Product Review: CTFO Pain Relief Oral Spray

Key facts

Recommended Dose: 10 sprays, once a day.

CBD per Dose: 1.5mg

Size: 8ml

Full price: $40.97

Price I paid: $24.97

Servings per container: 6

Link: https://shop.myctfo.me/HempUK/index.php/?route=product/product&path=30&product_id=285

Reason for lower price: Signed up as an associate. Signing up as a Preferred Customer at checkout gets the same discount.
Flavour: Mocha
Also contains: Turmacin™ (200mg per dose).

The first two CBD products from CTFO that I ordered were the small pain relief and sleep sprays, because I suffer from back and ankle pain, due to Osteoarthritis in my lower back and recovering from a recently broken ankle, and I have trouble sleeping. The first one I tried was the pain relief spray.

The spray tastes sweet and pleasant, although I wouldn't describe it as Mocha.

Like the first CDB oil I tried, I used it as and when required instead of sticking to the recommended daily dose. I found it did relieve my pain, but wore off after a few hours, so once a day wasn't enough for me.

Although it contains less CBD than the Holistic Herb oil, it worked just as well for me, so I can only assume the Turmacin™ helps, the CBD is absorbed better, or both.

The only downside is that it is a small spray that contains just 6 servings. They do sell a bigger bottle, which works out cheaper per dose, but I've decided to try their Full Spectrum CBD drops next, as I like the versatility of being able to take it orally and topically.

If I settle on this, after trying more products, I will get the bigger bottle on autoship (which saves an extra 5%).

Product Review: Holistic Herb Premium CBD Oil 4.2mg

Key facts

Recommended Dose: 3 drops, 3 times a day.
CBD per Dose: 4.2mg (1.4mg per drop)
Size: 15ml
Full price: £26.99
Price I paid: £16.20
Servings per container: Not clear.
Link: https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holistic-herb-premium-cbd-oil-2-75-60033060
Reason for lower price: On sale for £20.24, stacked with 20% off entire purchase.

Review

This was the first CBD oil I tried and I found it helped with my ankle and back pain. I had previously tried CBD Gummies, but this was my first experience with oil.

It tasted similar to olive oil and although you're supposed to take it orally, I found rubbing it on also helped.

The only down side is 15ml doesn't last very long. I took 3 or 4 drops when I was in pain and it lasted about 2 weeks. I did rub it on as well sometimes and made a facial oil out of it (see below), so it would have lasted longer if I had stuck to the recommended 3 drops, 3 times a day only.

While I was using this oil, I did not need to take my usual painkillers (Naproxen and Co-Codamol).

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My home-made CBD Overnight Facial Oil. 40 drops non-comedogenic carrier oil (I use almond oil), 10 drops CBD oil, 5 drops lavender essential oil. Creates enough for about a week. #CBD #CBDoil #Lavender #EssentialOil #NaturalBeauty #HomeMade

A post shared by HempUKonline (@hempukonline) on May 13, 2019 at 11:56am PDT

Is all CBD oil the Same?

Since I started researching and selling CBD, I have been asked a lot of questions, which I intend to answer in a series of blog posts, under the

FAQ tag.

Is all CBD oil the same?

No, not all Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is the same. Different manufacturers use different extraction processes and have different breeds of hemp plants. That affects the potency of the CBD oil, but even the same manufacturer will produce different types.

CTFO, for example, produce 10xPure Full Spectrum CBD oil, Full Spectrum CBD oil and CBD Isolate oil and each of those come in varying strengths.

Check the independent lab reports before you buy, to be sure there is enough CBD to have an effect.

What is the difference between Full Spectrum CBD oil and CBD Isolate?

Full spectrum oils contain other cannabinoids. This can be beneficial because other cannabinoids have reported health benefits too, but they can contain Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Most full spectrum oils have the THC removed, but trace amounts could remain. Check before you buy though, because it may be illegal if the THC is left in (it is illegal in the UK).

CBD isolate contains zero THC, but it also doesn't contain any other cannabinoids. It is useful for those who want to avoid even traces of THC, but you could miss out on the potential benefits of the others.

What is CBD Oil?

Since I started researching and selling CBD, I have been asked a lot of questions, which I intend to answer in a series of blog posts, under the FAQ tag.

The most common question is "What exactly is CBD oil?"

CBD is short for Cannabidiol, which is one of over 100 cannabinoids found in cannabis plants.

It is reported to have the same relaxation, pain killing and other benefits of cannabis, without the feeling of being 'stoned' or 'high' because that feeling is caused by Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), another cannabinoid.

CBD oil is created by extracting the CBD from the plant and mixing it with other oils. The amount of CBD in the oils vary and they should tell you the strength, as either a percentage, or in mg on the packet.

CBD Explained from CTFO Communications on Vimeo.

Why I Chose CTFO

By coincidence, which you can read about in my about me post, I was researching CBD oil and ways to make money online/passive income streams at the same time. I found that CBD is a $1billion industry and growing and the affiliate marketing or multi level marketing (MLM) seem to be the best methods of making money online for me.

There are plenty of ways to make money online, but for me MLM and Affiliate marketing seemed the best because although they take a lot of time and effort at the beginning, once you’ve built them up, they can become a passive income stream and also there’s little or no money needed to get started

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is when you earn commission on another company’s sales, by sending people to their website through your link. For example, if you buy CBD oil products through this link, you will be buying from CTFO, not me, and it will cost you exactly the same as if you went directly, but I would earn a percentage of your spend.

What is Multi Level Marketing (MLM)?

Multi-level marketing, known as MLM is when you earn a commission of products you sell yourself, either through direct selling or affiliate links, and on the products people you recruit sell, and the people they recruit sell etc down to a certain number of levels. For example, if you sign up to sell CTFO CBD products through this link, you will still earn the full commission on your sales, but I would earn a smaller percentage as well.

CBD Affiliate Programs

All CBD MLM companies effectively offer an affiliate scheme because you can still earn a commission on the products you sell via your affiliate link or replicated store even if you don’t recruit anyone else to sell. I did find some companies that had affiliate only (no MLM) programs, including CBD FX, CBD BioCare and CBD Armour, but I haven’t signed up yet, so can’t tell you how good they are.

CBD MLM Companies

I’m sure there’s more out there, but when I was researching CBD MLM companies and CBD oil MLM programs, the same three kept coming up over and over; Change the Future Outcome (CTFO), HempWorx and Kannaway. So far I have only signed up for the first one, but I may try the others in the future.

Why I Chose CTFO to Start With

Because I am new to both CBD oil and MLM, I did not want to spend a lot (or anything really ;-)). This will be a learning curve for me and it will probably take a while to make any money, if at all. I didn’t want this to and up being an expensive failed business venture, so the main reason I chose CTFO was because it’s free to sign up and has no ongoing fees* and you don’t have to buy any products**.

I also chose CFTO because it has a patented unique product - the "10xPure" oil. With many companies selling similar products, I wanted to work with one that had an exclusive product.

The other CBD MLM companies I looked at charge a sign up fee and you have to order a certain amount of their products on monthly auto ship to stay in the program. I’m hoping my pain issues will be temporary, so I won’t need CBD oil forever, but I hope to run my online CBD business long term.

I also found the MLM compensation plan simpler. The other CBD MLM programs had legs and each leg had to be earning similar amounts. There are no ‘legs’ with CTFO and when you recruit sellers, you can only have three directly under you. So, if I recruit 4 people, for example, I have to put the 4th one under the first. If you have a particularly good recruiter above you, you can get their spillover, which helps build your team.

* There is a premium plan with a monthly fee, but the free plan is free forever – you don’t have to upgrade after a certain amount of time.

**Although you don’t have to order their products, I have and recommend you do, if you sign up. Can you sell something you haven’t tried? I can’t. Also, to qualify for payment on the lower levels, you either have to be spending $47 a month on products or have recruited 10 people that are. You earn commission on sales from anyone you directly refer, regardless of if you purchase or not.

My First Experience with CBD

I tried CBD for the first time about a week ago. The product I tried was CBD FX Vegan Gummy Bears. I chose these because I wanted to see if CBD works for me, but I didn’t want to buy and expensive oil and then find it doesn’t. These Jellies were £7.99 for a pack of 8. I bought a pack of the standard ones and a pack of the ones with added Turmeric & Spirulina.

I chose these particular gummies because they are vegan. I’m vegetarian and lactose intolerant, so I eat a mostly vegan diet. There are a lot of CBD edibles around, but vegetarian and Vegan CBD edibles are trickier to find.

I was working from home when they arrive and my neck and ankle were hurting. I’m recovering from a broken ankle so that hurts regularly. The neck pain was probably down to sitting at a computer for too long. I wanted to try them straight away, but I was working and I thought I shouldn’t take cannabis while working.

Then I reminded myself that CBD is derived from cannabis, but it isn’t actually cannabis and has no THC, so it won’t get me high and taking it while working should be fine, so I ate one of each. I didn’t notice an immediate effect, but it needs to be digested and get into my blood stream, so I didn’t expect to.

About half an hour later, I thought to myself “I don’t feel any different. They don’t work.” Then I noticed that I wasn’t in pain, so they had worked.

It’s weird. Even though I know it contains no Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the psychoactive part of cannabis, I still expected to feel ‘stoned’ or at least slightly drowsy, which is how co-codamol sometimes makes me feel.

I’m not making any medical claims. CBD oil is sold as a dietary supplement and is not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Just because I personally noticed a reduction in pain, doesn’t mean you will.

About Me

I am a London based IT consultant that has come from a web developer background. I consult on the technical side, not content or marketing, so this type of writing is new to me.

CBD and Me

About 10 years ago, while I was on prescription opiates for a back injury, I went to Amsterdam for the weekend with friends. While I was there, I ran out of painkillers and went into a pharmacy to buy co-codomol. I assumed I could buy the lowest strength one there because you can in the UK. I knew it wouldn’t work as well as my prescription painkillers, but I thought it would be better than nothing.

I was told I could not buy any strength co-codomol because codeine is (well was then, I don’t know if it still is) a controlled substance in Holland. The only painkillers I could by were paracetamol and ibuprofen. I knew from past experience that they wouldn’t help and I was in a lot of pain, so I went to a coffee shop and smoked a joint. It sorted my pain right out. Of course, it also got me stoned and probably wasn’t very good for my lungs, but at least I wasn’t in pain.

Thankfully, through physiotherapy, Pilates and Reebok EasyTone trainers, my back got better, but I had first-hand experience of the pain killing effects of cannabis. I recently broke my ankle and am on prescription painkillers again, although not as many or as strong. I looked online and found reports of CBD (Cannabidiol) oil having the painkilling effects of cannabis, without the ‘high’ or other bad effects, so I decided to try it.

Affiliate/Multi Level Marketing and Me

I am self-employed and when I broke my ankle I was lucky enough to be able to work from home and not have to take any time off sick, but it did make me realise that there is a downside to being self-employed – no sick pay. What if I injured my arm and couldn’t type, or got an illness that made me unable to work?

While I was researching CBD oil, I also researched passive income streams because I wanted to have an income to reply on, if I’m unable to work for a period in the future. I decided that for me affiliate marketing and/or MLM would probably work best.

The Goals of This Site

As I do my own research into CBD and affiliate/MLM programs and try various CBD oil products, I want to help others who are either looking for natural pain relief or ways to make money online, but posting about what i have tried and what worked and what didn’t.

No Medical Claims

I’m not making any medical claims. CBD oil is sold as a dietary supplement and is not intended to treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Just because I personally noticed a reduction in pain, doesn’t mean you will.