Supermodel-turned-entrepreneur and philanthropist Kathy Ireland launched her long-awaited line of CBD infused wellness products. Ireland said she hopes the line of serums, butters, and rubs will offer consumers some much-needed self-care amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our products, while they're beauty products, we really look at them as health care," Ireland told Cheddar. "In the time of COVID, what people are calling beauty, we consider this really to be personal care."
The kathy ireland Health & Wellness CBD Solutions line, announced in May 2020, launched in mid-January as a partnership between Ireland's namesake brand kathy ireland Worldwide and hemp and CBD company Vertical Wellness. The initial launch includes five wellness-focused products and five infused skincare products. The body butters, serums, cleansers, and creams contain anywhere from 20 milligrams of CBD to 500 milligrams of CBD, and items on the website range in price from $29.99 to $69.99.
"We're all indoors a lot. We really want to take care of our skin and take care of ourselves," she said.
Ireland is no stranger to CBD. Level Brands, a marketing company for which Ireland served as chairman emeritus and chief brand strategist, partnered on three different CBD brands with Canadian hemp grower and producer Isodiol, according to Fast Company. One of them was a line of kathy ireland Health & Wellness-branded tinctures and supplements.
"CBD is something that we've been interested in for years," Ireland said. "I was always kind of surprised by the controversy around CBD. Our products don't contain THC...and it's like we give our children grapes but not wine."
Prior to 2018, when the Farm Bill officially removed CBD from the Controlled Substances Act, it was still relatively novel for celebrities to endorse CBD and cannabis products. In 2021, that's no longer the case. Celebrities from actress Nicole Kidman to model Gigi Hadid have endorsed CBD. Others, including lifestyle maven Martha Stewart and athlete Megan Rapinoe, have launched their own brands.
What was once a mark of differentiation in the crowded CBD market has become par for the course, as celebrities scramble to cash in on the hemp-derived CBD market, which Nielsen estimates could generate $6.9 billion by 2025, according to Hemp Industry Daily. But not all celebrity endorsements are created equally, Ireland said, and a savvy consumer can tell the difference.
"Celebrity brands are great, however, that's never been our DNA. That's not what we are. It takes more than an autographed photo to really build a business and bring these great products to market," she said. "I get accused of being a control freak. I prefer to think of it as passionate."
Alongside Ireland's product line, Vertical Wellness launched 10 other CBD and wellness brands in January, betting big on the CBD space at a time when regulation is still in flux for the industry. The USDA issued a final rule governing hemp cultivation at the start of 2021, but a memo from former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, in early January suggested it may still be some time until the agency, which oversees CBD, crafts regulations governing the popular cannabinoid.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
