Ingredient Library
Petitgrain
Citrus aurantium (leaf)
Petitgrain is a fresh green oil from the orange tree that balances and calms while lending an uplifting scent. Toning, it suits combination and stressed skin.
A natural history
Petitgrain is distilled from the leaves and green twigs of the bitter orange tree, the very same tree that gives us neroli from its blossom and bitter orange from its fruit. One tree, three treasures: petitgrain is the fresh, green, leafy sibling of precious neroli, carrying something of its sweetness in a brighter, more herbaceous key.
Its name is a charming relic of history. Petitgrain means little grains, a nod to the old practice around the perfume town of Grasse of distilling the tiny unripe green oranges, no bigger than cherries, for their oil. When that was found to cost the fruit, distillers turned to the leaves and twigs instead, but the little grain name happily endured.
What it does for your skin
Petitgrain is a fresh, balancing leaf oil. In laboratory study, petitgrain oil was found rich in the soft, calming compounds linalool and linalyl acetate, the same molecules that define neroli, with modest antimicrobial activity.[1] Comparing the oils of the bitter orange tree, researchers found the leaf oil carried notable antioxidant activity.[2] In a formula, petitgrain lends a fresh, balancing, soothing touch to oily or combination looking skin. Those benefits come from its makeup of soft, calming linalool and linalyl acetate, with antioxidant activity in testing.
References
[1] Ellouze I, et al. Season's variation impact on Citrus aurantium leaves essential oil: chemical composition and biological activities. J Food Sci. 2012;77(9):T173-T180. doi:10.1111/j.1750-3841.2012.02846.x
[2] Sarrou E, et al. Volatile constituents and antioxidant activity of peel, flowers and leaf oils of Citrus aurantium L. growing in Greece. Molecules. 2013;18(9):10639-10647. doi:10.3390/molecules180910639
Questions, answered
It is a fresh, balancing leaf oil used to soothe and refresh oily or combination-looking skin, the green sibling of neroli.
It is distilled from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree, the same tree that gives neroli (from the blossom) and bitter orange (from the fruit).