Home Cosmetic Science Talk Formulating Benefits of extracts in skincare

  • Benefits of extracts in skincare

    Posted by mrlv90 on May 16, 2020 at 7:35 am

    Hello Everyone,

    What are the benefits using an extract over an oil in a skin mist formula — e.g. avocado oil extract vs avocado oil.

    I know that the extracts I’m interested in (carrot seed extract, avocado extract, bee pollen extract are water soluble, but other than that are there any differences in terms of how they work on the skin?

    Thank you!

    mrlv90 replied 3 years, 10 months ago 6 Members · 7 Replies
  • 7 Replies
  • belassi

    Member
    May 16, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    Since none of them have any visible effect, no, there’s not really any difference…

  • oldperry

    Member
    May 16, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    Agree with @Belassi - extracts have no noticeable impact on skin so what you use doesn’t matter much. It all comes down to what marketing story you want to tell.

  • esthetician922

    Member
    May 16, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @Perry
     to piggyback this question. What is the difference between an “extract” and an “oil” in these types of ingredients. I’ve heard conflicting info. I’ve heard that extract was just another word for oil when they list them like this. But now the OP says that an extract is water soluble so now I don’t know. Thanks! 

  • EVchem

    Member
    May 18, 2020 at 11:15 am

    Extract is a catch-all term, but I  have seen it used more for water soluble extracts than oil. When you buy an extract you’ll be able to tell if it is in water or an oil. In a finished product you might not be able to tell. The extracts are usually very dilute

  • pharma

    Member
    May 18, 2020 at 2:32 pm
    Some oils like rosehip oil come as cold pressed oil or CO2 extract. Solvent extracted edible/machine oils are cheaper than extra vergine oils. Using CO2 instead of solvents is a nice thing. It increases yield but may boost costs; since it is an ‘extract’, higher production costs are easily amortised by higher sales prices and are beneficial for marketing. Differences between cold pressed and CO2 can be minor and, depending on the method and type of secondary constituents, differ in a ‘negative’ or ‘positive’ way for either of the two.
    Regarding plant extracts: Read also my lengthy post HERE where the bottom line is that plant extracts can be active but maybe, more often than not, show as good as no benefit in cosmetics.
  • esthetician922

    Member
    May 18, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    Thank you @EVchem
    and @Pharma I’ll read your post. 

  • mrlv90

    Member
    May 22, 2020 at 1:42 am

    Thanks, everyone

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