Herbshav earichhistoryofuseasdisi

nfectant
sandnatural
beautytr
eat
ments.I
n19th-centur
y
Europe,pungentlemonbal m wasstr
ewnov erf
loor
stofr
eshenrooms.Anci
entEgypt
iansused
herbsandessent i
aloilstosoft
enandper f
umet hei
rski
n.Today
,herbsar
ejustaseco-f
riendl
y,
economi cal
,andeffectiv
e.

Her
bsashousehol
dhel
per
s

Cl
eansur
faces

“Mostpeopl
eenj
oytherelaxingeffectofacupofherbalt
ea, butthesamei nf
usioncanperf
orm
doubl
edutyasasurf
ace-cleaningspray,
”saysKarynMaier,authorofTheNat ur
all
yCleanHome:
150Super-
EasyHer
balFormul asforGreenCleani
ng(StoreyPublishi
ng,LLC,2008).

“Cer
tai
nher
bs,suchaslav
enderandsage,
cangostrai
ghtf
rom t
heki
tchencabi
nettoabowl
of
baki
ngsodadesti
nedtobecomeasoftscr
ubberwhenmixedwit
hwater,
”sheadvi
ses.

Forasimpleall
-purposecl
eaner
,Mai
err
ecommendsf
il
li
ngal
argespr
aybot
tl
ewi
tht
he
fol
l
owingingredients:

wat
er

1capf
ulofl
i
qui
dcast
il
esoap

15t
o20dr
opsofher
bal
essent
ial
oil
,suchasbasi
l
,rosemar
y,l
avender
,orsage

Repel
pest
s

Katol
enYardl
ey,medi
cal
herbal
i
standownerofAlchemy&Eli
xirHeal
thGroup,suggest
s
growi
ngfragr
anther
bssuchasrosemar
y,comfr
ey,andmintt
owar doffmiceaswellasinsect
s.

“Thesear
earomati
cplant
s…andthesmelli
swhatrepel
salotofi
nsects,
”sheexplai
ns.“I
fit
’s
notpossi
blet
ogrowtheactual
her
bs,
crushupdr
iedherbswit
hamor tarandpest
le.Lavender
powder
,forexampl
e,coul
dbespr
inkl
edont
oapet
’sbeddi
ngt
ohel
prepel
fleas.
”

Pr
otectcl
othes

Foramixtur
ethat’
sanathemat oclothes-
lovi
ngmot hs,combineequalpar
tscamphorbasi
l,
l
avender,
androsemaryinasmal lcheeseclothbagandpl acei
ncloset
s.Yardl
eyalsol
auds
l
avenderasamot hrepel
lent
.“Growinglavenderinaflowerpot…orevenput t
ing[
bundl
esof
l
avenderl
eaves]i
nclothi
ngwi l
lhel
pt oprotectthem f
rom moths,
”shesays.

Cl
eart
heai
r

Conv entionalairfreshenerscanbechemi calminefi

elds.Atestconduct
edbytheEnvir
onmental
Wor kingGr oupf oundt hatscentedproductscontainanav er
ageof14secretchemical
s.For
thoseseeki ngamor esensibl
eai rf
reshener,
Mai errecommendsaDI Yopt
ionwit
honlythr
ee
i
ngredi ents.Plus,itcandoubl easadeodor antorbodyspr ay.

“Tomake[yourownherbalairf
reshener]
,fil
lasmal lspraybott
lewi
thorgani
cwit
chhazeland
eightt
o12dropsofyourfavouri
teessentialoi
l
s,”shesay s.Ify
ou’
renotsurewhi
chessent
ial
oilst
ochoose,t
ryoneofMai er
’ssuggestedcombi nations:

l
avenderandpepper
mint

sweetor
angeandv
ani
l
la

v
eti
verandbi
tt
eror
ange

Dy
ehar
d

Calendula,
orpotmarigold,isknownf orit
suseinsoaps;however,
thi
splant’
ssunnyhuealso
makesi tanat
uralchoiceforeco-fr
iendlydyeproj
ect
s.Beyondcraft
s,cal
endulacanbeaddedto
thefoodofornamental koiandotherv i
brant
lycol
our
edfishtobri
ghtenthei
rscales.
Her
bsasbeaut
yboost
ers

Rev
ital
i
zehai
r

Nat
uralshampooswithant
if
ungal
ingr
edient
ssuchassage,
rosemary,andthy
memaycombat
t
heflaki
ngandscali
ngofdandr
uff
.Yardl
eynotest
hather
balr
insescanalsopromot
eheal
thi
er,
morelust
rousl
ocks.

“
Nett
le,
rosemary,
andhorset
ail
prepar
edasateaandt henusedasahai
rri
nsear
ereal
l
ygood
f
orst
rengtheni
ngthehai
randmakingi
tshi
nier
,”shesays.

Soot
heacne

Herbssuchast hymehav eanti

bacteri
alandanti
-i
nfl
ammat or
yproperti
esthatmakethem
val
uabletoolsinouracne-f
ight
ingarsenal
.Yardl
eyaddsthatapplyi
ngessenti
aloi
lssuchas
l
avender,
r osemary,ort
eatreetotheskinmayhelpbanishblemishes.Bef
oreappl
y i
ngessent
ial
oil
s,al
way sdil
utethem wi
thacar r
ieroi
lsuchasgrapeseed.

Tobal
anceoi
l
yoracne-
proneski
n,sher
ecommendst
hef
oll
owi
ngher
b-i
nfusedf
aci
alst
eam.

Addf
reshordr
iedher
bs,
suchasl
avenderorr
osemar
y,t
oabowl
ofboi
l
ingwat
er.

Cov
ert
hebowl
andal
l
owher
bst
ost
eepf
oraf
ewmi
nut
es.

Puty
ourf
aceunderat
owel
,l
eanov
ert
hebowl
,andal
l
owt
hest
eam t
oseepi
ntoy
ourpor
es.

Fi
nishbyappl
yi
ngcol
dwat
ert
otheski
ntocl
osepor
es.

Reducei
nfl
ammat
ion

Accor
dingtoYardl
ey,mari
gol
d’smer
it
sincl
udeanti
bact
eri
alpr
operti
es.Topi
calcr
eamsor
poul
ti
cesthati
ncorpor
atethi
sher
bcanhelptr
eatski
nail
mentsrangi
ngf r
om dr
y,crackedf
eet
tomil
dinfl
ammat i
on.
“
Mari
goldhel
pstost
imulat
eepitheli
alcellt
urnov
erandwoundheal
i
ng,
”say
sYar
dley
.“I
t’
s
f
ant
asti
cforbur
nsandforprev
entinginfecti
ons.
”

Fr
eshenbr
eat
h

Rat
herthanreachi
ngforgum af
tergar
li
ckymeal
s,consi
derchewingafewsprigsoff
resh
par
sley
.Thisherb’
sdeodori
zi
ngeffect
smaybeduet oit
shighlev
elsofchl
orophyl
l—anatur
al
badodourneutr
ali
zer
.

Per
fumeski
n

Aromati
cmarjor
am isknowninGreekmy t
hol
ogyasthegoddessofl ove’
sfavouri
teherb.
I
nspir
edbyAphrodite,medi
evalwomenusedmarjor
am inlovepoti
onsandbr i
dalbouquets.
Today,mar
jor
am leavescanberubbedagai
nstwri
stst
oper f
umeski nwithasweet ,
sli
ghtl
y
fl
oral
scent
.Asprinkleofmarj
oram l
eav
escanalsobear el
axingaddit
iontobathwater.