Ingredient Spotlight: Grapefruit

Ingredient Spotlight · Plant Active

The Grapefruit

The wake-up fruit. Vitalizing, astringent and radiance-boosting, grapefruit brings skin its vitamin C, its flavonoids and its invigorating scent.

The portrait of a citrus fruit that gives its name to one of our best-loved creams.

VitalizingRadianceAstringentBalancingMood-Boosting
Shop our grapefruit treatments
Common name
Grapefruit, pomelo.
INCI name
Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Fruit Extract (extract); Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil and Citrus Paradisi (Grapefruit) Peel Oil (peel essential oil).
Family, type
Rutaceae (citrus); vitalizing, toning active.
Found in nature
A natural hybrid born in the Caribbean in the 18th century, grown in Florida, Israel, South Africa and around the Mediterranean.
How it's obtained
Extract: pressing and concentration of the pulp; essential oil: cold expression of the peel.
Typical concentration
Extract: 0.5% to 3%; essential oil: a few tenths of a percent.
Organoleptic properties
Extract: yellow-orange liquid; essential oil: pale yellow liquid with a fresh, tangy, sparkling scent.
Physical characteristics
Water-soluble extract rich in vitamin C, flavonoids (naringin) and fruit acids; fat-soluble essential oil, over 90% limonene, volatile1.
Benefits
Vitalizing, radiance-boosting, astringent, toning, balancing, antioxidant, mood-lifting.
Cosmetic indications
Dull, tired skin lacking radiance; normal to oily skin with enlarged pores; men's care.

Did you know?A little history

Grapefruit is a child of chance: it was born in Barbados in the 18th century, from a spontaneous cross between the Asian pomelo and the sweet orange.

The English named it grapefruit because its fruits grow in clusters, like grapes. It only reached Europe in the 20th century, where it became the vitamin-rich breakfast citrus.

At Yon-Ka, the Pamplemousse cream is one of our classics: a radiance cream named after its active, paired with citrus essential oils and Yon-Ka Quintessence.

General useGrapefruit in everyday life

Rich in vitamin C, fiber and flavonoids, grapefruit is one of the lowest-calorie and most antioxidant fruits. Its naringin, responsible for its bitterness, is studied for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

In aromatherapy, peel essential oil is known as stimulating and "mood-boosting": its fresh, sparkling scent is used against fatigue and low spirits1.

Extract or essential oil? The pulp extract brings vitamin C and flavonoids to the skin; the peel essential oil brings toning limonene and scent. Our Pamplemousse creams use both.

Cosmetic useIts properties on skin

  • Radiance boosterVitamin C and flavonoids wake up dull, tired complexions from the first application.
  • VitalizingThe essential oil stimulates microcirculation and brings energy back to the skin.
  • AstringentIt tightens pores and refines the texture of normal to oily skin1.
  • BalancingIt helps regulate excess sebum without drying.
  • AntioxidantNaringin and vitamin C protect skin from free radicals2.
  • SensorialIts sparkling scent turns application into a morning pick-me-up.

FormulationGrapefruit at Yon-Ka

Fruit extract + essential oil

Citrus Grandis Fruit Extract + Peel Oil

The complete duo, main active in our radiance creams and Men's Nutri-Creme: the extract for vitamin C and flavonoids, the essential oil for tone and scent.

Pamplemousse PS · Pamplemousse PNG · Men's Nutri-Creme

Essential oil alone

Citrus Grandis / Citrus Paradisi Peel Oil

Dosed for aromatherapy to tone and scent: key active in Men's Lotion YK, and the fresh note in the Alpha line, Advanced Optimizer Gel Lift and Beard Oil.

Key active in: Men's Lotion YK
Also found in: Alpha-Peel · Alpha-Fluid · Advanced Optimizer Gel Lift · Beard Oil

In cosmeticsUses

  • Revitalizing radiance creams;
  • Toning lotions and aftershaves;
  • Energizing men's care;
  • Fluids and peels, for freshness;
  • Vitality body care, with other citrus fruits.

The Yon-Ka approach

Grapefruit never works alone: in our radiance creams, it's surrounded by sweet orange, lemon and lime essential oils, and Yon-Ka Quintessence. A citrus bouquet that vitalizes both skin and mind, in a dry-skin or normal-to-oily-skin version.

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

How to useAdding it to your ritual

  1. In the morning, to get going
    Pamplemousse cream after Lotion Yon-Ka, massaged briskly from the center of the face outward.
  2. Breathe in
    Warm the cream between your hands and inhale: the citrus scent is designed to wake you up.
  3. For him
    Men's Lotion YK after shaving, then Men's Nutri-Creme.

Good to knowStorage and precautions

Citrus essential oil is volatile and light-sensitive: close your products tightly and store them away from heat.

Cold-pressed citrus essential oils may contain photosensitizing compounds; our formulas are dosed within recommended limits for daily use, but avoid applying a citrus-scented product right before intense sun exposure1. Limonene is listed in our INCI lists, as required by the regulations our formulas, made in France, comply with3. On very reactive skin, patch test behind the ear first.

Go furtherSources

  1. Dosoky N.S., Setzer W.N. Biological Activities and Safety of Citrus spp. Essential Oils. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2018; 19(7): 1966. PubMed
  2. PubMed search on naringin and grapefruit flavonoids in topical application. PubMed
  3. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 on cosmetic products. eur-lex.europa.eu
  4. COSMILE Europe (Cosmetics Europe), cosmetic ingredient database. cosmileeurope.eu
Selection

Our grapefruit treatments

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

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The Phyto-Aromatic
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