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How Mexico City-born Xula came about.
Xula co-founders Karina Primelles & Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey | Designed by Chineme Elobuike for Thrillist
Xula co-founders Karina Primelles & Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey | Designed by Chineme Elobuike for Thrillist
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There are literally thousands of options for CBD tinctures. However, there are none like those of the Mexico City-based Xula brand, which fuses ancestral remedies with cutting edge herbal science and testing. Their Calm + Clarity formula targets anti-anxiety and concentration with CBD as well as passion flower, damiana, rose, blue verbena, mugwort and rosemary oil. The CBD-rich balm is fortified with plants such as comfrey leaf, hyssop flower, ginger root, and cramp bark, known in Mexico as Corteza de Calambre. Co-founders Karina Primelles and Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey have succeeded in developing truly novel formulas, across multiple borders and cultures.
To better understand the origins of this unique herbal medicine brand, I got Primelles and Aggrey on the phone to hear about their backgrounds and how they built Xula. Here is her story, in her words.
Karina Primelles: I was born and raised in Mexico City, but I went to the United States to go to college in California. I signed up for a course at Oaksterdam University while completing preliminary courses in medicine, and when I began to understand how cannabis really interacts with our bodies, that was a moment of inspiration. I felt that cannabis had the potential to transform our entire healthcare system and that I could channel my interests and passions for wellness and health through cannabis. After that, I fully devoted myself to learning about the medicinal properties of the plant. I moved back to Mexico about three years after college when things looked like they could be legalized there. I was keen to get back to my roots and start projects around medical cannabis there.
At that time, a mutual friend introduced me to Mennlay in Mexico City. She knew we both loved and were interested in weed, and she imagined that at least that was how we would bond.
Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey: I moved to Mexico City in the winter of 2014 after working as a writer and in the old cannabis industry in California. Our introduction was even cuter: I was talking to a friend about my recent interview with Ayelet Waldman and how I loved her microdosing book, A Really Good Day, and she says, “Oh, I know someone for whom Research was carried out on this book! “As in Karina.
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KP: It’s almost hard to look back linearly to how we started nailing the products. One of our cornerstones at the beginning was the idea of CBD – and cannabis as a whole – as a portal to introduce people to plant medicine in general. For example, when we looked at the hemp plant, we saw a lot of potential for uterine health. There are countless other herbs that have shown medicinal effects as well, such as hormonal balancing, antispasmodic, helping with hot flashes – all of those things. So that was our basis: which effects do we want to support, which herbs support these effects and which synergistic formulas can we use to create truly unique products with a targeted effect.
MGA: Early on, we published bilingual articles on the endocannabinoid system, the entourage effect, CBD and menopause – all basics. This educational element is still a big part of Xula, and we have a herb directory on the website that also contributes to further knowledge about herbal medicine.
We were really careful to find concentrations of herbs that would be most effective on all kinds of bodies. It took us two and a half years to develop the current line.
KP: We interviewed and spoken to several herbalists for months to find the right partners to develop our formulas. Then came the testing of the various herbal ingredients and formulas, and then sending it for feedback and sending it back to the herbalist for tweaking. People’s bodies work so differently. They can have a specific concentration of cannabinoids that have very different effects on different bodies. We were really careful to find concentrations of herbs that would be most effective on all kinds of bodies. It took us two and a half years to develop the current line.
MGA: It is important to note that all of this happened across international borders. Get the herbs, test the formulas, the CBD levels – the cross-border situation made everything more difficult, but frankly it was also very rewarding. It has proven that it is possible.
KP: The quality of the ingredients was so important to us that we really felt it was important to grow our own hemp. There are so many ways to grow it, but we wanted to ensure an artisanal process from seed to finished oil – and we would be proud to share it with the world. I spent half a year in Oregon getting the hemp farm going. Mennlay and I returned for the harvest to help out, and while we were in Oregon we made most of our connections for the other wild herbs there. The ingredients that cannot be grown there come from their home regions – we have some ingredients from India, the Polynesian Islands and here in Mexico.
MGA: We hear a lot of positive feedback on the uff! Touche + Soothe ointment, which has a warm, spicy scent and is super potent with 600 mg of CBD and 100 mg of CBG, as well as the zzz! Lights Out tincture to help you fall asleep. But I think we are most excited about the poof! Moon-a-break tincture. When people use our products, we want them to feel better. Not dragged down by menstrual cramps, headaches, arthritis, or hot flashes – but we want them to feel seen too, too.
Our goal is really embodied in our saying: “feel yourself”.
KP: As women get older, they become more invisible in our cultures. And they’re kind of invisible in cannabis – there aren’t many, if any, products that target them. The menopause products really work, to a degree that actually shocked us. Every woman we gave it to test said it was the first time many of them were able to reduce hot flashes and sleep soundly through the night or feel like themselves. It was a relief they hadn’t even found with hormone replacement. With this we honor this transition and speak to women who go through other phases of life.
Our goal is really embodied in our saying: “feel yourself”. Life is hard. So many things can get in your way. Xula is not just medically about being comfortable within yourself; in your body; in your skin; the feeling that your body is an ally in whatever you want to achieve.
Lauren Yoshiko is a Portland-based writer and co-host of Broccoli Magazine’s Broccoli Talk podcast. She was among the first to cover the cannabis trade and culture from 2014, and her work has since appeared in Willamette Week, Forbes, Rolling Stone and Broccoli Magazine, among others. Follow her on Instagram at @laurenyoshiko for Portland Breakfast Sandwich Rec, Stoned Nail Art, and moderate cat content. Do you want more thrillist? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat.
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