Natural Herbal Beauty

250 ml (1 cup) nettles, yarrow or rosemary 500 ml (2 cups) boiling water

Pour boiling water over the herbs. Stand and allow to steep for 20 minutes, then strain. Pour the tea into an enamel saucepan and shave into it 1 cup of a good, pure soap (I use a baby soap or goatmilk soap). Heat the mixture, stirring constantly until the soap is melted. (more…)

Chapped Hand Glove

125 ml (¹/2 cup)finely chopped or minced borage leaves

1 dessertspoon castor oil 125 ml (¹/2 cup) oats

1 dessertspoon honey

Mix into a paste, adding a little hot water to the borage leaves. Spread over the hands, put on the gloves and keep them on for an hour or two, or overnight. (more…)

Soapwort

Soothing and healing, a strong brew can be made from soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) by boiling up a potful of roots, stems, flowers and le wes with enough water to cover. Boil for 10 m nutes, stand, cool and strain. It can be used as a face wash, a hair wash and hair conditioner, and can also be dabbed onto eczema.

Tomato and Lemon Oily Skin Cleanser (more…)

 

ROSE (Rosa species)

Perhaps the most loved of all flowers, rose petals, boiled up in water (enough to cover the petals) make a beautiful rose-water. Add equal quantities vodka or cane spirit if you want it to keep. Make rose-petal vinegar to use as a deodorant and use rose petals in sweet oil for baths, massages and rubs. (more…)

Use this herbal rinse after shampooing and conditioning to freshen your scalp and give body to your hair.

Normal hair (dark): Rosemary, sage, lavender Normal hair (light): Chamomile, calendula Dry hair: Chamomile, comfrey

Oily hair: Nettle, yarrow, thyme, sage

Dandruff: Sage, thyme, nettle, lavender (more…)

This rich avocado mask can be used weekly as a treat to nourish dry skin. Mix up a large batch and apply it to your arms and legs if they tend to be dry and flaky.

• 1 tablespoon ripe avocado
• 1 teaspoon yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Gentle Cleansing Grains
• 3 drops sandalwood or lavender essential oil (more…)
   

Pure jojoba oil is an excellent facial moisturizer. Because it is similar to the skin’s natural oils, it is easily absorbed. Fragrant essential oils balance and rejuvenate the skin.

• 1 ounce jojoba oil
• 10-20 drops essential oil appropriate for your skin type (more…)
   

Description: common plantain (P major) is characterised by its rat tail-like flower spikes and basal rosette of fleshy, rounded or ovate leaves. It grows to around 15 cm high and is commonly found in gardens and pavement cracks. Ribwort plantain (Planceolata) is taller, up to 75 cm, with more pointed, lance-shaped leaves with three to five prominent ribs. Its flowers are dark rust with clear white feathery stamens and appear from late spring to early autumn.

Part used: leaves (more…)

Yellow dock Rumex crispus

Description: a biennial growing to around I 50 cm in height with a robust tap root and long-stalked ovate leaves up to 50 cm in length.The flowers are purple and thistle-like, appearing from early summer to mid- autumn and followed by hooked fruits.

Part used: root

Actions: alterative, bitter tonic, bile stimulant, laxative

Yellow dock is generally found growing in wild, grassy places, waste land and along the road side.The plant is able to concentrate iron from the soil in its roots thus making a valuable iron tonic in anaemia: in the past herbalists sprinkled iron filings around their yellow dock plants to produce iron-enriched specimens. (more…)

Marsh woundwort Stachys palustris

Description: hardy perennial with tuberous roots and hairy, lanceolate leaves. It has dark red or purple flowers in summer borne on tall spikes flowering from the base. It has an unpleasant smell when crushed. Parts used: aerial parts, collected while flowering Actions: antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, styptic, tissue healer

Country names often provide a clue to a plant’s healing action and marsh woundwort is no exception. Gerard called it “clown’s woundwort” with the “clown” suggesting that the herb was widely used by the common people. (more…)