Natural Herbal Beauty

Basil: Sweet, spicy scent. Basil is a potent stimulant that increases circulation and eases muscle and joint aches and pains. It alleviates indigestion, and has antiseptic and expectorant properties and helps to treat congestion, coughs, and colds. Basil is excellent for relieving fatigue and nervous tension. Do not use during pregnancy.

Cypress: Spicy, balsamlike scent. The diuretic action of cypress helps to relieve water retention and cellulite. It also improves circulation and is helpful for arthritis. (more…)

Taking care of our skin is very important. The skin, intact, is our first defense against any invasion of foreign matter that can be harmful to our system. The skin is considered a thirdkidney because we excrete toxins through the pores just as we do through the kidneys. We also ingest many chemicals and toxins through the skin, so it is important that we pay attention to what we use to clean, soothe, or heal our skin. The skin also plays an important part in regulating our body temperature.

Most injuries to our skin are simple and taking care of them is easy. Cleaning any wound or puncture immediately following an injury should be the first step. Seek medical help if necessary. Keeping the area clean during healing prevents many problems from developing later on. (more…)

A tincture is nothing more than a highly concentrated liquid extract of herbs. A tincture can be applied externally or taken internally. The kind of herbs you choose to put in your tinctures depends upon what conditions you need to heal. For example, you would make a tincture of comfrey root to heal and clean sores, because comfrey has pain-killing properties and it also aids in cell rejuvenation. If you are choosing herbs to use in a tincture that will be taken orally, be careful to choose “safe” herbs, ones that you know you can safely ingest. (more…)

It is entirely appropriate that the scented plants and the herb garden should be considered together. Some plants, for instance lavender, have aromatic leaves and scented flowers. It is, however, more usual to find the two qualities separatecistus and southernwood have strongly aromatic leaves, but the flowers are not endowed with fragrance.

Generally speaking, the aromatic qualities are more subtle than those of fragrance. In some plants the air around is impregnated with the aroma, as with sweetbriars and pine trees; (more…)