Hello again.

In our broad spectrum post we said gel tabs and creams were a story for another day. Today’s the day.

We often get asked which is “best”: the oil, the gel tabs or a cream. The honest answer is that they’re not three versions of the same thing. They’re different products, used in different ways, and in the UK they even fall under different rules.

So this post is about what each format is. It isn’t about what any of them will do for you, because that’s not something we can or should promise.

Oil drops

We sell two oils: the 1000mg Broad Spectrum CBD Oil and the 1500mg Broad Spectrum CBD Oil. Both are Swiss-made and contain just two ingredients:

• CBD-rich hemp extract
• An MCT carrier oil, made from coconut

Oils come with a dropper, so you measure out drops yourself. Because they’re taken by mouth, CBD oils count as food in the UK and come under the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) novel food rules.

One thing to remember: the 1000mg or 1500mg on the bottle is the total amount of CBD in the whole bottle, not the amount in a drop.

Gel tabs

Our 20mg CBD plus Vitamin D3 Gel Tabs are capsules you swallow. Each tab contains 20mg of CBD, with added vitamin D3.

The big difference from oil is that the amount is fixed. One tab, one known amount of CBD, no counting drops. Here the 20mg on the label is per tab, not per pack, which is the opposite of how the oils are labelled. Worth keeping in mind if you’re comparing numbers.

Like oils, gel tabs are taken by mouth, so they’re a food product under the same FSA rules.

Creams

We have three creams:

• CBD Daily Moisturiser 300mg: a lighter, lotion-style cream with 300mg of CBD and added vitamin B5 (panthenol)
• CBD Repair and Restore Cream 500mg
• CBD High Strength Cream 750mg

The Repair and Restore and High Strength creams are richer creams, fragranced with cannabis terpenes (the natural aroma compounds found in the plant).

Creams go on your skin. You don’t swallow them, so they’re cosmetics rather than food, and they sit under cosmetics rules instead of the FSA’s novel food rules. As with the oils, the mg figure is the total CBD in the whole jar.

Side by side

• How you use it. Oil: drops by mouth. Gel tabs: swallowed whole. Creams: applied to the skin.
• What the mg means. Oil: total in the bottle. Gel tabs: amount in each tab. Creams: total in the jar.
• Which rules apply. Oil and gel tabs: food, under the FSA’s novel food rules. Creams: cosmetics.

A word on the rules for oils and gel tabs

At the time of writing, no CBD food products have been authorised in the UK, so you won’t see us calling anything “FSA approved”. The FSA’s September 2026 board recommended the first CBD authorisations to ministers, but that’s a recommendation, not an approval, and the decision rests with ministers.

The FSA also advises that healthy adults limit CBD from food to 10mg a day, and that some people should avoid CBD foods altogether: under-18s, anyone pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive, and people taking medication. That 10mg is the FSA’s general guidance across all CBD foods. It isn’t a dose we’re setting for our products.

So which one?

That really comes down to how you’d like CBD to fit into your day: drops you measure out, a tab with a fixed amount, or something you put on your skin as part of a routine. We can’t tell you which one will do what for you, and we’d be wary of anyone who says they can.

If you’re on medication or have a health condition, please talk to your GP or pharmacist before trying any CBD food product.

And if you’d like to talk through the differences, or want to know what’s in a particular product, email help@cbdhealthyliving.co.uk. We’re always glad to chat.

Thanks for reading,
The CBD Healthy Living team, Barnsley