Chemical Components
A bit of explanation of CO2 Extracts
Total grade of SOME CO2 extracts - these are extracts manufactured by using only CO2 as solvent... they contain the essential oil from the plant that has been processed + plant waxes. These are solid waxy products at room temperature and are soluble in carrier oils... A water bath at 50 centigrade will liquefy them and make them suitable for inclusion in skincare and cosmetic formulations.
Select grade of CO2 extracts - in most cases, these are extracts made by adding organic ethanol as co-solvent during the extraction of the raw materials. The CO2 extracts made this way contain the volatile components /essential oils/ and are water and ethanol soluble. Let's say "food grade" and could be used as flavors... An example is the utilization of Linden and Elderflower CO2 selective extracts in yogurt production, for flavoring of mineral waters, etc.
Rose and Lavender selective CO2 extracts are an exception - both of them are produced by using only CO2 as a solvent. They are lipid soluble and suitable for inclusion in skincare formulations...
Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all rule you can follow. SOme Co2 totals are soluble in esential oil, alcohol, and carrier oils. Some are not. Many of the flower co2 totals are not solubl in either essentail oil or alcohol. They contain too many waxes etc from the flower.
