Topical (salve, balm, lotion)

Topicals combine cannabinoid extract with a base of oils, waxes, butters or water-based emulsions. A salve or balm is oil and wax with no water; a cream or lotion is an emulsion. Isolate and broad-spectrum extracts are standard because they carry no plant taste or color to mask.

The skin is a strong barrier. Cannabinoids are large and fat soluble, so most of an applied dose stays in the outer layers. A 2024 review of permeation-enhancing strategies notes that cannabinoids have poor skin permeability on their own and that reaching systemic circulation requires enhancers, specialized vehicles or patch technology (Cannabis Cannabinoid Res 2024). Topical and transdermal are different claims: topical means local, transdermal means through the skin into the blood.

FDA regulates cannabinoid topicals as cosmetics when they are marketed only to cleanse, beautify or alter appearance, and as drugs if they claim to affect the body's structure or function in drug-like ways (FDA). Cosmetic claims keep a topical on the lawful side of that line.

A certificate of analysis for a topical should cover the finished formula, since carrier oils, waxes and botanicals can introduce metals or microbes the extract alone would not show.