Walnut Exfoliant is a natural exfoliating ingredient manufactured from walnut shells, a reference of the shells & kernels range.
Walnut trees are cultivated since the Middle Ages in the Grenoble area, at the foot of the French Alps.
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe, and thus not a true botanical nut. It is commonly consumed as a nut. After full ripening for its edible seed when the shell has been discarded, it is used as a garnish or a snack.
Juglans regia is a large, deciduous tree attaining heights of 25–35 m (80 to 120 ft), and a trunk up to 2 m (6 ft) diameter, commonly with a short trunk and broad crown, though taller and narrower in dense forest competition. It is a light-demanding species, requiring full sun to grow well.
The bark is smooth, olive-brown when young and silvery-grey on older branches, and features scattered broad fissures with a rougher texture. Like all walnuts, the pith of the twigs contains air spaces; this chambered pith is brownish in color. The leaves are alternately arranged, 25–40 cm (10 to 16 in) long, odd-pinnate with 5–9 leaflets, paired alternately with one terminal leaflet. The largest leaflets are the three at the apex, 10–18 cm (4 to 7 in) long and 6–8 cm (2 to 3 in) broad; the basal pair of leaflets are much smaller, 5–8 cm (2 to 3 in) long, with the margins of the leaflets entire.
The male flowers are in drooping catkins 5–10 cm (2 to 4 in) long, and the female flowers are terminal, in clusters of two to five, ripening in the autumn into a fruit with a green, semifleshy husk and a brown, corrugated nut. The whole fruit, including the husk, falls in autumn; the seed is large, with a relatively thin shell, and edible, with a rich flavor.
Once harvested and dried, the walnut kernels are separated from the shell. They are then sorted and crushed to obtain a powder.
These particles, finely calibrated will exfoliate the skin gently.