Unpacking Exosomes (and Which Ones To Use) with the Experts

Our team is dedicated to finding and telling you more about the web’s best products. If you purchase through our links, we may receive a commission. Our editorial team is independent and only endorses products we believe in

Oooooh the power of a buzzword. Once social media gets its sticky grip on the latest language circulating beauty landscape, it’s over. Our attention spans are too short, our eagerness for the next best thing too great. We click, share, and repost until we’re scouring the beauty aisles for the buzzword in demand, often not even knowing: Does it “work?”

While we’ve been hearing about exosomes for a while now, I’m not convinced that the average beauty consumer understands what they are, and more importantly, what they do. I write about beauty for a living and even I had to go digging. Which is why I went to the experts to set the record straight.

What The Heck Are Exosomes?

“Exosomes are tiny extracellular vesicles released by cells. I often describe them as biological messages in a protective envelope,” explains Dominik Duscher, MD, PhD, President and Chief Executive Officer at Dezawa Aesthetics. “They carry proteins, lipids, RNA, and other signaling molecules from one cell to another, and that cargo can influence how recipient cells behave.”

Duscher explains that skin is constantly communicating with itself. Fibroblasts, keratinocytes, immune cells, vascular cells, and stem-like cells are all sending signals about repair, inflammation, collagen turnover, barrier function, and stress. Exosomes, he says, are one of the ways those signals are packaged and transferred. I.e, exosomes can send good-for-your-skin enhancements directly to your cells. Like getting a same-day delivery of something awesome.

Initially I was under the impression that exosomes could be programmed in some way – manipulated to deliver a specific result. But Dr. Duscher says it’s not that simple. 

“The word ‘programmed’ needs some caution. In advanced research settings, extracellular vesicles can be engineered or loaded with specific cargo. But most skin-care products are not ‘programming’ exosomes in that pharmaceutical sense.”

He also cautions that ‘exosome’ is often used loosely in beauty. “A product may be labeled as exosome-based, but consumers should ask: Are these true extracellular vesicles? What is the source? How are they isolated? Are they characterized? Are they sterile? Is there batch testing? The biology matters much more than the buzzword…quality, purity, and function can vary significantly from product to product.”

So There Are Different Sources of Exosomes?

“Yes, and this is where consumers need to be careful,” says Duscher. “Exosomes can come from human cell-derived extracellular vesicles, plant-derived vesicles, platelet-derived vesicles, milk-derived vesicles, animal-derived vesicles, and synthetic ‘exosome-like’ delivery systems. The source matters because the cargo reflects the biology of the source.”

So, I wondered: Can plant-derived exosomes, which are gaining popularity, be effective? Since whatever is in plants is…not in humans. 

“Plant-derived vesicles come from an entirely different biological kingdom. I would not assume they can meaningfully ‘instruct’ human fibroblasts, keratinocytes, immune cells, or follicular cells in the same way a well-characterized human cell-derived extracellular vesicle can,” says Dr. Duscher. 

“A plant vesicle may carry botanical bioactives, but it is not automatically capable of delivering precise human regenerative signals.” Duscher explains that plant-derived exosomes can be interesting as botanical ingredients, but “the evidence does not support treating them as equivalent to human cell-derived exosomes for targeted human tissue signaling.”

Kristina Holey, Skin Director and Esthetician and Marie Veronique Nadeau, Founder and Chemist at Marie Veronique, echo this: “Topicals with plant-derived exosomes are good for the skin’s surface, but they don’t do much beyond the top layer.”

Ultimately, the issue is a stability vs. efficacy problem. “Putting plant-derived exosomes in a medium that will keep them stable long enough for delivery to take place is a very tricky prospect. You’ll get some barrier improvement with a well-formulated serum, and benefits can be multiplied by pairing it with Vitamin C and retinol products,” say Holey and Nadeau. 

Plant-derived exosomes do have one advantage, however, which is regulatory simplicity. “Human-derived exosomes carry significantly more regulatory considerations, while plant-based products avoid many of those regulatory hurdles,” says Beverly Hills board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Gould, MD, PhD. “From a marketing perspective, the appeal is obvious. From a biological perspective, the evidence does not currently support equivalence between plant-derived and human-derived exosomes.”

Net/net: Human cell-derived exosomes are the ones to consider if you want their regenerative magic. According to Dr. Gould, “Human-derived exosomes (typically sourced from stem cells or platelets) contain cargo that human skin cells naturally recognize and respond to. The biology is matched, and most of the clinical research and published evidence is concentrated in this category.”

Sounds like a closed case, but still – knowing which exosome products to buy is not that simple.

What Should We Look for in Exosome Products?

Dr. Gould suggests that there are four things to consider when scoping your exosome products:

1. The Source: Human-derived exosomes, particularly those from platelets or mesenchymal stem cells, have the strongest biological rationale. The science is weaker for plant-derived or unspecified sources.
2. Characterization: Credible brands disclose particle counts per dose and provide third party characterization data. Vague language such as ‘rich in exosomes’ without supporting numbers should be viewed as a red flag.
3. Formulation: Exosomes are extremely fragile and ideally should be lyophilized and reconstituted shortly before use, or stabilized using an appropriate delivery system. A water-based serum containing exosomes that has been sitting on a shelf at room temperature for years is unlikely to be delivering functional vesicles.
4. Use context: The most credible brands recommend exosome application after procedures rather than positioning them as a simple daily serum. That recommendation is more consistent with the underlying biology.

Holy and Nadeau recommend considering the brand and whether you trust their work. “Also check the expiration date—if they’re honest it should be short, none of this two-year nonsense.”

What not to do? Don’t look for percentages. Like how 15–20% L-ascorbic acid is more potent, or how it often needs to be paired with a stabilizing ingredient like ferulic acid to be more effective. With exosomes, it doesn’t work like that.

“I would not shop for exosomes by percentage. ‘Five percent exosomes’ or ‘ten percent exosomes’ does not tell you very much, because there is no universal standard for what that percentage means. A more serious product should be able to speak to source, concentration, particle characterization, purity, sterility, stability, storage requirements, and potency. Even particle count alone is not enough. You can have a high number of particles that are biologically weak, poorly preserved, contaminated, or inconsistent from batch to batch.”