, and the full-spectrum hemp extract at the center of the recipe. Start with enough to cover the area and work it in; add more if you need it.

We make the herbal tea and build the cream this way because we want the entire jar to reflect our approach to plants—not only the hemp listed on the label. If you would like to see the full ingredient list and directions, visit our CBD lotion page. Our companion post explains where lotion fits alongside CBD oil and capsules.