SUPERCRITICAL EXTRACTS - The Organic Skin Co.

We know! We know! We bang on about supercritical extraction all the time.

It’s front and center on our packaging and in all our product descriptions. But that’s because it’s important to us. In many ways, it sums up who we are and what we’re trying to achieve with our makeup and skincare – namely, to create products which not only look and feel great, but which are truly good for your skin.

So, what is supercritical extraction, exactly? Well, this is where things get a bit sciencey, but in a nutshell, supercritical extraction is a breakthrough in herbal extraction; the cleanest, purest way to extract all of a plant’s goodness and deliver it to your skin.

Here’s a few reasons why it’s so amazing and why we pride ourselves on being world leaders when it comes to using the technology:

Unlike many other extraction techniques, it’s not reliant on chemical solvents (like alcohol) to extract a plant’s nutrients. Instead, it makes use of a harmless natural gas (CO2) found in the air we breathe and absorbed by plants all around us. The extraction process involves using this natural gas (CO2), which is compressed until it is a semi-liquid. Working at low temperatures, it’s then ‘washed through’ the plant or herb, collecting all of its key nutritive compounds (that’s the really good stuff, the kind of stuff other extraction techniques generally fail to capture).
Equally important, the extracts are extremely concentrated as they are full extractions, including essential oils as well as other water-soluble and fat-soluble substances from the plants we use. The end product is an extract that is all-natural, wonderfully pure, and super potent (in fact our extracts are often upwards of 50 times stronger than conventional extracts!).

Plant matter (kg) required to create 1kg of extracts

Plant	Alcohol or glycorol method	Supercritical Extract method
Juniper	0.2kg	50kg
Licorice	0.2kg	50kg
Turmeric	0.2kg	10kg
Calendula	0.2kg	20kg
Pomegranate	0.2kg	10kg
Holy Basil	0.2kg	35kg

Sciencey, right?

Hopefully, the explanation above gives you a little bit of insight into this amazing technology, but all you really need to know is that it delivers the full spectrum of nature’s benefits straight to your skin. Our products don’t just smell, look and feel great, they’re good for you too.