CO2 extracts in their native form are a balanced natural complex of lipophilic (fat soluble) compounds that can be used in many cosmetic products (including the most common ones like creams), either “as is” or in the form of deconcentrated oil solutions (such as the most popular item among cosmetics manufacturers A10 – 10% oil solution).
However, there are a number of applications for which a fat-soluble ingredient is unsuitable because it cannot be dissolved or mechanically mixed into a carrier base. We are talking about the production of cosmetic products such as tonics, lotions, sprays, wet wipes, sachet masks and a number of others. For such cases, the company “Biozevtika” produces a special ingredient – water-soluble microemulsions of CO2 extracts, which are pseudo-solutions of the “oil in water” type and are easily dissolved in any aqueous medium.
Microemulsions of CO2 extracts (trade name “Living Water”) are made using a specially developed technology that allows to achieve a very fine distribution of lipophilic particles of CO2 extract – the size of the micelles in a pseudo-solution is 2-94 nm. With the help of such a small division, two problems are solved at once: firstly, the long-term stability of the microemulsions themselves as a uniform complex is guaranteed – they can be stored for a long time and do not delaminate; Secondly, it ensures higher efficiency of using CO2 extract as an ingredient (small particles penetrate better into the dermis and interact with it more actively).In conventional cosmetic emulsions, high-molecular thickeners such as paraffins are used for stabilization, which on the one hand give the product stability but on the other hand inhibit the effect of the active ingredients. Microemulsions of CO extracts “Living Water” do not have this disadvantage, since a completely different approach is used to stabilize them – breaking the ingredient into tiny particles, which turn out to be so small that there is a Coulomb repulsion between them, which prevents that they stick together into larger formations and the subsequent separation of the emulsion. This gives the active ingredient in the microemulsion (CO2 extract) unhindered access to the target.
CO2 extracts represent the purest concentrate of biological activity among all available types of extracts. Due to several features of the production technology (high pressure, low temperature, selective properties of the solvent, as well as the “explosion” of the raw material – a sharp release of pressure leading to an explosive expansion of liquefied CO2 gas, destroying cells and creating an opening of extractables for unimpeded access to the solvent), the extraction matrix of CO2 extracts is not only complete, but also intact – it is not loaded with thermal decomposition products, nor with heavy fibers like waxes and paraffins contaminated. CO2 extracts are only biologically active substances and nothing superfluous – this property of such extracts comes into its own in microemulsions, since the access of their biologically active core to the object of influence is not restricted by anything; neither external factors such as high molecular weight compounds or heavy fatty oils of traditional cosmetic formulations, nor internal factors such as viscous bulk compounds present in one form or another in most other types of extracts.
In fact, due to a combination of factors, microemulsions of CO2 extracts as an ingredient in cosmetic formulations are even more effective than CO2 extracts themselves. Due to the very small size of the active and concentrated cores of lipophilic micelles, they acquire high mobility and high penetrating power while they are not limited by any limitations characteristic of other types of cosmetic formulations and impeding the manifestation of the biological activity of the ingredient – together these factors give products based on CO2 extract microemulsions high effectiveness.
An important factor is also the fact that microemulsions of CO2 extracts, when added to aqueous media, do not produce opalescence, turbidity or sedimentation. The size of lipophilic micelles of such microemulsions is less than half the weighted average wavelength of visible light, which ensures the unhindered passage of light waves and the absence of turbidity – in practice, after the addition of microemulsions, the optical properties of the carrier base do not undergo visible changes. From the consumer’s point of view, it’s just water with a pleasant smell; which, however, when applied to the skin, not only produces positive organoleptic sensations, but also a qualitatively well-defined cosmetic effect (depending on the composition).
Finally, we would like to point out that microemulsions of CO2 extracts can be used together with other active ingredients to increase the overall effectiveness of cosmetic formulations and to expand their spectrum of activity. The only recommendation for such cases is to try, among other things, to select the lightest ingredients and not to increase the overall viscosity of the agent, which can reduce the effectiveness and efficiency of the microemulsion.
