Over the past few years, the United States and Canada have embraced CBD beauty with open arms, turning it into a lucrative industry that analysts expect to be worth billions in the coming years. But our European counterparts haven’t been as keen to welcome the cannabis derivative into their wellness regimens. However, London-based brand The Chillery — which launched in April — is out to change all that. The new, high-end e-commerce site is the first of its kind in Europe and its founders have set out to woo skeptics and redefine the way Europeans shoppers think of CBD.
Wall Street analysts anticipate that 25 million Americans will be using CBD by 2025, and experts predict that the CBD market value will reach $22 billion by 2022. But despite this popularity, confusion between it and cannabis persists. The association between CBD and more stonery, recreational drugs has cast a pall on CBD products in the minds of many Europeans, which is why The Chillery has set out on a mission to educate consumers and bring luxury CBD products to the masses.
“Our customer is a modern woman looking for ways to improve her wellness regime — whether that’s a natural sleeping aid, or replacing five different beauty creams with one,” says Chillery co-founder, Floriane von der Forst.
This all sounds promising, but whether von der Forst and her team can be broadly successful across Europe remains a big question. That’s because the legal status of CBD in the European Union is still somewhat confusing. Member states are free to legalize and regulate as they see fit — most haven’t made any concrete steps towards this, but haven’t criminalized either. Without a legal framework in place, CBD is even less regulated in parts of Europe than it is in America, a fact that The Chillery is acutely aware of.
“All our products are vetted to ensure quality, and that everything is 100 percent legal,” said Marisa Schwab, von der Forst’s partner and co-founder. “We also do third-party testing to ensure that all products are organic and contain the CBD content they claim they do.”
There’s abundant evidence that the risk Schwab (whose background is in health) and von der Forst (who worked elite beauty brands for years) are taking will pay off: CBD beauty is already an enormous industry in the United States. Customers can’t seem to get enough of the oil’s ability to deliver anti-inflammatory properties, anti-aging benefits, and acne-fighting abilities. It’s also gentle enough on the skin to be used by people with skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
And if the opinions of industry experts are anything to go by, von der Forst and Schwab could be headed towards a CBD gold rush. “Consumers’ interest in wellness, natural ingredients, medicinal benefits and the legalization of marijuana in several states/countries have catalyzed interest in CBD beauty,” said Stephanie Wissink, an analyst at Jefferies.
The challenge is to separate CBD from old associations with potheads and illegal drug use and show the European market how luxurious CBD products have become.
How The Chillery Will Work For Consumers
Berlin-born von der Forst and LA-native Schwab designed The Chillery to include five categories of CBD products; beauty, sleep, stress, pain and intimacy. Within each of these categories, you’ll find a rich array of products.
For the stress and sleep categories, the team have put together “Starter kits” to introduce cautious customers to their products. In the “Sleep Starter Kit” (€130) you’ll find CBD Oil from Kiki Health and an overnight sleeping mask from Kana. The “Stress Starter Kit” (€75) contains 500mg CBD Miracle Oil from Disciple and a Tumeric Salve from YuYo Botanics.
As well as an extensive product range of products, The Chillery offers a minimalist chic website that will remind customers of high-end designer clothing websites like Net-a-Porter along with free shipping for orders over €80. All this plus luxe products in gorgeous packaging — The Chillery may have landed on the formula that’ll transform the European CBD market for good.
