Kush Queen Conquers CBD Skincare With Defynt, A New Sub-Brand That Portends More

Kush Queen is out to reign over CBD-centered skincare with Defynt Skin, a new sub-brand launching its first skincare product that signals the start of the company becoming an umbrella for multiple brand concepts.

In the beauty segment, Defynt takes Kush Queen from spirited bath bombs and sugar scrub to serious skincare with The Anti-Serum, which is named for the formula’s antibacterial, anti-aging and antioxidant properties, driven by a nanotechnology dubbed Amplifi shrinking CBD molecules to a size that’s 2,000 times smaller than most pores. Kush Queen estimates Defynt will account for about a quarter of its revenue at the outset and more in the future as additional products are released quarterly.

“I’ve had skin issues my entire life. I’ve been on Accutane twice. My skin is so sensitive, a product can easily break it out. Once we got this technology and were putting it in topicals and having great results, we knew we wanted to do skincare,” says Olivia Alexander, founder of Kush Queen. “Defynt is the culmination of my passion for skincare and CBD technology, and we believe it’s a game changer. We’ve had so many people using it here at Kush Queen, and they’ve had amazing results.”

Kush Queen
The release of Defynt Skin’s The Anti-Serum marks the Kush Queen’s skincare debut and also the start of its sub-brand expansion.

Designed to be an effective serum even without its star ingredient, The Anti-Serum combines 100 milligrams of CBD with hyaluronic acid, CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, and vitamins A, C, E, B3 and B5. Priced at $89, it’s vegan, and free of parabens and phthalates. The product has hemp-derived CBD containing no tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the psychoactive constituent of cannabis.

“Defynt is the culmination of my passion for skincare and CBD technology, and we believe it’s a game changer. We’ve had so many people using it here at Kush Queen, and they’ve had amazing results.”

“A lot of people have been taking CBD and placing it in coconut oil. Coconut oil will immediately break me out. That was a huge problem with other CBD serums,” says Alexander. “CBD is such a magical ingredient, especially in skincare, and that’s why we know we’re going to have such amazing growth with Defynt, and it’s going to become a full system. We are doing anti-aging and are going to do anti-acne.”

Alexander, co-founder of the influencing marketing specialist The Third Eye Agency and founder of fashion line The Crystal Cult as well as CEO and founder of Kush Queen, didn’t envision Kush Queen as a beauty brand when she established it in 2015, but the market saw differently. CBD has taken off in beauty, and consumers responded to the brand’s bath and body merchandise. Furthering its beauty positioning, Kush Queen struck a collaboration with nail salon chain Bellacures on the Canni Cure Kit with CBD-fueled bath bombs, milk chocolate, pain relief lotion and lavender scrub. Kush Queen sells smokables, jewelry and apparel along with beauty products.

Kush Queen
Kush Queen founder and CEO Olivia Alexander

As it pushes into beauty, Alexander is steering clear of traditional beauty marketing. She’s basing Kush Queen’s marketing efforts for Defynt around people who have tried the serum and found it worked for their skin, not actors or influencers touting a product merely for pay. Black-and-white imagery and testimonials are incorporated into its efforts.

“If we are going to call the brand Defynt, we have to be defiant in every single aspect. Defynt is about the idea that a skincare company has to be better for people. Everything for us is about keeping it real.”

“If we are going to call the brand Defynt, we have to be defiant in every single aspect. Defynt is about the idea that a skincare company has to be better for people. Everything for us is about keeping it real,” says Alexander. “On the side of the box is a scene of women in battle from the French Revolution. It feels very current to the angsty way we feel right now. We’ve been lied to by skincare companies.”

The sub-brand Defynt could help Kush Queen appeal to retailers. At the moment, it’s only available online at Kush Queen’s website. “Defynt doesn’t say Kush Queen or cannabis. It [adheres] to the standard of being in a big-box retailer or Sephora,” says Alexander. “We believe that, if not now, in 2019, it’s a guarantee that CBD is going to be in every Whole Foods and Walmart, and a whole new world of wellness is going to open.”

Kush Queen
Priced at $89, The Anti-Serum combines 100 milligrams of CBD with hyaluronic acid, CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, and vitamins A, C, E, B3 and B5.

Defynt is laying the foundation for Kush Queen’s expansion into a number of sub-brands meant to widen the company’s consumer reach, particularly in the beauty industry. Alexander describes sub-brands as allowing Kush Queen to speak to various distinct audiences and setting it up for advantageous partnerships, including possibly an acquisition.

“There are going to be huge acquisitions over the next 10 years. We are going to be a part of that because we’ve had so much foresight in this market. It would be really hard for an Estée Lauder to go and do a CBD line of products right now,” says Alexander. “You do have billionaires investing in it, but have you had massive, multibillion-dollar conglomerates acknowledge these people and products? No. We are not there yet. We are in the early phases of it and, for us, that’s exciting and not something to fear.”