Exosomes in Skin Care - Miracle Ingredient or Marketing Ahead of the Science?

Well, well, well….here we are finally! Discussing the BIGGEST trend in the beauty industry for the last 2 years. Better late than never I guess.

Let’s start with - what exactly are exosomes?

Exosomes are tiny extracellular vesicles released by cells. Yes, we already have them in our bodies. They are first and foremost, naturally present in our bodies and they moves fluids, aid in repair & communicate to other cells to pass vital information along. That information might be “fix this”, “hydrate that” or “calm that inflammation down”.

It’s important to note that exosomes are NOT stem cells. Stem cells are living cells whereas exosomes are the messages released by the cells.

Exosomes outside of the body come from various sources, however in clinical dermatology research they predominantly come from mesenchymal/stromal cells (this means the cells are found in tissue : bone marrow, fat or umbilical cord) and they can be animal or human derived. Plant exosomes are now becoming more common, however they are usually clearly marketed as plant material and not generally included in the clinical dermatology research.

So, what does the research say about exosomes?

I want you to first understand that “potential” does not mean “proof” and although there is promising pre clinical work suggesting an effect on wound healing, collagen production & inflammatory signalling, the human cosmetic evidence is still very young. And in the latest 2026 research, there were only 19 studies; they weren’t randomised, the methodologies were significantly different and the follow up was limited. The “methodologies being different” is best explained by how the researchers conducted their studies. For instance - out of the 19 studies; 4 may have been on mice, 10 on humans, 5 on plants. 6 may use data produced when it’s injected, 13 may use data when it’s needled in. So you can see how these trials may be too broad.

Although these studies found some improvements across several aesthetic outcomes, these were still limited due to non-standardised protocols. In effect, these studies can say that exosome aren’t necessarily ineffective : there’s just not the consistent, long term human evidence that the marketing may lead us to believe.

So, how do we know what’s exactly in an exosome product?

The latest 2026 review looked at both clinical AND commercial exosome products (medical grade and “topical” grade formulations). Unfortunately, they found a large difference between what is being marketed and what information is available on exosome isolation, processing or shelf life (shelf life is WAY more important than what you may think!).

Firstly, it’s hard to isolate an exosome to the point where is can be studied. It’s expensive & difficult to do - having a price tag attached that will need to be passed on to the end consumer. There is also a lack of industry-set protocols to test them AND a limited assessment of how it could potentially be infected in the manufacturing phase (yes, this is not good).

So, let me say this - standardisation across the exosome market with regards to sourcing, purification, sterility, storage & manufacturing - remains inadequate.

There have been some contamination concerns regarding exosomes, which was the initial reason I decided not to enter the human derived exosome play-pen. In 2019 the FDA issued a public safety notification about products that were unapproved for medical & regenerative use ….. and that was enough information for me!!!

Does that mean that improvements haven’t been made? Of course not. But I’m not interested.

And I did bring in some plant based exosomes to trial on (willing) clients and the feedback was the same - the skin felt lovely and soft for longer. Now that’s nice feedback, but would you pay an extra $300 for skin that’s a bit softer for longer? I wouldn’t. So that’s the reason I don’t promote exosomes & I am relatively unimpressed by their arrival into the aesthetics arena.

So, let’s get down to bare facts in skincare and WHAT REALLY WORKS.

We have ingredients with substantial history of being used on humans & having evidence in ageing skin. Ingredients like Vitamin A, Vitamin C, peptides, niacinamide etc. So, I’ll go with the science that’s already proven, rather than wasting money on something that is still just a great marketing idea.

In my opinion.