CO2 Extracts: What They Are + Why They’re Changing Skincare

All of us who love natural and organic skincare understand the value and variety of Mother Nature’s bounty. Over thousands of years, she has developed and nurtured a vast array of plants, all of them chock-full of vitamins and minerals that sync with our skin and which are great for our wellbeing.

Up until recently, though, natural skincare companies have struggled to deliver the full benefits of these plant extracts to our skin.

The Problem With Typical Extraction Methods

That’s because most herbal ingredients used in cosmetics are extracted using high-potency alcohols or propylene glycol. These substances serve as solvents to pull phytochemicals from plants, but they often leave behind residual solvents in the final extract.

This matters because:

• Residual alcohol can disrupt the skin’s natural microbiome, drying it out and irritating sensitive or compromised skin.
• Propylene glycol, a petroleum-derived humectant, can act as a skin penetration enhancer, unintentionally driving unwanted compounds deeper into the skin.
• These solvents are typically selective, extracting only certain parts of the plant, often missing the lipid-rich, aromatic, and resinous components that hold many of the plant’s most skin-beneficial properties.
  
  

The result? A limited, potentially irritating extract that doesn’t reflect the full therapeutic profile of the original herb.

The good news is that it is now possible to access almost all the nutrients of a plant, thanks to a new extraction process that represents a truly profound breakthrough in delivering Mother Nature’s bounty straight to your skin.

What Is CO2 Supercritical Extraction?

CO2 supercritical extraction involves extracting a plant’s nutrients using a natural gas in the air that we breathe – CO2. 

Although the science behind the process is complex, a simple description is that the gas is compressed into liquid form before it is washed through the plant, extracting its vital nutrients. The CO2 then reverts to its original form and is recycled back into the extraction machine (no run off or waste!), leaving only the extract itself.

Benefits Of CO2 Extracts

The amazing thing about these extracts is that they provide all the goodness a plant has to offer. Unlike alcohol extracts, they help protect the microbiome, hydrating, softening, and balancing the skin whilst also providing crucial barrier support, a benefit only heightened by the fat-soluble phytochemicals that the process uniquely captures.

CO2 extracts are super-clean, super-pure, and they work for all skin types.

They’re also super-potent. In fact, CO2 extracts can be up to 500 times more concentrated than the same ingredients that have been conventionally extracted!

Ultimately, this can make a profound difference to your skin, with the difference between conventional extracts and CO2 extracts as profound as seeing a movie for the first time in high definition color, rather than in grainy black and white. 

Takeaway

If you’re looking to supercharge your skin and take advantage of the full suite of benefits that natural ingredients can deliver, then do yourself a favour and check out CO2 extracts for yourself!

References:

1. Li Shao, Lizhuang Wang, Yan Li, Laiji Ma, Chunming Gao, Tianming Bai, and Suzhen Yang; ‘Effect of alcohols commonly used in cosmetics on healthy skin resident microflora’; 2025 The Microbiological Society of Korea, The Korean Journal of Microbiology; https://doi.org/10.7845/kjm.2025.4082
2. Uwineza PA, Waśkiewicz A; ‘Recent Advances in Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Natural Bioactive Compounds from Natural Plant Materials’; National Library of Medicine; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7504334/
3. Marina Zoric, Marija Banozic, Krunoslav Aladic, Sanda Vladimir-Knezevic; ‘Supercritical CO2 extracts in cosmetic industry: Current status and future perspectives’; Research Gate June 2022; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359788315_Supercritical_CO2_extracts_in_cosmetic_industry_Current_status_and_future_perspectives