Ingredient Spotlight: Neroli

Ingredient Spotlight · Plant Active

The Neroli

The bitter orange blossom. Soothing and regenerating, neroli distills the bitter orange flower into a precious active for mature skin and sensory relaxation alike.

The portrait of a white flower, an emblem of French aromatherapy.

SoothingRegeneratingAnti-AgingRelaxingToning
Shop our neroli treatments
Common name
Neroli, bitter orange blossom, orange flower.
INCI name
Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower Extract / Water.
Family, type
Rutaceae (citrus); soothing, regenerating floral extract.
Found in nature
The bitter orange tree (Citrus aurantium amara), grown around the Mediterranean, notably in Morocco and Tunisia; its white flowers are hand-picked in spring.
How it's obtained
Steam distillation of fresh flowers, which produces both neroli essential oil and the accompanying floral water (hydrosol).
Typical concentration
0.5% to 3% extract or floral water.
Organoleptic properties
Appearance: colorless to pale yellow liquid; Scent: characteristic, floral, fresh and slightly bitter.
Physical characteristics
Water-soluble; rich in flavonoids and linalool, with documented soothing and regenerating properties1,2.
Benefits
Soothing, regenerating, anti-aging, relaxing, toning, antioxidant.
Cosmetic indications
Mature skin lacking tone, sensitive skin in need of calm; relaxation and well-being care.

Did you know?A little history

Neroli owes its name to a 17th-century Italian princess, Anne-Marie Orsini, Duchess of Nerola, who scented her gloves and baths with bitter orange blossom essence.

Since then, this flower has become one of the pillars of French perfumery and aromatherapy. Its calming virtues have long been documented, and cosmetic research is interested in its regenerating action on mature skin1.

Yon-Ka uses it both for its signature scent and for its soothing virtues, in several of the brand's formulas.

General useNeroli in everyday life

Traditionally, orange flower water is used in cooking and for its calming virtues, often sipped in the evening to help unwind. Its essential oil is one of the most studied in aromatherapy for its relaxing effect2.

Three extracts from one tree: neroli comes from the flowers, petitgrain from the leaves and twigs, bitter orange essence from the zest. Same tree, three scents and three different active profiles.

Cosmetic useIts properties on skin

  • SoothingIts flavonoids calm feelings of discomfort and tightness1.
  • RegeneratingIt supports cell renewal in mature skin.
  • Anti-agingCombined with other actives, it contributes to skin firmness and elasticity.
  • ToningIt restores radiance and tone to tired complexions.
  • RelaxingIts characteristic scent makes it a sensory active as much as a skin active2.
  • AntioxidantIt helps protect skin from oxidative stress.

FormulationNeroli at Yon-Ka

Bitter orange blossom

Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower

A cross-cutting active, found in our technical anti-aging care as well as our sensory rituals: from the Excellence Code line to Time Resist, via Booster Defense + and Phyto Bain.

Key active in: Booster Defense + · Advanced Optimizer Gel Lift
Also found in: La Crème – Excellence Code · Le Masque – Excellence Code · Time Resist Jour · Time Resist Nuit · Phyto Bain

In cosmeticsUses

  • Global anti-aging serums and creams;
  • Firming care, boosters and gels;
  • Regenerating night creams;
  • Bath oils and relaxation rituals.

The Yon-Ka approach

Neroli embodies our phyto-aromatic philosophy: an active that works on the skin as much as on the mind. In Booster Defense +, it complements antioxidant polyphenols; in Phyto Bain, it turns a treatment into a relaxation ritual.

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

How to useAdding it to your ritual

  1. In the morning
    Booster Defense + mixed into your cream, as an antioxidant course.
  2. In the evening, gently
    Time Resist Nuit after Lotion Yon-Ka, to wake up to calmer skin.
  3. Bath ritual
    Phyto Bain poured under running hot water, for a floral moment of relaxation.

Good to knowStorage and precautions

A stable extract; close your bottles tightly.

Very well tolerated when applied topically, with no known contraindications, including during pregnancy. As with any citrus extract, individual sensitivity is still possible: on very reactive skin, patch test behind the ear first.

Go furtherSources

  1. PubMed search on the properties of Citrus aurantium flower (neroli) applied to the skin. PubMed
  2. Rombolà L. et al. Neroli Essential Oil in Rat Prefrontal Cortex. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2016 (study on the relaxing properties of neroli essential oil). PubMed
  3. COSMILE Europe (Cosmetics Europe), cosmetic ingredient database, Citrus Aurantium Amara Flower. cosmileeurope.eu
Selection

Our neroli treatments

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

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The Phyto-Aromatic
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