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Table of Contents
Welcome to our Plus CBD Oil Review!
Our editorial team spent several weeks sampling Plus CBD Oil products, reviewing the company website and services, and following up with Plus CBD staff to ensure we provide as comprehensive a brand review as possible.
Speaking of, we used our 27-point rating scale to determine Plus CBD’s overall score.
We gave PlusCBD Oil a score of 81.4/100.
Ranking factors range from ecommerce experience to third-party testing standards, and are grouped under the following major categories:
- Quality
- Transparency
- Website Experience
- Customer Service
- Value
- Brand Value
Before we break down Plus CBD Oil’s score, here’s a quick look at some of our favorite Plus CBD Oil products as well as a bit of background on the now well-established brand.
Plus CBD Oil Recommended Products
Recommended Product
Extra Strength Formula CBD Softgel Capsules
Plus CBD oil makes no concessions when it comes to the full-spectrum hemp extract that these capsules are filled with.
The brand distills their original formula down at a more than 3:1 ratio to bring you this potent, effective oil in a simple format.
With just four natural ingredients, you can feel confident in what you’re taking.
Recommended Product
Raw Formula CBD Softgel Capsules
Where most other brands overlook the chemical precursor to CBD, known as CBDA, Plus CBD offers their customers a “raw” CBD product rich in the compound.
Like CBD, researchers have proven many potential wellness benefits of CBDA, which is one reason why these capsules are highly sought after.
If you want to get as close to the raw hemp plant as possible, this is your product.
Recommended Product
Extra Strength Formula Cherry Mango CBD gummies
There’s a lot of competition, but these just may be the best gummies we’ve ever tasted.
It’s a taste you can feel good about, too, thanks to the use of organic sugar and natural flavoring/coloring.
When taken in doses of 3-4 gummies, this product helped our testers feel calm and focused.
Recommended Product
Extra Strength Formula CBD Oil Drops
Fortified with monk fruit and containing a hemp extract grown using only soil, water, and sunlight, it’s hard to deny the value of this tincture.
The pump top is a nice touch, making it even easier to get your daily CBD in.
Our testers noticed a significant reduction in feelings of stress and “fogginess” after two or more doses a day.
Recommended Product
Extra Strength Formula CBD Roll-On (500mg)
Never diluted with CBD isolate, this handy roll-on brings a full-spectrum hemp extract to your stubborn areas.
The roll-on makes it easy to apply hemp wherever you need relief.
The ingredient list brings an impressive cast of jojoba, aucklandia lappa root, camphor, and more.
How Plus CBD Oil Got Started
A subsidiary of CV Sciences, PlusCBD was established in 2014, and has since grown to become one of the most respected and well-known brands in the industry.
Regarding the parent company, CV Sciences was established in 2012 by a father and son team looking to significantly raise CBD industry standards with effective, compliant hemp products.
PlusCBD exemplifies their commitment to safety with high-quality products available in various formulations and catered to new and experienced CBD consumers alike.
Since their inception, Plus CBD has been busy amassing a sizable catalog of hemp products including CBD oil tinctures, pet tinctures, topicals, gummies, and a range of immune system products (not containing CBD).
What Makes Plus CBD Unique?
Aside from being the first company to receive self-affirmed GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status, an FDA-ready standard that entails a very expensive and time-consuming process, Plus CBD Oil is also working on a pharmaceutical CBD-based drug to help people quit tobacco.
Plus CBD also sets themselves apart in where they source most of their hemp from: Holland.
Holland has very high food safety ratings because of its agricultural standards, technology, and sustainable practices.
Finally, PlusCBD uses non-GMO, EU-certified hemp seeds, and they implement multiple rounds of testing throughout and after cultivation to ensure the hemp is pure and safe.
Our Plus CBD Oil Review
As part of our brand review, we sampled several Plus CBD Oil products and underwent a secret shopping campaign to test the brand’s website, including various services and features not directly related to selecting and purchasing products.
We then took all of this information, including what we learned from Plus CBD Oil personnel about the company, and plugged it into our rating system mentioned above.
As always, we’ll start our breakdown of the major review categories with quality.
Quality
Here we assess everything from hemp sourcing location/methods to packaging, as it all feeds back into quality in some way.
We also award credit for the availability of different extracts and formulation types.
Product Quality
Between boxes and bottles, we were able to quickly glean all important information, including supplement facts and other ingredients, concentration and flavor, a blurb about the brand, another blurb answering basic questions, and a QR code for accessing lab reports.
The packaging itself was durable and easy to use; we never had any issues with threaded or dropper lids.
However, Plus CBD Oil received a deduction for not offering some form of “relief,” “relax,” and “active” formulations within their catalog.
We found zero artificial flavors or harsh preservatives throughout their product offering (gummies included), so Plus CBD oil earns a full score for having safe, conscientiously developed ingredient lists.
Finally, they offer a wealth of full-spectrum CBD products, but we do leave a small buffer for brands who also accommodate the CBD isolate and/or THC-free crowd.
Testing and Certification
All Plus CBD oil products are tested by DB Labs, a reputable, ISO-accredited lab, to ensure that they do not have unhealthy amounts of residual solvent, toxins, heavy metals, and other potential contaminants.
Finally, Plus CBD holds US Hemp Authority certification, which is our gold standard for a full score, considering the organization’s steep influence on the state of hemp legislation throughout the country.
Extraction Method
Plus CBD Oil uses CO2 to harmlessly extract CBD and neighboring cannabinoids from the hemp plant, which is considered by most in the CBD industry to be the gold standard.
This method is preferred because it leaves behind so little (harmless) solvent, and is highly efficient.
As such, Plus CBD has aced the extraction method factor.
Transparency
If the everyday inquirer, whether they’re calling the brand or visiting the site, has to “dig” for basic information about the company, it should set off alarm bells.
We award brands who openly share information about who they are, where they source their hemp from, what they do with it after the fact, and other foundational information.
Info Accessibility
There’s virtually no room for criticism on the product information accessibility front, as Plus CBD does an excellent job furnishing every possible data point you would want to know about each product on respective product pages.
They also make their certificates of analysis easy to access, thanks to the QR codes mounted on packaging.
After a minute or two of perusing “about” pages, we were able to glean most of the basics regarding who is at the helm, what Plus CBD is about, and so forth, leaving a small buffer for brands that have exceeded our expectations here.
Supply Chain Transparency
While Plus CBD oil provides a rough framework of most of their supply chain, it could have been a bit more comprehensive.
We had to bounce around between “about” and “FAQ” pages to find out where the hemp was grown and learn more about manufacturing and testing standards.
We still awarded 80/100 for this individual factor, as they already have a solid foundation in place regarding supply chain/manufacturing transparency.
Website Experience
In an already gimmick-plagued industry, we’re certainly not looking for the flashiest or trendiest website.
Like the vast majority of CBD consumers, we simply want access to clear educational content, a transparent introduction to the brand, and a smooth ecommerce experience.
Product Navigation and Purchasing
Hover over the “products” link, and you’ll quickly have access to a drop-down menu separating products by type (oils, gummies, topicals, etc.).
Once you’re in a category, you’ll encounter a very familiar site: rows of product images with descriptions, prices, and “view product” buttons.
It’s simple, predictable, and very effective, and we noticed no unnecessary steps or weird bugs in the checkout process, so it’s full points for the overall ecommerce experience.
Moreover, this experience held up when browsing from our mobile devices, with just one or two very minor design/formatting issues.
Site Content
Plus CBD has clearly invested a considerable amount of resources into their educational content, which encompasses blog posts, video clips (some featuring doctors), podcasts, and more detailing all the basics a newcomer would want to know and then some.
We also appreciate how the “about CBD” section mixes in newsworthy content and more lighthearted pieces (CBD recipes, etc.) in with their basic guides.
This is definitely one of the most robust and interesting educational resources we’ve seen in the space, so it’s full points for site content.
Customer Service
This is where the everyday consumer can peel back all the fancy branding to reveal the human element driving the company, which is why customer service is such a telling indicator of a company’s true values.
As such, we take it seriously, and include more than just support services.
We also factor in shipping and return policies, as these also speak to the brand’s willingness to accommodate customers.
Contact Options and Responsiveness
Plus CBD Oil provides site visitors with a phone number, but no email address or messenger, which resulted in a sizable deduction for raw availability of support channels (though phone support is weighted the heaviest).
We weren’t able to connect with a human within a few minutes, but the line was still fairly accommodating, so we awarded half points for accommodation.
Shipping and Return Policies
The shipping and return policies were highly accommodating, offering reasonable rates/times and a 30-day window to receive a full refund.
Value
In order to allow brands on both ends of the raw price spectrum a fair go at this category, we have balanced price with the all-important issue of ingredient quality.
In other words, brands that charge a premium can defend their pricing structure with superb ingredient quality, while cheaper brands can’t “game the system” on price alone.
Pricing and Ingredient Quality
A month’s supply of CBD (we have it set at 1500mg) from Plus CBD costs $119.99, which earns 2.5/100 for price alone.
They haven’t necessarily priced themselves out of contention at this level, but some top-tier brands have gone as low as $60 for this same amount without suffering in quality, so we stand by our scale.
However, we weight ingredient quality more heavily than raw price, and since plus CBD oil retained 85/100 points for this factor because of their botanically enhanced, safe ingredient lists, they still came away with 6.4/10 points for the category.
Brand Value
Finally, we have rather ambitiously bucketed a very large spectrum of factors relating to a brand’s overall impact on the CBD industry and local/global communities into this category.
Understandably, there are some contributions that don’t fit easily into the standards we’ve set up here, in which cases we use our discretion to decide how much and where to credit.
In summary, we’re looking for product innovations, community and industry involvement, medical study participation, legislative participation, and general philanthropy.
Here’s how Plus CBD stacks up in this regard.
Product Innovation
While we aren’t necessarily expecting each brand to completely reinvent CBD products, we do like to see innovative approaches to existing methods and/or new formulations/delivery systems (for example, liposomal CBD products).
Considering the botanically enhanced, research-driven formulations that Plus CBD Oil uses, we award the brand 80/100 for this factor.
Community, Research, and Legislative Investment
Between their study participation, US Hemp Authority affiliation, high supplier oversight, and clearly demonstrated institutional knowledge, Plus CBD oil performed very well in these areas.
For a well-established brand, however, they’ve surprisingly not reported any participation in general philanthropy (charity campaigns, drives, etc.), which cost them a couple of points.
Overall, Plus CBD Oil has definitely held a significant influence over the CBD industry at large, especially given their early positioning.
Our Plus CBD Oil Review Overall Rating
All totaled, Plus CBD earns an overall rating of 81.44/100.
Here are some key takeaways to sum up our review:
- High testing and certification standards
- Botanically enhanced, clean ingredient lists
- Research-driven formulations
- Slightly more expensive, but largely offset by quality
- Some lapses in customer service
In the following sections, we’ll feature more detailed reviews of individual products, as well as a comprehensive listing of all Plus CBD oil CBD products.
Plus CBD Oil Product Reviews
Extra Strength Formula CBD Oil Drops
Concentration
We sampled Plus CBD Oil’s Extra Extra Strength Formula tincture in 750mg/55mL, which provides a full-spectrum hemp extract with monk fruit.
Between this formula and the maximum strength and original formulas, shoppers can also get CBD oil tinctures in 250mg, 500mg, and 1500mg concentrations.
Here is the cannabinoid breakdown according to the COA for our product:
- CBD: 812.36mg
- CBN: 5.23mg
- D9-THC: 5.23mg
The CBD is generously over-delivered, and the D9-THC content remains well within the legal limit.
Aside from being a little skimpy with non-CBD supporting cannabinoids, these are exactly the numbers we want to see.
Value
Here are the retail prices for each concentration that our Extra Strength Formula tincture comes in:
- 250mg: $31.99 ($0.13/mg)
- 750mg: ($0.08/mg)
The smaller concentration is unremarkable when it comes to price, but considering the brand’s reputation and the botanically enhanced formulation, we consider the $0.08/mg price point to be moderately competitive.
Still, top-tier brands have dipped as low as $0.03/mg.
Packaging
Between the box and the bottle, we had access to two blurbs about the brand and the product, basic supplement facts and ingredients, the US Hemp Authority seal, and a QR code for accessing lab reports.
The pump top on the tincture bottle was easier to use than a dropper lid, and all packaging held up throughout our use of the product.
As such, we award full credit here for excellent packaging.
Ingredients
Here is the ingredient list verbatim:
Hemp Extract (Aerial Plant Parts), Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Silica, Monk Fruit, Monolaurin, Quillaja Saponaria, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Alpha Tocopherol
As we mentioned in the brand review portion, this is a particularly well-endowed ingredient list as compared to most other tinctures.
Every ingredient provides a potential advantage over competitors, as all of these ingredients come with added health benefits.
This is where Plus CBD Oil really stands out; an excellent ingredients list.
Taste
Even seasoned CBD users may be a little surprised in this case, as the initial bitterness of the hemp is immediately washed out by the addition of sweet monk fruit.
It wasn’t a bad combination in our opinion, but it is definitely a different experience.
Overall, we enjoyed the flavor and the departure from the routine.
Effectiveness
This tincture helped with relaxation and calm.
When taking 3-4 servings in the middle or late afternoon, it helped us to mentally wind down after busy days at work.
We also noticed a significant improvement in our ability to handle last-minute changes and other stressors, which speaks to the calm-promoting benefits.
Pros & Cons
Let’s start with the pros:
- Effective
- Even easier to use than a dropper (pump lid)
- Botanically enhanced
And now the cons:
- Some may dislike flavor
- Above $0.12/mg at lower concentration
Extra Strength Formula Gummies
Concentration
We sampled the Extra Strength Formula full-spectrum gummies in Cherry Mango flavoring.
All of Plus CBD Oil’s gummies contain ten milligrams of CBD per piece, and are available in 30-, 60-, or 90-count containers.
Here is the cannabinoid breakdown according to the COA for the product we sampled (values reported on a per-gummy basis):
- CBD: 12.46mg
- CBG: 0.03mg
- CBN: 0.04mg
- D9-THC: 0.08mg
- CBD: 0.13mg
The CBD is over-delivered, and though multiple non-CBD cannabinoids were detected, they don’t show up in therapeutically active amounts.
The THC level is well within the legal limit, but we’d like to see more non-CBD support.
Value
Here are the retail prices for the two available concentrations of the Extra Strength Formula gummies.
- 300mg: $27.99 ($0.09/mg)
- 600mg: $44.99 ($0.07/mg)
When compared to the brand’s tinctures, which are usually less expensive than gummies, these price points are significantly more reasonable.
We would label the $0.09/mg price point as “fairly competitive,” and the $0.07/mg level as an impressive deal, considering the brand behind it.
Packaging
The labeling on the dark plastic tub in which our gummies arrived contained a brand blurb, basic product information, supplement facts and ingredients, and a QR code for accessing the third-party lab reports.
The threaded lid gave us no trouble throughout our complete use of the product, and all the information we needed was there—top marks for packaging.
Ingredients
Here is the ingredient list for our product verbatim:
Hemp Extract (Aerial Plant Parts), Organic Turbinado Sugar, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Purified Water, Citrus Pectin, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Natural Flavor, Beet Root Color
Once again, we were duly impressed by a Plus CBD Oil ingredient list, as these are some of the most natural gummies we’ve tried in this regard.
We look for organic sugar and natural flavoring/coloring, both of which Plus CBD oil achieves with a very small smattering of additional, safe ingredients.
Taste
This particular flavor of CBD gummy may be our favorite of all time.
At any rate, it’s definitely top three material.
They were just the right amount of sweet and a very satisfying texture (on the chewier side; didn’t break apart instantly).
Regardless of whether or not you’re a gummy person, we find it hard to believe that many consumers would be put off by the Cherry Mango flavor.
Effectiveness
We found the effects of these gummies to mirror the tincture fairly closely.
When taken later in the afternoon, they allowed for a pleasant evening of after-work diversion, but without feeling sluggish.
They also helped us adapt to unpredictable situations and other hiccups throughout the day more calmly.
Once again, we had to take 3-4 gummies at a time to realize these effects, but in this case, we definitely weren’t complaining.
Pros & Cons
Here are the pros:
- Effective for relaxation and calm
- Excellent flavor
- Excellent ingredient list for gummies
- More affordable than tinctures
And now for the cons:
Full-Spectrum CBD Capsules
Concentration
Plus CBD offers several varieties of capsules that vary by individual concentration as well as order size.
Here are the available concentrations:
- 3000mg: 50mg x 60
- 1500mg: 50mg x 30
- 1350mg: 15mg x 90
- 900mg: 15mg x 60
- 600mg: 10mg x 60
- 450mg: 15mg x 30 (We sampled—Extra Strength Formula)
- 300mg: 10mg x 30
- 150mg: 5mg x 30
Here is the cannabinoid breakdown according to the COA for the product we sampled (values reported on per-capsule basis):
- CBD: 15.79mg
- CBG: 0.17mg
- CBN: 0.05mg
- D9-THC: 0.31mg
- CBC: 1.21mg
The CBD content is on point, and including D9-THC, non-CBD cannabinoid support amounts to a very solid 10 percent or more.
This is exactly what we want to see in the cannabinoid breakdown.
Value
Taking into account Plus CBD Oil’s entire collection, prices range from $19.99 to $119.99.
Our product, which contained a total of 450mg of Plus CBD Oil’s Extra Strength Formula hemp extract, retails for $39.99 ($0.09/mg).
Normally, we would say this is a slightly expensive price point for capsules, but considering this is where Plus CBD Oil really excels (as evidenced above), we will call it middling.
Packaging
Between the box and the inner container, we found two blurbs about the brand and the product, basic supplement facts and ingredients, a US Hemp Authority seal, and a QR code for accessing third-party lab reports.
The threaded lid didn’t give us any grief, and the mouth was wide enough to easily access the product without any “traffic jams.”
Overall, there’s no room for griping in the packaging department.
Ingredients
Here is the ingredient list for our 15mg Extra Strength Formula capsules:
Hemp Extract (Aerial Plant Parts), Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Vegetarian Softgel (Modified Corn Starch, Glycerin, Carrageenan, Sorbitol, & Purified Water).
It’s simple and effective, without any unnecessary preservatives or additives of any kind, and we always appreciate the polyphenol boost of extra virgin olive oil.
This is an excellent ingredient list for a CBD capsule.
Taste
It may seem trivial, but we still assess taste with capsules because some of them can leave a highly bitter aftertaste.
As we learned, this wasn’t the case here.
They were slightly sweet on the tongue (starch?) and didn’t leave any lingering aftertaste or bad breath.
Effectiveness
Along with the usual calmness/relaxation benefits, these capsules seemed to provide more of an edge when it came to focusing on tasks for longer periods of time.
It was with these capsules that one of our testers reported locking into a flow state for multiple consecutive workdays.
Considering capsules are a little less worrisome to travel with than even tinctures, this bodes very well for those of us who commute to work.
The rest of us working from home can glean these benefits as well.
Pros & Cons
Let’s start with the pros:
- Large product selection with various formulations
- Affordable
- Effective
And now for the cons:
- None
All Plus CBD Oil Products
Plus CBD Oil sells products in the following categories (click a category to jump to its products):
- Softgel Capsules
- Gummies
- CBD Oils
- CBD Topicals
A wide range of concentrations, cannabinoids, and targeted formulations are represented, especially after the addition of the THC-heavy “Reserve” products (oils, gummies, and softgels) that Plus CBD launched just in time for pandemic relief.
Note: All Plus CBD Oil products are full-spectrum, meaning they may contain trace amounts of THC, though within the federally established limit of 0.3% by dry weight.
Softgel Capsules
Plus CBD Oil offers four concentrations of capsules (10mg, 15mg, 25mg, and 50mg) and three order sizes (30-count, 60-count, and 90-count).
Available formulas include the Extra Strength, Maximum Strength, Original, Raw, and now, a “Reserve” product that blends a significantly higher concentration of THC (2.5mg) into every 25mg softgel.
Best Use: Capsules provide an easily measurable dose of CBD and other cannabinoids with virtually no flavor, making it easy for those who want their CBD without the bitter taste.
CBD Gummies
The Plus CBD Oil gummy collection began with three varieties of gummies – extra strength and two versions of their wellness blend formula (sleep and calm) – and has since expanded to include a CBD/THC blend.
Having personally sampled the “Reserve” CBD/THC blend ourselves, which contains 2.5mg and 25mg of THC and CBD per serving, respectively, we can attest to the much higher potency of calming and discomfort-relieving effects.
All gummies are available in 10mg/piece concentrations, and in 30- or 60-count containers, with the exception of the CBD/THC gummies, which are only available in 30-count containers.
Best Use: Gummies provide a fun and easily approachable format to CBD that still allows for easily measurable doses while covering up some or most of the hemp taste.
CBD Oils
Plus CBD oil has continually expanded their CBD oil line to include 17 oils, sprays, and pet tinctures of various concentrations and formulations.
Best Use: CBD oils generally provide better absorption potential than edibles, can be mixed in with food or beverages, and are very easy to take without losing out on dosage accuracy.
CBD Topicals
Plus CBD initially offered three CBD balms and two CBD roll-ons of various concentrations, and have since expanded their product catalog to include these targeted topical formulations:
- CBD Pain Relief Muscle Cream
- CBD Pain Relief Penetrating Cream
- CBD Pain Relief Arthritis Cream
All of the original products contain the brand’s Extra Strength Formula, which provides a cannabinoid-dense, full-spectrum extract, and the later additions use camphor and menthol to provide additional relief from discomfort before the CBD takes action.
As Plus CBD describes, the COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly transitioned many to remote work, which is why they’ve focused on discomfort relief with their later topicals.
Best Use: CBD topicals provide a direct route to specific areas of discomfort, but are significantly harder to gauge in terms of dosage.
Conclusion
After a thorough vetting of Plus CBD Oil’s products and a front-to-back audit of their processes, we’re proud to confirm that Plus CBD is still one of the best brands in the industry.
We take our role as consumer advocates seriously, and would never recommend any CBD products to the public if we weren’t fully confident in their safety and efficacy.
As such, we’re happy to recommend Plus CBD oil products to anyone looking for a natural, gentle solution to the inevitable stress of everyday life.
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