Pomegranate Liquid Extract

The oil-soluble version arrives in an oil base, and that base is most of what goes into your formula. It spreads easily, sinks in without leaving a heavy film, and leaves skin feeling smooth and cushioned rather than coated. A cream, lotion or body butter made with it feels finished the moment it is worked in.

Worked through the lengths before a wash, or smoothed sparingly over dry ends afterwards, the oil-soluble version adds slip. Hair combs out with less tugging, looks glossier where the light catches it, and sits smoother at the ends. It suits the pre-wash oiling habit your customers already keep, in a product that also carries a fruit botanical.

The water-soluble version carries no oil at all, so a toner, facial mist, gel or water-based serum made with it stays light, sinks in quickly and leaves nothing sitting on the surface. Skin feels clean and comfortable rather than coated, which is exactly what a customer with oily or combination skin is looking for.

In shampoo, conditioner, a scalp tonic or a leave-in mist, the water-soluble version adds no weight, because there is no oil in it to weigh anything down. Fine or freshly washed hair keeps its body and movement instead of falling flat, and a wash made with it rinses clean without a second lather.

A cream or lotion has both a water phase and an oil phase, so either version works – you add it to the phase it belongs in. Water-soluble goes into the water phase; oil-soluble into the oil phase or at cool-down. Face creams, hand creams, body lotions and moisturising milks are the largest single use of this extract.

This is what the water-soluble version is made for. It disperses into toners, essences, facial mists, aloe and clear gels, water-based serums and sheet-mask essence without clouding them, because it is colourless and water-based itself. It also drops straight into shampoo, conditioner, body wash and hand wash, which are water-based systems too.

The oil-soluble version blends into anything with no water in it: face and body oils, cleansing oils, balms, salves, body butters and oil-based scrubs. It stirs into other oils at room temperature and stays put. In cold-process soap, add it at trace, where it behaves like any other oil in the recipe.

For shampoos, conditioners, scalp tonics and leave-in mists, use the water-soluble version, which disperses into water-based systems and leaves hair light. For hair oils, pre-wash oil treatments and serums for the ends, use the oil-soluble version. Both belong in a hair range; they simply do different jobs at different points in the wash.