What Is Hemp Extract? And Why We Don't Use It
What Is Hemp Extract?
Short answer: it's a different ingredient to what's in our formulas. Hemp extract and hemp seed extract sound almost identical, but they're pulled from different parts of the plant and behave very differently on an ingredient list. Here's the distinction, and why it's the reason we formulate with one and not the other.
What is hemp extract?
Hemp extract is drawn from the flowers, leaves, and stalks of the hemp plant — the parts where cannabinoids concentrate. Depending on how it's processed, hemp extract can carry meaningful levels of CBD and other phytocannabinoids. That's genuinely different from hemp seed oil or hemp seed extract, which come from the seed only.
This is where a lot of skincare labelling gets confusing, because "hemp extract," "hemp oil," and "CBD oil" all get used loosely, sometimes interchangeably, even though they're not the same thing.
Hemp extract vs. hemp seed extract
The seed itself contains no meaningful cannabinoids — that's true whether it's pressed into hemp seed oil or processed into hemp seed extract. Hemp extract, sourced from the flowers and leaves, is a different ingredient with a different cannabinoid profile.
Both can be legal depending on THC content and local regulation, but they're not interchangeable, and a product listing one isn't automatically equivalent to a product listing the other.
Why we don't use it
CBD and other cannabinoid-containing hemp ingredients aren't usable in Australian skincare the way hemp extract's cannabinoid content would require, under current regulation. So we formulate with Hemp Seed Oil and Hemp Seed Extract instead — the seed-derived versions, with no meaningful cannabinoid content, across our hemp skincare range.
If you're comparing ingredient lists between brands, this is the distinction worth checking: "hemp extract" and "hemp seed extract" are not the same line item, even though they read almost identically.
Want the full picture on what we do use? Read our complete guide to hemp oil for skin.
