Ingredient Spotlight: Chamomile

Ingredient Spotlight · Plant Active

The Chamomile

The flower that soothes. Calming, softening and anti-redness, chamomile is the ally of sensitive, tired or overheated skin, from the eye area to the body.

The portrait of two small flowers, Roman and German, with complementary virtues.

SoothingSofteningAnti-RednessDecongestingCalming
Shop our chamomile treatments
Common name
Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis); German chamomile or matricaria (Matricaria chamomilla).
INCI name
Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract; Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil; Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract.
Family, type
Asteraceae; soothing, anti-inflammatory plant active.
Found in nature
Meadows and fields of temperate Europe. Roman chamomile, a perennial, grows in carpets; German chamomile, an annual, colonizes roadsides.
How it's obtained
Extract: maceration of the flower heads; essential oil: steam distillation of fresh flowers.
Typical concentration
Extract: 0.5% to 3%; essential oil: a few tenths of a percent.
Organoleptic properties
Extract: yellow to brown liquid; Roman chamomile essential oil: pale yellow liquid with a very soft, fruity, apple-like scent.
Physical characteristics
Water-soluble extracts rich in flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin); fat-soluble essential oil rich in angelic esters; German chamomile contains bisabolol and azulene1,2.
Benefits
Soothing, softening, anti-redness, decongesting, calming, healing.
Cosmetic indications
Sensitive, reactive, redness-prone skin; tired eye area; skin overheated by sun or blemishes.

Did you know?A little history

The Egyptians dedicated chamomile to the sun god Ra, for its golden flower and its power against fevers.

Its name comes from the Greek khamaimelon, "ground apple", because its scent recalls apples and it grows close to the ground. Hippocrates, Dioscorides and Galen already prescribed it; in the Middle Ages, it was strewn on house floors to scent the air.

The quintessential evening tea, it is today one of the most studied medicinal plants in the world, with more than a million cups drunk every day1.

General useChamomile in everyday life

As a tea, chamomile is traditionally used to promote sleep and ease digestion. Its flavonoids, led by apigenin, are studied for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties1.

On skin, the two species complement each other: Roman chamomile calms and scents, while German chamomile brings bisabolol and azulene, two benchmark anti-redness molecules2.

Roman or German? Both are "chamomiles" but belong to different botanical genera. Our formulas use one, the other or both depending on the desired effect; you can tell them apart in our INCI lists as Anthemis Nobilis and Chamomilla Recutita.

Cosmetic useIts properties on skin

  • SoothingIts flavonoids calm the heat and itching sensations of reactive skin1.
  • Anti-rednessThe bisabolol and azulene in German chamomile reduce diffuse redness and inflammation2.
  • SofteningIt leaves skin supple and comfortable, with no tightness.
  • DecongestingOn the eye area, it reduces the look of puffiness and relaxes the gaze.
  • HealingIt supports the repair of minor skin damage after sun or blemishes1.
  • RelaxingThrough its scent, Roman chamomile essential oil brings instant relaxation.

FormulationThe forms of chamomile used at Yon-Ka

Three forms, three uses, all found in our ingredient lists.

Roman chamomile extract

Anthemis Nobilis Flower Extract

The softening active in our eye care, after-sun treatments and boosters.

Nutri-Contour · Lait Après-Soleil · Alpha-Contour · Booster Lift + · Time Resist Nuit · Guarana Scrub

German chamomile extract

Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract

The anti-redness chamomile, rich in bisabolol: at the heart of Creme 15 for blemish-prone skin, Sensitive Masque and the Sensibiotic complex in Sensitive Creme.

Creme 15 · Sensitive Masque · Sensitive Creme · Lait Après-Soleil

Roman chamomile essential oil

Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil

Decongesting and relaxing, dosed for aromatherapy in the Men's Repairing Eye Gel, Hydra N°1 Serum and Serum CBD, our spa-exclusive treatment.

Men's Repairing Eye Gel · Hydra N°1 Serum · Serum CBD (available exclusively in spas)

In cosmeticsUses

  • Soothing care for sensitive skin;
  • Decongesting eye care;
  • After-sun care;
  • Blemish care, to calm inflammation;
  • Relaxing aromatherapy serums.

The Yon-Ka approach

Chamomile is our botanical answer to discomfort. In Creme 15, it calms the skin that burdock purifies; in Sensitive, it joins prebiotics and probiotics to desensitize; in our eye care, it relaxes the gaze. Gentle, but never inactive.

The science of the active, the sensoriality of the plant.

How to useAdding it to your ritual

  1. Sensitive skin, morning and evening
    Sensitive Creme after Lotion Yon-Ka PS, without rubbing.
  2. The eye area
    Nutri-Contour in the evening around the eyes, with light tapping motions.
  3. When redness flares
    Sensitive Masque in a thick layer for 10 minutes, once or twice a week.

Good to knowStorage and precautions

The extracts are stable; the essential oil is volatile and light-sensitive. Close your products tightly.

Chamomile is very well tolerated, including during pregnancy at cosmetic levels. People allergic to Asteraceae (mugwort, ragweed, chrysanthemum) may react to it: in that case, patch test behind the ear first or ask your doctor.

Go furtherSources

  1. Srivastava J.K., Shankar E., Gupta S. Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future. Molecular Medicine Reports, 2010; 3(6): 895-901. PubMed
  2. Kamatou G.P.P., Viljoen A.M. A review of the application and pharmacological properties of α-bisabolol and α-bisabolol-rich oils. Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society, 2010; 87: 1-7. doi.org
  3. COSMILE Europe (Cosmetics Europe), cosmetic ingredient database. cosmileeurope.eu
Selection

Our chamomile treatments

The Yon-Ka formulas where chamomile is a key ingredient.

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