Natural Herbal Beauty

In making up the simple recipes, there are various methods of preparing herbs for use in lotions and creams. The methods listed below will help you to get started.

Decoction

A decoction of herb usually means the boiling up of the herb, and it is often prepared by using roots, stems, bark and berries, ie the hard parts of plants. The herb, or part of the herb, is boiled for about 15 minutes and then allowed to cool. The resulting liquid is drawn off and used, and the herb is discarded. (more…)

Making your own herbal infusions, decoctions, and tinctures is easy. Herbal infusions and decoctions are basically teas prepared in a specific way to maximize the healing properties of the herb. They are similar to teas, in that the fresh or dried herb is steeped or simmered in hot water. Herbs are best prepared in glass, porcelain, earthenware, or enamel-coated steel pots. You can use stainless steel, but avoid aluminum or nonstick cookware. (more…)

Milk cleansers are much gentler on your skin than soaps. Making your own herbal cleansing milks is simple. To keep them fresh for more than

1 week, freeze the strained herbal milks in ice cube trays, and pop out a cube to thaw as needed.

For Dry to Normal Skin:

2 tablespoons calendula flowers

1 tablespoon chamomile flowers

1 tablespoon rose petals (more…)

You’ll need:

2 tablespoons nettle

2 tablespoons red clover blossoms

2 tablespoons lavender flowers

2 tablespoons linden flowers

10 drops lavender essential oil

12-inch square piece of muslin or cotton handkerchief

Stress increases the production of internal toxins and hinders the body’s detoxification processes. Purification, healing and rejuvenation are more easily accomplished when the body and mind are relaxed. Herbs are wonderful allies not only for detoxification, but also for soothing and calming the body, mind, and spirit. This fragrant bath combines the purifying properties of nettle and red clover blossoms with the relaxing properties of lavender and linden blossoms. (more…)

You’ll need:

1/2 cup fine sea salt

1 tablespoon almond oil

5 drops grapefruit essential oil

Once a week, treat yourself to this all-over body cleansing scrub. Fine salt crystals exfoliate dry and dead skin cells, and almond oil moisturizes your skin, leaving it silky smooth. Grapefruit essential oil adds purifying properties as well as imparts a delightful uplifting fragrance. (more…)

While we all get colds at one time or another, we can minimize the severity and length of the illness by the condition we keep our system in.

Diaphoretics cause the patient to perspire and increase blood circulation, thus helping the system to get rid of accumulated poisons and toxins in the body.

Expectorants can and do help the body in dispelling mucus from the system.

Demulcents soothe irritated and inflamed areas, thus allowing the body to heal.

Put the patient on a light diet during the illness and while recuperating. If the patient is in a weakened condition, do not use a strong stimulant. Give clear broths and tonics to build the strength back up. (more…)

SOOTHING BATH FOR TENSION HEADACHES: Put 1 ounce each of mugwort, valerian, chamomile, and agrimony to 1 pint of boiling water. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and add to bath water. Very good for aching muscles.

MILD SEDATIVE: Pour 1 pint boiling water over 1 teaspoon of dried catnip. Cover and steep until cool. Flavor if desired. Strain and sweeten. For children, give 1 tablespoon; adults get 2 tablespoons.

HOP SEDATIVE: Pour 1 quart boiling water over 1-1/2 teaspoons dried hops flowers. Let steep, covered, 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten. Add lemon juice if desired. (more…)

As you become more experienced in working with the herbs, you will find the confidence to create your own recipes. To help you do that, I am giving you more recipes that include explanations of why each herb is included. The categories listed are: stimulants, diuretics, expectorants, astringents, nervines and tonics. Herbs from one category can be substituted for another from the same category. Of course, not all of the herbs in each of these categories are equal to each other as far as their potency and their secondary effects, so a little research will help you select the appropriate herbs from the categories. Just remember to use the herbs responsibly. When in doubt, consult your health care expert. (more…)

There are many ways to use nature’s medicinals. No matter what method is employed, the idea is to release, extract, and activate all the useful properties of the plant. For the most part, that’s accomplished with liquid. In other words, even poultices, plasters, and ointments start as teas.

A word of caution. Never use tap water. There are just too many chemicals in tap water that can interact with and alter the working properties of healing teas. Always use bottled water when preparing home remedies. (more…)

Healing teas have been used with great benefit for millennia. Without the experiences passed down by the master physicians of ages past who both compounded and brewed their own medicinal teas, our knowledge of healing plants would be meager indeed.

Please keep in mind that the physicians of antiquity formulated their healing teas with great care. They were very particular about the apothecary shop they patronized, too. To ensure that the healing brews the doctors personally compounded and dispensed to their patients were biologically active, insisted on herbs that were organically pure, recently dried, and fully potent. That’s what you must do, too. (more…)