For this round, we are reviewing and reporting upon the Pro Naturals CBD Oil, a 250 mg tincture. This will be an interesting review, as we stumbled across this product on an ad on Facebook, claiming to provide a FREE sample bottle; however, a few days later we found a charge on our credit card for shipping! That kind of underhanded trickery is bound to leave a bad taste in the user’s mouth; read on and you will learn that was not the only thing to leave a bad taste in our mouths!
As we have previously declared, it is our mission to test as many CBD products as possible, even (or maybe especially!) those businesses that appear somewhat shady. It comes as no surprise that, with the rising interest in CBD products, some manufacturers or vendors will employ unethical practices to make a quick buck. Hopefully, our endeavors can save you money and headaches in the long run.
Already, we have come across two posts alleging Pro Naturals CBD Oil was being used to lure customers into a scam:
- One angry user claimed that after paying for shipping ($9.90 for two bottles), they were placed on an automatic reorder system that again charged their credit card, this time for $89.99!
- Another unhappy customer experienced a similar problem with the automated ordering gimmick, further claiming that cancellation of this automatic reorder system is extremely difficult. This customer listed other “names” believed to be related to this scam.
Pro Naturals
As stated at the beginning, we did not purchase this product on the company website or through an established and licensed CBD vendor, but instead through a Facebook ad claiming to be selling Jimmy Buffett’s CBD products. We did find a URL purporting to be the Pro Naturals CBD Oil website, but it is more of a one page sales pitch! And when the product arrived, it was this Pro Naturals CBD Oil with no hint of Jimmy Buffet in the packaging or labeling.
Everyone hears about the questionable practices of many online scams promoting the latest popular trend. A few years back it was cheap prescriptions from Canada and other nations; a few years from now, whatever hot product is making waves, rest assured scammers won’t be far behind.
With that being explained, we also want to note that we are uncertain if the real Pro Naturals company is behind this confusing marketing program, or if some other agency has hijacked this product from a legitimate manufacturer and is responsible for the sales efforts and practices. We do not wish to point fingers erroneously, but it is certainly fishy that we cannot find more information on this company.
Pro Naturals CBD Oil
If the above description of Pro Naturals seems odd, it gets even weirder with the product itself. First off, if Pro Naturals is the company name, and their product name is CBD Oil, they might want to find a new creative department! If the vanilla name was the only disturbing aspect of this product, maybe we could consider this a minor infraction, but there’s more coming.
Neither the product nor the website provided a list of ingredients. Instead, the website/sales page begins by saying they have heard about users reporting dramatic and positive benefits, followed by a bullet list of benefits.
They continue by saying they couldn’t find ingredients but most products like this usually contain some of the these ingredients:
- CBD – they provide a general description, make a little “duh” joke that CBD is the active ingredient, then finish by saying they aren’t sure if this product uses isolate or full spectrum CBD; by their description, we wonder if they even know the difference between the two CBD types
- Coconut Oil – they explain it’s highly popular as a carrier oil for CBD
- MCT Oil – they say it’s like coconut oil except that it is a “natural fractionated version” phrased in such a way it again sounds like they found the phrase on Google, thought it sounded good, and pasted it in but can’t explain it further
- Olive Oil – they call it another “potential” carrier used in some formulation
- Raw Hemp Seed Oil – they mention this carrier oil also comes from the same plant as CBD
As you can see, very broad and general descriptions with no actual claims. They also had a little section on possible side effects, but first downplayed it by comparing it to the same kind of warnings you would find on an aspirin bottle, then telling you not to worry.
Our conclusion knowing all this: we’re on our own for this review and evaluation, but we’re going to brave it and give it our best shot!
The CBD Informative Testing and Rating
Based upon all the above information on the company, the “maybe” list of ingredients, and the rumor laden reports, we were super curious to see how it would fare with our regular and reliable third-party testing facility, Level One Labs in Arizona. We were very curious if it could pass our Potency Test, which allows no more than a 10% variance limit in CBD quantity.
Third Party Test Results
To our astonishment, the CBD content for Pro Naturals CBD Oil showed one of the lowest variance percentages (under 10%!) of any product we reviewed to date with a 228.85 mg result compared to the 250 mg listed on the bottle, as shown in the Certificate of Analysis we received from Level One. This give Pro Naturals CBD Oil a 10 on our quality rating (derived from lab data).
CBD Informative Assessment
As always, our team of testers are ready to try new products, in hopes of uncovering a hidden nugget of perfection in a tincture. However, this particular test session did not rank at the top of their list. To be frank, it hit the bottom of the tank, as you will soon learn.
The Manufacturer – Pro Naturals
This is where things begin to unravel. When evaluating packaging, we look at design and materials. What we got with the Pro Naturals CBD Oil was a bottle sealed with a dropper, with a simple label on front showing the name and CBD quantity of 250 mg. We were generous in giving them a 3 out of 10 (our affinity for sepia labeling gave them an extra point!).
The Product – CBD Oil
Usually our testers favorite stage in the evaluation process, both effects (a disappointing 5 out of 10) and taste failed (a paltry 1.5 out of 10). Effects were quite mediocre but it was the taste that really ruined the enjoyment of the assessment. The flavor is like an edible loaded with cannabis flavoring, just like chewing on a bud of weed, and not a very good flavored or strong bud. Even worse, the lingering aftertaste lasted long and was particularly noticeable after even the mildest belch, bringing up a sore reminder of a bad session.
The CBD Informative Overall Rating for Pro Naturals CBD Oil (250) by Pro Naturals – 7.44
We’ll make this bottom line summary short, but can’t say it’s gonna be sweet. Let’s put it this way: we already reviewed the Focus Elixir by Canna Hemp which got a perfect ten, so we see no reason for our readers to end up shortchanged and possibly ripped off! With Pro Naturals, we seeing nothing “pro” about their marketing nor their product (packaging, taste and effect), and the “naturals” part of the name is just plain iffy.
Save your money and body for a better experience!
