Herbs have a rich history of use in cosmetology to improve the condition of the human skin and body. Today they are also actively used for both preventive and therapeutic purposes. If you choose the right herbal remedy for a specific problem and a specific skin type, the effect can be greater than the most modest expectations. Do you want to look younger than your age and literally radiate health? Then this article is for you.
Main types of facial skin
It will be much easier to achieve a rejuvenating and healing effect with the help of herbal remedies if you know your skin type. Let's do a little dermatological educational program.
- Normalthe skin does not require serious care beyond normal cleansing and moisturizing. This type is characterized by the absence of blackheads, an oily shine, and a feeling of dryness and tightness. But there is never too much inhibition.
- Drythe skin is the most fragile and sensitive to temperature changes. The effects of the cold of winter and the heat of summer are literally reflected on the face of its owners. Often, a capillary mesh is clearly visible through it, causing physiological and aesthetic discomfort.
- Fat. With this type of skin in winter, you don't need to wrap your face with a scarf. However, all imperfections in the form of enlarged pores and a characteristic shine are visible to the naked eye. In addition, it is a real magnet for all kinds of rashes and inflammations.
- combineda common type for most people. Its characteristic feature is oily skin in the T-zone (temple, nose, chin) and normal skin in other areas.
- Sensitiveskin, like dry skin, is intolerant of the vagaries of the weather, characterized by increased irritability and intolerance to the vast majority of cosmetics. Itching, peeling, feeling of tightness - that's all about it. Medicinal herbs that have soothing and calming effect are the best remedy to eliminate these problems.
Benefits of herbs for the skin
Using medicinal plants for cosmetic purposes, you can count on the following results:
- Saturate the skin with all the necessary nutrients.
- Deep cleansing and tightening of pores.
- Normalizes the functioning of the sebaceous glands, helping to eliminate oily shine for a long time.
- Eliminate and prevent inflammation, disinfection.
- Moisturizing, smoothing, skin whitening.
- Refreshing and toning effect.
What dermatological disorders can be treated with medicinal herbs?
The above properties of phytotherapeutic agents help to combat the following diseases, damage and age-related changes on the skin:
- acne;
- dryness, irritation, peeling;
- shine fat;
- blackheads, enlarged pores;
- sagging skin, wrinkles;
- dark circles under the eyes;
- age spots (including freckles).
There is a whole list of herbs to take care of different skin types
Since it was probably not difficult for you to determine your facial skin type, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the herbs that are suitable for their action.
| Skin type | Suitable herbs |
|---|---|
| Normal | nettle leaves, peppermint leaves, string of tripartite herbs, chamomile flowers, linden flower, plantain leaves |
| Dry | stinging nettle leaves, hops fruit, yarrow herb, calendula flowers, sage leaves, chamomile flowers, oregano herb, creeping thyme herb |
| Fat | mormon herb, chicory herb, yarrow herb, calendula flowers, coltsfoot leaves, St. John's wort herb, aloe leaf juice, silver birch leaves and buds, common oak bark, Linden flower, plantain leaves, burdock root, nettle sting leaves, butterbur root, peppermint leaves |
| combined | peppermint leaves, St. John's wort herb, sage leaves, horsetail herb |
| Sensitive | calendula flowers, salvia officinalis leaves, chamomile flowers, peppermint leaves, string of tripartite herb, lavender herb, flax seeds, violet tricolor herb, bearberry leaves |
The most beneficial herbs for the skin
As you can see, in the table above, some medicinal plants are mentioned more than once, which shows their versatility. These herbs should be discussed in more detail.
Stinging nettle
This pungent plant has long been used for cosmetic purposes for skin and hair care. Its unique properties are due to its rich chemical composition. Therefore, a stinging "cocktail" of nettle juice consists of silicon salts, histamine, choline (vitamin B4) and formic acid, stimulates blood microcirculation, improving skin nutrition. Vitamin A has a bactericidal effect, helping to eliminate pimples, acne and irritation quickly.
Vitamin C improves skin elasticity and increases the tone of the capillaries that nourish it. Vitamin K has an antiseptic anti-inflammatory effect, and in combination with natural "bleach" helps to get rid of freckles and other age spots. Carotene, which this plant is also rich in, gives freshness to the skin and a healthy glow. The combination of flavonoids, tannins and organic acids helps to smooth out wrinkles, providing a visible rejuvenating effect. And finally, the bioavailable potassium in nettle provides natural hydration to the skin.
pharmaceutical chamomile
This plant is great because it is suitable for any type of skin, providing a softening, antiallergic, bactericidal, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and regenerative effect. Chamomile's bioactive substances stimulate blood circulation and relax the facial muscles, which helps to reduce wrinkles. Lotions made from the infusion of the flowers of this plant help with sunburn, allergies and acne, eliminate bags and dark circles under the eyes, accelerate the healing of wounds and microcracks, and form an invisible protective film on the skin.
This herb is also great for cleansing facial skin. Moreover, for both external and internal use. In the second option, it promotes the removal of toxic substances and ballast from the body that provoke dermatological disorders.
However, there is one important nuance: not all chamomile is a cure. The one should be really bitter, which indicates the presence in its composition of a valuable essential oil component - chamazulene, which determines the lion's share of its beneficial properties. Take note!
Official calendar
When talking about the most useful herbs for face care, it is impossible not to mention this amazing plant, which many know more as marine. Thanks to its unique composition, it is suitable for oily, dry and sensitive skin at the same time. The oleanolic acid in the composition of calendula flowers improves the blood supply to cells and tissues, glycosides provide anti-inflammatory properties, and the flavonoid complex provides the plant's antioxidant properties. The last group of substances mentioned, among other things, promotes the accumulation of hyaluronic acid in the body, which is the key to natural skin hydration. Carotenoids are precursors of vitamin A, which give the flower part of the marigold a rich orange color, whose important properties we have discussed above.
The combination of these and several other bioactive substances moisturizes, soothes, softens, cleans, protects and tones the skin, restores its structure at the cellular level, has a brightening and anti-aging effect, improves complexion, giving a glowhealthy for him. .
To maintain the natural beauty and elasticity of the body's skin, hot medicinal baths with a decoction of calendula flowers and sea salt are perfect. And hot water herbal treatments relieve skin itching, have a disinfecting and wound healing effect, which helps with any dermatological disorders. At the same time, the essential oils released in a swimming pool have a beneficial effect on the entire body as a whole, stimulating the immune system and improving mood.
Looking for a really healthy and environmentally friendly skin care product? Next, we suggest you pay attention to the variety of calendula Kalta, which is grown without the use of chemicals far from big cities and industrial enterprises. And, what is also important, in terms of the content of useful substances (in particular, flavonoids and carotenoids), it is much better than wild or cultivated analogues.
Peppermint
Another extremely beneficial herb for any skin type. Moreover, everyone can easily name at least one of their properties. A complex of flavonoids, ascorbic acid and essential oil of mint, rich in menthol, has a rejuvenating and tonic effect, eliminating puffiness and dark circles under the eyes. Rhamnose stimulates the production of collagen, which helps to get rid of wrinkles and prevent the appearance of new ones. The rejuvenating effect is enhanced by the amino acid arginine, which is also present in the plant. Mint tannins are also very useful in the fight against age-related changes in the skin, and the resinous substances speed up the healing of wounds and microcracks.
Steam baths with mint are great for cleaning the deep layers of the skin, getting rid of blackheads and rosacea (microvascular) networks, and improving complexion. In addition, based on this plant, you can prepare wonderful moisturizing, softening and whitening masks, which will have a visible effect after the first use.
As for the most biologically valuable types of mint, it is better to give preference to the "Kip" variety, as a leader in the content of flavonoids and tannins.
Salvia official
This plant deserves a special mention because it is a source of phytoestrogens. As is known, the lack of sex hormones in women, most noticeable during menopause, has a negative impact on the health of the fair sex in general and on the condition of the skin in particular. Taking sage alone or in combination with other herbs with similar properties helps to reduce prolactin while increasing estrogen levels to optimal values, which literally creates a rejuvenating effect, returning women tolook healthy and flourishing. Oral use of sage has been scientifically proven to inhibit 50% of the activity of enzymes associated with aging.
For those who are too early to think of age, drinking sage is useful for preventive purposes. And as an external product, it is suitable for combination skin, tightening your pores and eliminating sebaceous shine in the T zone permanently. Decoctions, masks, scrubs and other cosmetic herbal products based on this plant have anti-inflammatory, soothing, bactericidal and wound healing properties, which help to eliminate any dermatological disorders and their causative agents.
Since one of the main values of sage is its unique essential oil, for medicinal purposes it is better to choose a product with the maximum content of this component.
Yarrow
If we talk about which herb is best for scalp care, then yarrow will be at least in the top three. Of particular interest in this case is its antiseborrheic property, or, in a simpler way, getting rid of dandruff. This is achieved due to the presence of essential oil in the plant, whose components together provide an antibacterial, cleansing, moisturizing and soothing effect.
At the same time, the complex of tannins, organic acids and the natural form of vitamin K provides an anti-inflammatory, astringent, yarrow wound effect, which causes itching and flaking of the skin on the scalp, reducing the severity of acne. on the person and body.
Masks with yarrow perfectly cleanse, nourish and soften the skin, making it fresher, smoother and softer. Moreover, this effect is achieved after several procedures. You can rinse your hair with a decoction after washing, thanks to which its structure is restored.
For many, this will be a discovery, but yarrow is also selected and cultivated, due to which the concentration of bioactive substances in it increases significantly. Therefore, one of the types is characterized by a high content of flavonoids, saponins, tannins and essential oils.
A three-part sequence
It is difficult to name at least one disease or violation of the integrity of the skin that this wonderful plant would not help. A decoction of the herb, used externally as a lotion or bath, effectively treats dermatitis, allergic rashes and acne, psoriatic lesions, purulent wounds, urticaria, scrofula, and seborrhea. Numerous reviews show that such procedures even help reduce warts.
In the form of a drink, this herb for the skin improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, normalizes metabolism, which helps to eliminate the root causes of dermatological problems. The set of their unique properties is related to a whole complex of biologically active substances, including flavonoids, tannins, carotenoids, essential oil and vitamin C.
The plant is equally suitable for clean and sensitive skin. It is a variable component of various herbal preparations.
The best recipes for beauty and healthy skin based on medicinal herbs
We bring to your attention proven recipes based on the above herbs to care for different skin types.
Herbal masks for normal skin
A little clarification: apply the masks in a thin layer to previously cleansed skin. Wash off with lukewarm water. If they are made on an oil/fat basis, then warmer, but not hot. To achieve a uniform consistency, it is recommended to first grind the plant material in a coffee grinder before brewing.
Prescription No. 1
Mix 1 tablespoon of crushed dry nettle leaves with the same amount of warm milk and half a raw egg yolk. Mix until smooth and apply for 15-20 minutes.
Prescription No. 2
Take 1 tablespoon each of chopped dry herb and mint leaves. Pour 1 cup (150 ml) of boiling water over the herbal mixture and let it brew under the cover for about half an hour. After cooling, add 1 teaspoon of starch or any flour for thickness. Mix. Apply the mask for 30 minutes.
Herbal masks for oily skin
Prescription No. 1
Take 1 tablespoon each of dry crushed plantains and mint leaves, brew with 1 cup of boiling water. After cooling, drain excess liquid and add 1 dessert spoon of liquid honey. Apply the mask for 20 minutes.
Prescription No. 2
Take 1 tablespoon of chopped dry herb St. John's Wort and chamomile flowers, pour 1 glass of boiling water and keep on low heat for 10 minutes. Cool to a comfortable temperature, add a teaspoon of wheat or rice flour and mix until smooth. Keep the mask on your face until completely dry.
Prescription No. 3
Boil 1 tablespoon of dry crushed coltsfoot leaves for 10 minutes over low heat. Mash the cooled broth, as in the previous recipe, with a teaspoon until it becomes a thick flour. Keep the mixture warm on the skin for 20-25 minutes. To achieve a long-term effect, the procedure should be performed at least 2 times a week.
Herbal masks for dry and sensitive skin
Prescription No. 1
Pour 1 tablespoon of dry crushed chamomile flowers into ½ cup of boiling water and leave covered for 25-30 minutes. Cool, drain off excess liquid, add 1 teaspoon of honey, mix until smooth. Apply the mask for 15 minutes.
Prescription No. 2
Take 1 tablespoon each of crushed dried chamomile, calendula and hop flowers. Brew the herbal mixture with 1 cup of boiling water. After cooling, drain the excess liquid and add 1 teaspoon of full-fat sour cream, then mix well until mushy. Apply the mask for 20 minutes.
Prescription No. 3
Pour 2 tablespoons of chopped dry sage herb into 1 cup of boiling water. Cool to +40 °C, drain excess liquid, add ½ teaspoon olive or sesame oil and stir until smooth. After applying such a mask, a warm and moist cotton napkin must be applied to the face. Keep the mixture for 25 minutes, rinse it with warm water, and then wash with cold water.
Herbal masks for combination skin
Prescription No. 1
Pour 3 tablespoons of dry crushed chamomile flowers into 200 ml of boiling water and let it brew. After the infusion has cooled to a comfortable temperature, moisten a layer of cotton wool in it and put the resulting mixture on it for 25 minutes, and cover it with a napkin on top. After removing the mask, wash with warm water and apply a nourishing cream to your face.
Prescription No. 2
Pour 2 tablespoons of chopped dry string herb into one cup of boiling water. Leave for 1 hour, strain. Moisten a gauze cloth in the finished infusion and apply it as a mask on the face. Hold for about 20 minutes. In the first week, do the procedure 2-3 times, then 1 time.
Herbal masks for skin elasticity and wrinkle smoothing
Prescription No. 1
Mix 4 teaspoons of crushed dried chamomile flowers with the same amount of full-fat kefir and 1 raw egg. Put the resulting mass on your face for 20-25 minutes, then rinse in warm water.
Prescription No. 2
Take 1 tablespoon each of dry crushed chamomile, mint, St. John's wort, coltsfoot and sage. Brew the resulting mixture with boiling water, close the container tightly and leave for 30 minutes. Then drain the excess liquid, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil (for oily skin types, use low-fat sour cream instead of oil). Spread the mixture evenly over your face and cover with a cotton cloth on top. Keep the mask for 20 minutes.
Prescription No. 3
Take 1 teaspoon each of crushed dry mint leaves and green tea, add 1 tablespoon of sour cream. Mix until smooth. Apply the mixture to your face for 40 minutes, then wash off with warm water and soap.
Healthy and beautiful skin starts from within
The herbs listed for cleaning, moisturizing or smoothing the skin can be your faithful assistants in preserving youth and beauty for many years. However, without helping the body from the inside, phyto-cosmetic procedures are only half-measures.
The first thing that comes to mind in this case is to take vitamins. And this is very fair, since it is simply impossible to get all the nutrients needed to keep yourself in good shape and in excellent shape from food. It would seem that the problem is not worth a damn - everything that our body lacks can be easily found at the pharmacy. It's just that all this vitamin and mineral wealth in synthetic form is absorbed reluctantly. In addition, many other important problems remain unsolved, leading to premature deterioration and aging of the skin.
The best option, taking into account all the nuances mentioned, is to take a natural complex. The first thing you should pay attention to when studying the composition of this drug is the antioxidant content of flavonoids from the quercetin group + vitamins C and E. The fact is that any negative processes that occur are involvedin the human body in one way or another. with the activity of free radicals. It has been scientifically proven that 90% of the signs of early aging and over 50 serious diseases are the conscience of these saboteur particles. Antioxidants are designed to neutralize their violent activity, and the flavonoid of Siberian larch is the strongest of them in the plant world. And in combination with vitamins C and E, this substance acts more confidently and effectively. Among other things, it is an excellent vascular tonic and capillary protector, which ensures uninterrupted nutrition of connective tissue - the basis of organs and systems of our body. Ascorbic acid is also a catalyst for many biochemical processes. Therefore, it promotes the formation of collagen fibers, which is also very important for strengthening the skin and increasing its elasticity.
The multivitamin part of the complex has only two components. But how far! The preparation contains about 250 useful substances in the royal jelly and more than 100 more in bee pollen (pollen). This list contains 20 amino acids, including essential ones, about 30 macro- and microelements, many vitamins, free fatty acids, enzymes that help to absorb all of the above as well as possible. The icing on this nutritional cake is the hormone-like substances in royal jelly, which provide, in particular, a natural increase in estrogen levels. And the latter, as we already know, is extremely important for maintaining the natural beauty of women and preserving youth.
However, men should not ignore the complex either. The combination of bee products in the drug promotes the production of testosterone itself - the hormone of strength, confidence and sexual activity. So everyone will win for sure. Stay healthy and the rest will follow!