The separation of chamazulene from hydrophilic contaminants present in blue tansy oil provides a visually engaging example of two common techniques: extraction and thin-layer chromatography (TLC). This application uses liquid CO[subscript 2] as a lipophilic solvent to pull a brilliant blue hydrocarbon molecule, chamazulene, out of or through a common hydrophilic material, cellulose. Yellow-green, hydrophilic components remain in a cotton ball or at the lower end of a paper strip. In dramatic fashion, the separation of colored components of blue tansy oil is accomplished with an environmentally sustainable solvent, CO[subscript 2], and an innocuous support material, cellulose. We believe this is the first reported use of liquid CO[subscript 2] in centrifuge tubes to conduct TLC.