Orange Peel

Orange peel powder is dried sweet-orange peel, finely ground into a powder you mix with water for a rinse-off face or body mask. It usually leaves skin feeling clean and fresh and looking less dull, and it can make oily skin feel less greasy. Spierb Orange Peel Powder is one ingredient, sweet-orange peel from India, dried, finely ground and triple sifted, with no colour added.

What can you do with orange peel powder?

Mix it fresh with water and use it as a short mask that you rinse off, on the face and neck or on the body.

• Face mask: 1–2 tablespoons (10–15 g) with lukewarm water to a smooth, yoghurt-like paste, rested 5–10 minutes, then a thin layer on clean skin for 10–15 minutes, once a week, or up to twice for oily skin. How to use orange peel powder on your face has the method and the mixes.
• Body pack: 2–3 tablespoons with warm water, rested 5 minutes, a thin layer on intact skin for 10–15 minutes.
• Hair and scalp refresh: 2–3 tablespoons with warm water on greasy or limp-feeling roots for 10 minutes, rinsed until no grains are left, up to once a week. It isn't a hair-growth treatment; orange peel powder for hair explains what it does do.
• Blends: 1 teaspoon each with 3–4 teaspoons of warm water, rested 5 minutes: Aloe Vera Powder for a softer mask (10 minutes), Neem for a more herbal one (10–15 minutes, once a week), or, now and then on oily skin, fuller's earth (multani mitti) for a more matte finish (5–10 minutes in a non-metallic bowl, rinsed before it cracks; not for dry or reactive skin).

Making your own powder, and how long dried peel lasts, is covered in how to make orange peel powder at home.

What are the benefits of orange peel powder for skin?

Used as a short rinse-off mask, it usually leaves skin feeling clean and fresh, can make oily or combination skin feel less greasy straight after rinsing, and gives a fresher, less dull-looking finish as surface oil and residue rinse away. These are surface effects that last until your skin's oil comes back.

Is orange peel powder good for your skin?

Yes, as a short mask for skin that tolerates it. Oily, combination and normal skin are the easiest fit; dry skin does better with a softer mix, such as Aloe Vera Powder or plain yoghurt, and the shorter time. Dried citrus peel has long been part of household face packs, including ubtan-style mixes, for its fresh smell and fine texture. It isn't an acne, pigment or vitamin C treatment.

Fresh peel, essential oil and vitamin C: what's the difference?

Orange peel powder is the whole peel, dried and milled. It isn't orange juice, culinary zest, orange essential oil, an extract or vitamin C powder, and what's true of those doesn't carry over to it. Rubbing fresh peel on your face adds coarse friction and fresh peel oils; a smooth, wet paste of fine powder is a different routine.

Fresh oranges naturally contain vitamin C, but drying and storage change it, Spierb doesn't state a vitamin C level, and a rinse-off mask isn't a vitamin C treatment. Spierb's is sweet orange, not bitter orange: Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Powder is the cosmetic name for sweet-orange peel.

What to expect, and what it won't do

After one mask, skin usually feels clean, fresh and less greasy, and looks less dull. A good mask is comfortable, with no burning, stinging or strong tightness.

Orange peel powder doesn't whiten, lighten or bleach skin, fade dark spots or remove a tan, and it doesn't treat acne or pimples. It's a mask, not a scrub: rubbing it off harder doesn't make it work better, it irritates.

What are the side effects of orange peel powder?

Some people get dryness, tightness, stinging, redness or itching, mostly when the paste is too thick, stays on too long, is used too often or is scrubbed off, or when lemon juice, vinegar or essential oil is added. It shouldn't burn or sting; if it does, rinse it off with plenty of water and don't use that mix again. If you're allergic to oranges or other citrus fruit, don't use it.

Patch test the exact mix 24–48 hours before first use: put a little behind your ear or along your jawline, rinse it off after the time you'd leave the mask on, and watch the skin over the next 24–48 hours. Don't go ahead if the skin burns, swells, blisters or turns red, or if it itches and the itch doesn't settle. A patch test can't rule out a reaction later.

Don't use it on sunburned skin, and keep to your usual sun protection afterwards. Keep it off broken or irritated skin, away from your eyes, lips and the corners of your nose, and pour the fine powder gently so you don't breathe it in. If it gets in your eyes, rinse them with plenty of clean water. Call 911 if your face, lips or eyes swell or you have trouble breathing; see a doctor or pharmacist if an eye still hurts, stays red or your vision is blurred after rinsing. It's for external use only: don't eat or drink it, and keep it out of reach of children.