Incorporating CBD Salve In Your Wellness Routine

Did you know that “wellness” in the sense we use it today was popularised in the late 1950s by Dr. Halbert L. Dunn, who in 1959 defined “high-level wellness” as a condition of change in which a person moves toward a higher potential of functioning—a practice of self-improvement, distinct from being either “sick” or “not sick.”

This view of wellness as a discipline and an action, rather than a state to be maintained, has been enormously influential on the modern wellness sector—a global economy the Global Wellness Institute valued at $6.8 trillion in 2024.

Indeed, a quick glance over any social media platform, news website, celebrity gossip magazine or the nonfiction shelf at your local bookstore will quickly reveal a bevy of advice for self-optimization, from morning routines to skincare prep to workout tips to nutritious recipes.

It’s hard to imagine some area of our day-to-day that hasn’t become suffused with wellness rhetoric. But everyone approaches the practice of self-care a little differently. A wellness routine might include:

• Exercise or physical activity, e.g., walking, yoga, strength training or sports
• Healthy, balanced meals focused on whole foods and proper nutrition
• Adequate rest, including 7-9 hours of quality sleep a night
• Mindfulness or meditation practice to manage stress and improve mental clarity
• Staying hydrated through the day, with water intake that suits your body, climate and activity level
• Skincare, including cleansing twice daily, using sunscreen with at least SPF 30, moisturizing regularly, exfoliating weekly and prioritizing high-quality natural skincare products.

There are lots of ways to customize your approach to self-care, but one of the easiest approaches is incorporating CBD into your wellness routine.

CBD and Habit Stacking

Of course, there are many ways to practice wellness, depending on means, ability and preference. Some people like to run ultramarathons and others prefer to practice grounding meditations at the end of the day while a face mask soaks in. The best wellness routine, however, is one that’s sustainable long-term, and easy for an individual to return to again and again on a daily basis.

Many people find it easiest to start small, or even to practice “habit stacking.” That’s a technique where you build new habits by linking them to existing ones, creating a sequence of actions. By "stacking" a new behavior onto an established routine, you're more likely to remember and perform the new habit consistently.

For example, if you already brush your teeth every morning, you could stack a habit of drinking a glass of water immediately after, making it easier to integrate into your day. This method helps in forming routines that feel natural and automatic over time.

Incorporating CBD Salve In Your Wellness Routine

For anyone who wants to incorporate CBD into their daily wellness routine, habit stacking with a CBD salve and other topicals is an easy addition to self-care. CBD salve can be worked into nearly any daily wellness practice, including:

• Morning routines: CBD salve can be applied liberally, and the few minutes it takes to work it in are a grounding way to start the day.
• Before or after exercise: CBD muscle cream can be used for warmup and cooldown around workouts to achieve localized effects targeted to whatever body part might be feeling the impact of a tough cardio session or round of golf or pickleball.
• Offsetting repetitive postures and motions at work: Desk workers can’t always get up and move as often as they would like or need to, and people in more physical jobs often face repetitive motions or long hours on their feet that take a toll. Working a salve into the shoulders or hands is a small ritual that fits into a working day—our desk relief guide covers the same application points in more detail.
• Nighttime routines: CBD salve can be applied with other skincare products and lotions as part of an evening wind-down. If that is the routine you want to build first, our evening ritual guide walks through it step by step.

Best CBD Products for Your Wellness Goals

So what should you look for in a topical if you’re thinking of incorporating CBD into your wellness routine? Start with quality ingredients—especially if you’re the kind of shopper who carefully reads the label on each food product or skincare treatment you buy. There are a lot of CBD products out there and they aren’t all created equal.

If you are starting from scratch, the CBD Salve Sample Bundle is the $25 way to try the strengths side by side before committing to a full jar, and our guide to establishing a CBD regimen covers how to build the habit around it.

Full-Spectrum CBD for Wellness Routines

For instance, it helps to know how CBD salves and creams are formulated—including the CBD itself. There are three different categories of CBD: full-spectrum, broad-spectrum and isolate.

Full-spectrum CBD, true to the name, contains not only CBD but also a variety of other botanical compounds found naturally in cannabis and low-THC hemp plants that work alongside CBD when it interacts with receptors intertwined with the nervous system. The THC in a full-spectrum hemp topical is present at sub-perceptual, federally compliant levels—under 0.3% by dry weight—so it is not there in quantities that produce a high.

Broad-spectrum CBD contains many of those same botanical compounds, minus one key ingredient. Broad-spectrum CBD has all trace amounts of THC removed, which reduces the synergistic effect of those natural botanical compounds and cannabinoids on CBD—also known as the entourage effect.

Isolate, on the other hand, removes everything but CBD during the extraction process. That means CBD isolate not only has no THC, it also has no other cannabinoids, or terpenes—the botanical compounds that give plants their distinctive smells, flavors and effects.

At Entourus, we make full-spectrum CBD topicals that carry the fuller range of plant compounds, including our collection of specially formulated topicals, CBD + Terpenes.

Terpenes and CBD for Wellness

The limonene terpene, for example, contributes to lemons’ signature citrusy scent, and aromatherapy research has associated citrus essential oils, in which limonene is the dominant compound, with calming effects. Another terpene, humulene, meanwhile, can be found in cloves, tobacco and hops—and in a study on mice, humulene was found to reduce histamine-induced swelling.

Terpenes are a key part of how CBD affects the endocannabinoid system. This body-wide network of receptors interacts with various substances, including endocannabinoids produced within the body as well as plant-derived cannabinoids and terpenes. That’s why many consumers find CBD isolate products lacking—without the other natural botanical compounds, there’s simply less of an entourage effect playing out within the body.

Another quality to look for is a CBD salve that not only has terpenes, but is also independently lab tested. Look for products with a certificate of analysis (COA), which indicates the product has gone through both in-house and third-party lab testing for pesticides, mold, heavy metals and other contaminants in the biomass from which CBD and other compounds are extracted. We have written more about what goes into a high-quality CBD topical if you want the longer version.

A COA offers additional confidence for wellness-minded shoppers who want to know exactly what they are putting on their bodies. Every Entourus CBD topical comes with a unique QR code right on the product label, providing COA results for the hemp-derived ingredients, in addition to demonstrating that there are no harmful contaminants.

Building new good habits takes time and effort—but it doesn’t have to be hard. It’s as easy as incorporating CBD into your wellness routine. If you want the fuller version of how to do that, our comprehensive guide to CBD salves for everyday wellness goes deeper, and you can browse all Entourus topicals to see the range.

Every Entourus salve uses full-spectrum CBD from non-GMO hemp grown in Central Oregon. Our CBD + Terpenes line adds a proprietary blend of more than fifty botanically derived terpenes, including limonene and humulene. Both lines come in 1000, 1500 and 2000 MG per 50 ML jar.

Learn more about cannabis topicals on our FAQ.