Banana Liquid Extract

An essential oil arrives concentrated and has to be diluted before it touches skin. This does not. It is already carried in a base and goes into a formula at a small percentage, so the finished cream, gel or wash stays gentle – which is why extracts suit the face wash and the shampoo somebody reaches for every day.

The oil-soluble version is carried in sesame oil, and sesame oil is a real emollient – it spreads easily, sinks in rather than sitting on the surface, and leaves skin feeling smoother the moment it is rubbed in. In a balm, a body butter or a face oil, that softness is the first thing your customer notices.

Used in a hair oil, a mask or a rinse-out conditioner, the oil-soluble version's sesame base coats the strand lightly and helps hair lie flatter. Combing gets easier, ends look less rough, and the finish reads glossy rather than heavy. It is a change your customer feels the same evening, which is what brings them back.

The water-soluble version brings no oil with it, so a toner, mist, gel or sheet mask keeps the light, fresh feel people expect from water-based care. Nothing sits on the surface, skin does not turn shiny by the afternoon, and makeup goes on over it without sliding. For anyone who avoids oils, this is the one.

Choose by phase. The water-soluble version goes into the water phase of a cream or lotion, and into any clear gel or serum. The oil-soluble version goes into the oil phase, and into face oils and balms. Add it at the percentage on the technical data sheet, in the cool-down, and leave your preservative system unchanged.

Shampoos, cleansing bases and most rinse-out conditioners are water systems, so the water-soluble version belongs there. Hair oils, pre-wash masks and oil-rich treatments take the sesame-carried version. Both go in at a low percentage rather than as the headline ingredient, and neither replaces the conditioning agents already doing the heavy work in your formula.

In cold and hot-process soap, the oil-soluble version blends into the oil phase before the lye. In a melt-and-pour bar or a body wash, the water-soluble version stirs in cleanly at the end. Scrubs take either, depending on whether the base is oil or surfactant. Keep percentages modest in rinse-off, where contact is brief.

Clay masks, gel masks, sheet mask essences, mists, primers and tinted moisturisers all sit in the water phase, which makes this the water-soluble version's home ground. Because it is colourless and near-odourless, it will not shift a shade you spent weeks matching, or argue with your fragrance brief. Add it late, in the cool-down.