You can’t talk about cult favorite skincare ingredients without mentioning Vitamin C. No matter how you choose to take your ascorbic acid—whether in toners or serums or thick creams—it’s an ingredient that has rightfully earned a seat in virtually every step of skincare. Vitamin C is a lean, mean, brightening, scar-fading, collagen-boosting, free radical-fighting machine. It’s the kind of badass ingredient you can fall back on for either prevention or damage control, or both.
Most Vitamin C, you’d imagine, comes from citrus fruits. Oranges, lemons and grapefruit are common candidates, but there’s a potent source of the stuff that we’ve overlooked for far too long.
World, meet yuzu.
Also known as yuja in South Korea, yuzu is an East Asian citrus fruit that resembles a small, textured grapefruit. A supercharged source of Vitamin C, it contains more than thrice the amount you’d find in lemon, and 40 times the amount in apples.
Also in the yuzu equation: citric acid and malic acid. Citric acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA), which means it promotes cell turnover and sloughs off dead skin cells. All the while, it helps keep the skin's pH from straying too far from its natural acidic state. Malic acid, on the other hand, is naturally found in the human body. However, the fruit-derived version is what you'll find in skincare. As an exfoliant, malic acid is generally less irritating than others. This makes it a great match for folks who are prone to acne or sensitivity.
Despite its impressive benefits, yuzu is just establishing a foothold in the beauty market. K-beauty brand Some By Mi is one of the best known purveyors of the ingredient, with their Yuja Niacin line hinging on yuzu’s brightening properties. Thankfully, the rest of the world is catching up to the hype.
Here’s a thought: if you’ve slept on yuzu this long, it’s about time you slept with it on.
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Saturday Skin taps into yuzu’s greatest strengths with their Yuzu Vitamin C line. Here, we zero in on two products: a nourishing overnight mask and brightening eye butter.
Bass boosted Vitamin C in a jar, formulated for use three to five times a week. Best applied after moisturizer!
What’s in it: Yuzu Seed Oil for brightness, Glycerin and Ceramides to reinforce the skin’s moisture barrier, Niacinamide to fade dark spots and Retinol to boost collagen production.
What isn’t: No sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrance or color
What it feels like: A lightweight jelly texture. There are bright yellow patches that resemble yuzu zest, but they don’t add any heaviness—in fact, you won’t feel them at all as the formula blends down to a water-like consistency.
Every day’s a Saturday with this stuff. Hit delete on dryness, dullness and stubborn under-eye darkness with this peptide-powered formula.
What’s in it: Yuzu Fruit Extract to hide evidence of late nights past, Adenosine to blur wrinkles, Caffeine to reduce puffiness and Active Vital Complex to double up on moisture.
What isn’t: No sulfates, parabens, synthetic fragrance or color.
What it feels like: Smooth like butter, kind of like that BTS song. Smooth and thick and creamy, but blends into a light but unmistakable layer of moisture.
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Shop the Saturday Skin Yuzu Vitamin C line at Sephora PH!
Art Matthew Ian Fetalver
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