What helps bruises?

Many years ago, I was talking to a family member about herbs which help with bruising when my husband’s nephew interjected, “Why do you bother, the body deals with bruising all by itself.”

Our nephew is a doctor and not interested in herbs. I’d forgotten he was nearby when I began the conversation but his question made me stop and think. Why would we intervene in a situation which will resolve itself given enough time?

Bruises happen. When we knock against something, fall over, damage to our skin or underlying tissue results in two major actions within the body. The damaged cells are removed and new cells are created to take their place. We can see this as the damaged area changes colour, becomes inflamed, maybe hot to the touch and/or swollen and we feel pain if we try to touch the damaged area.

Sometimes the trauma causes damage to underlying structures, not just soft tissue. Cartilage may be torn, ligaments damaged, bones broken or fractured or blood vessels severed. In such cases, trips to A&E are always advised to diagnose through x-ray, CT scan or MRI exactly what has occurred. Similarly, if there is any hint of abuse, professional help must be sought so accurate records and evidence can be acquired and the victim offered safety.

Head, neck and back injuries, especially those where spinal damage is suspected are other areas where expert advice must be sought since the first hour post event is the most crucial in preventing life-changing effects. The patient must not be moved except by experts.

Having said all this, bruises remain and there are several plants which can provide help and support to the body to assist in the healing process.

There are two herbs which stay at the top of my first aid provisions. Yarrow (achillea millefolium), because of its anti-inflammatory properties and, as Jim Macdonald said, “yarrow knows what to do with blood.” My other go-to is plantain, both narrow leaf and greater (plantago lanceolata and p. major). It’s drawing properties help to ensure the damaged area doesn’t have any foreign objects, it helps with cell production and has the ability to retain moisture in dry tissues.

These two herbs are usually given as a poultice or salve and also internally as part of a tincture or tea, depending on whether the patient can tolerate alcohol.

The third herb I use externally is comfrey. It’s speedy cell-rejuvenation means this is not one to be applied within the first 24-36 hours, as it can regrow skin cells over dirt or fuse bone before it has been correctly set. After that time, it is really useful.

These three herbs form my “old wound” salve because they will also deal with bruises which refuse to heal or leave unwelcomed scars. Their power has also been proved on the energetic level as one of my apprentices uses them as a tea and a smudge to help resolve/come to terms with emotional scars left from childhood abuse, especially when the abuser is no longer alive. She has also used them as a tea with hawthorn and linden when setting up or strengthening boundaries.

If the bruise is involved with connective tissue, Solomon seal (polygonatum multiflorum) is another herb to add to the mix. American herbalists David Winston, Matthew Wood and Jim MacDonald have written at length how helpful Solomon Seal can be with rejuvenating joints, cartilage, connective tissue and tendons in conjunction with agrimony. Agrimony (agrimonia eupatorium) is there not only because it has styptic qualities like yarrow, but also helps with pain due to constriction.

Dylan Warren-Davies, writing as “A Welsh Herbal” on Facebook says “Solomons Seal is traditionally ruled by Saturn, which like comfrey, makes the herb valuable in treating musculoskeletal injuries. In combination with other Saturnine herbs like horsetail and mullein root as an infusion it can speed recovery of sprains, strains and broken bones. It also has been used to apply topically to remove bruising.”

I thought this use of Solomon seal was relatively recent, so it came as quite a shock to read J Arthur Gibbs describing a visit to an old gentleman in his “A Cotswold Village” who reeled off a list of herbs for different ailments including “Solomon seal for bruising”. The book was published in 1898, it’s thirty year old author dying the next year following an unsuccessful hernia operation complicated by an undiagnosed heart condition.

Given that Solomon seal is a North American native, it made me wonder whether its properties were introduced to the UK along with other Thomsonian doctrines, but the UK usage was well-known to both Culpepper and Parkinson so would have been embedded in village herbal lore. Bruton-Seal also notes Gerard’s misogynistic comment that it was useful for bruising “from fals or women’s wilfulness in stumbling on their hastie husband’s fists”!

The other herb well-known for bruises is elder leaves (Sambucus niger) but I have been using the infused bark oil for the same purpose with very good results. This came about because I needed something for bruising in the middle of winter when no leaves of any plant were visible. It worked for me, so I added it to the apprentice tasks and they all reported how quickly the bark oil reduced bruising.

One of the forgotten herbs which I have been adding to my bruise and joint tinctures is bugle (Ajuga reptens). In Culpepper’s day it was well known for falls and inward bruises for dissolving congealed blood. Parkinson recommended it for broken bones and dislocated joints but by the late 19^th century it had fallen out of favour.

My knowledge and use came from Julie Bruton Seal and Mathew Seal in their book, “Wayside Herbs”. I happened to be walking into the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a Herbal History Society seminar some years ago and met Julie in the car park. She was telling me enthusiastically about bugle when we met up with one of the speakers, Christina Stapley.

Christina was in such pain from her shoulder that she didn’t think she would be able to deliver her presentation. Julie had a bottle of bugle tincture in her handbag and persuaded Christina to let her rub it on the affected area. Twenty minutes later, the pain was gone and Christina’s session was by far the best one of the whole day!

I made my first tincture that year from bugle harvested from Buckland churchyard, next to the manor house where my great-grandmother was brought up. The plant then emerged at the Sanctuary and has grown there energetically ever since. Julie notes its use for realigning joints, especially the spine and releasing trapped nerves. I’ve been adding it to all my joint tinctures and have noticed it has very positive effects in reducing “bile dumps”, which is an added digestive bonus.

When bruising is extensive and long-lasting, it is time to consider other plants to throw into the mix. Chilli, cayenne (capsicum sp.) gets blood moving at all levels. It can be very effective where bruising is deep down and can act to transport the active ingredients of other bruise herbs to help resolve the issue.

A chilli tincture is easy to make, but care must be taken to have the room well ventilated and wear gloves if possible. I made my tincture from Scotch Bonnets, chopping them in the processor before adding the vodka. When the top of the processor was removed, the airborne particle affected my eyes so badly, I had to open the kitchen window and then lie down for half an hour before I could carry on!

When I was treating my husband for extensive bruising and a swollen knee after an altercation with a ball during Walking Football, I only had chili in tincture form, so that went into his thrice daily medicine and ginger oil was added to his bruise salve.

A very effective herb for use with children and vulnerable elders is daisy. The flowers and leaves combine to make a double infused oil which can be made into a salve on its own or mixed with self-heal (prunella vulgaris) or mugwort (artemisia vulgaris).

Many people rely on homeopathic arnica for bruising. It is very effective and easily available from all chemists. You can make your own tincture if you have access to the arnica plant but remember it is poisonous and should only be applied externally in drop doses rubbed into the skin.

In conclusion, the body will heal any bruises it sustains but there are a number of plants which can help support and speed up the process.

References

Bruton-Seal, J and Seal, M The Herbalist’s Bible Merlin Unwin Books 2014

Bruton-Seal, J and Seal, M Wayside Medicine Merlin Unwin Books 2017

Gibbs, J. A  A Cotswold Village Nonsuch Publishing 2005

Warren-Davis, D ‘Reflections on Solomon Seal’ from A Welsh Herbal | Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

  

October and nettle seeds

The south facing branch of the sycamore tree across the road from my suburban home has turned from green to yellow, showing autumn is finally here. The warm days of the past few weeks have brought both respite and a lengthening to the late growing season, but it is good to be reminded the wheel of the year is turning and change will follow soon.

September always fills me with panic. Have I grown enough? Has the harvest been enough? Have I foraged everything I need. Enough is such a strange concept. How many people do I need to treat? How many people will I need to feed over winter?

In previous years I could plan and estimate but these strange times make things more uncertain. Winter is coming and all I want to do is find my sheltered place, line my nest and hibernate for the duration. I know it won’t be possible but I can hope.

October is the time of roots and seeds, preferably gathered after the first frost, whenever that is. My ashwagandha plants are still vibrantly green. They were so late germinating and then growing back in July that they have hardly put out their flowers and the seed pods are still green. I will wait to see if any of them turn to orange in the next few weeks. Otherwise everything will be dug and dried or tinctured. There is no rush.

What I did find whilst I was pulling up the dead broad and climbing beans was a hidden last harvest of nettle seed. I remember finding some last seeds this time of year in local parks in the first year I gathered. I’d forgotten the time of gathering was quite so long.

Reading through foraging posts on social media, it seems everyone has finally discovered nettles make more than leaves for soup and fibre for fishing lines. The seeds carry a rich nutritive density. As with any medicinal plant, you do need to harvest and consume with caution.

The fresh seeds when eaten can send some people “high”. The American herbalist, Kiva Rose Hardin first pointed out that if you have a “dry” constitution then nettle seed will dry you out further. She lives in New Mexico, so she is very conscious of moisture and the lack of it. Another issue we have discovered is that if you have misused “recreational drugs” somewhere in your past, nettle seed will cause you difficulties.

We tincture fresh nettle seed  to support kidney failure, as first highlighted by David Winston. It is especially helpful in dealing with kidney pain when you haven’t drunk enough fluid. The dry seeds support exhausted adrenal glands. The usual dose is one teaspoonful taken in yoghurt or porridge or as a seed topping to salads.

We usually recommend they are consumed for at least three months or until the “patient” can’t stand the taste of them anymore. I have one friend with an incredibly stressful job who is still happily consuming her nettle seed two years after they were first given to her.

Dried nettle seeds can also be an aid to reducing dietary salt. They can be ground with salt crystals in a ratio of two: one to produce a useful condiment. If you want something a little hotter, add chilli flakes to the mix.

It worried me when nettle seeds at the farm were turning black and dropping off back in July, thinking I had not found enough for fresh seed tincture. The following month I found another stand of vibrant green, enough to put up nearly 5 litres of tincture. After our herb festival in September, huge nettle plants now covering all the Sanctuary like rampant triffids, dangled their seeds so seductively I was forced to pick them, even though I was there to harvest my damson tree and time, as always, was very short.

I did manage to pick my usual five pounds of damsons and these are now sitting on my jam shelves ready to eat. The quince harvest is very sparse but luckily my friend has a tree and shares her largesse with me. Two bottles of spiced quince gin and three of vodka are now infusing in the larder until Christmas and twenty small jars of quince jelly were made over two days this week.

Now, there are more nettle seeds from the garden drying in a paper bag over the kitchen radiator. I should have added another batch from underneath our hawthorn tree but I was too tired and now it is raining.

What I did pick was an orange flourish of calendula, waving from underneath the runner beans. I’ve lamented the lack of a dedicated calendula bed for the past two years, but collecting a few flowers here and there, self-seeded in the vegetable beds have given me a few to dry for anti-viral tea and enough to turn into oil for skin salves when next needed. There was even a rogue chamomile plant this year, providing enough to fill a tiny jar for emergency use in the future.

This gentle week at home has given me the time to decant this summer’s St John’s wort oil. Only two jars this years, but still plenty in the larder from previous summers. The dried vervain, yarrow and sage have also been poured into glass jars, labelled and put away. The vervain will be mixed with chamomile and lemon balm for IDGAS tea, yarrow for colds and conditions which require an anti-inflammatory and sage for mouth/tooth infections.

There are still bags of St Johns wort flowers, plantain leaves, red clover blossoms and other mysteries to emerge from the “hot cupboard” and put away but not today. I still have tomorrow. 

Managing abdominal surgery

The story

We are exceptionally fortunate in the UK to have the NHS. After my in-patient stay last year with cholecystitis, the powers that be decided the time had come to remove my gallbladder with its thickened walls and undisclosed number of gallstones. The optimum time for removal is usually three months, allowing time for the inflammation to die down.

Unfortunately for me, administrative gremlins struck which resulted in my 6-week follow-up appointment not happening until 19 weeks after discharge in late February. Then an appointments clerk rang me the day after my mother died to ask if I was attending a pre-operative assessment in three days’ time when I'd not received any notification, let alone agreed to have a procedure which had not yet been discussed!

The consultation with the new surgeon (someone completely different from the person who had reviewed me in hospital, who I had expected to follow me up) took place in my local hospital the day after my mother’s funeral. Despite being the first appointment, I was still kept waiting for half an hour while he read my notes. The conversation about surgery was very brief. It had to be done. He liked all his patients to go on a diet to shrink their liver and he allowed his patients to drive four days after surgery. We exchanged a few pleasantries and I returned home to await the next communication.

I was somewhat surprised to read his letter to the GP which referred to a “full and frank discussion”. I wondered if I’d been asleep while it occurred.

At the beginning of May, as I was packing the caravan for one of our many weekends away with the kite team, I received a phone call asking if I would like to have my operation in the local private hospital in the next few weeks as they had some free time. We’d just booked a week away with our son and his family so I didn’t want to miss that, so agreed to June 15^th. I returned home to find this date had been cancelled because the surgeon didn’t have enough people to operate on. An alternative date would have meant cancelling my writing retreat with a substantial loss of money, so I negotiated to go in a week later.

I was sent the pre-admission details including the week-long 800 calorie diet. I had expected something miraculous if it was going to shrink my liver, instead I was expected to replace two meals with purchased diet products and, if I were lucky, my evening meal could be a protein source plus vegetables from a list which was referred to but not supplied.

I have a moral objection to spending money (which is limited in my household) on processed food so I made out a shopping list for lots of low calorie vegetables, fruit and organ meat. I already had the vitamin tablets to hand and there were vegetables available in the garden.

The real food 800 calorie diet

On waking: Cup of tea with semi skimmed milk

Breakfast: Small glass of orange juice and half a red/pink grapefruit plus a cup of tea with milk

Mid-morning: Cup of herb/fruit tea

Lunch: 2 bowls of soup prepared from homemade chicken stock with a) celery, kale, cabbage, carrot half an onion plus half a red pepper flavoured with holy basil and mint or b) mushrooms, courgettes, an onion, carrot, celery flavoured with herbs.

Or a salad comprised of lettuce, celery, spinach, grated carrot, grated courgette, red pepper, hard-boiled egg dressed with lemon juice plus water to drink

Mid- afternoon: herb/fruit tea

Evening meal: Ratatouille made from 1 tin of tomatoes, 4 courgettes, 1 aubergine, ½ an onion and ½ a red pepper flavoured with holy basil and mint. Served with steam roasted chicken or liver casserole made with aubergine, carrots, cabbage, flavoured with rosemary, or steam roasted chicken served with carrots, broad beans, peas and boiled courgette or stir-fry kidneys with celery, carrot, courgette, onion.

Evening drinks: herb/fruit tea

I wasn’t hungry and I lost seven pounds during the week. When I finally went for my pre-op assessment, my operation had been cancelled again because the theatre floors needed to be re-sealed which meant cancelling the entire weekend operating lists thus causing a knock-on effect further down the week. I didn’t have a revised date because my consultant was too busy doing bariatric surgery to fit me in and a new consultant had to be found. I was not a happy bunny and the nurse carrying out the assessment was worried about me staying on the diet for too long.

Other preparations

Meals for the freezer – this meant Chris didn’t have to do large amounts of cooking during the first week while he was looking after me.

Overnight bag – although I was booked as a day case, I still needed a nightdress, dressing gown, slippers and something to keep me occupied whilst waiting for the operation. I took some knitting and a Cadfael omnibus. The simple dishcloth knitting was wonderful for keeping me calm during the three and a half hour wait.

Herbal medicine – I put together a bottle of combined tinctures with the dosage clearly labelled in an accessible place so Chris would know exactly what to give me and when.

Energetic cleansing of the theatre and support for the operating team – I wasn’t in a fit state to do this myself so left it to those who were providing distant healing support for me, both my healing group and my Druid Grove. This is the chant I have used in the past when undertaking something similar for others.

Before an operation

Come cleansing silver rain

Descend upon this sterile space

Deposing fear and sorrow

Anger and sense of loss

Leaving all fresh and clean

Then light the violet flame

Burning brightly

Burnishing instruments

Rejuvenating equipment

Leaving all in perfect order

For what is to come.

Come now, Raphael,

Bring your hosts

To guard and watch this space

Spread your glittering wings

To comfort all in need

To heal all that is needful

To shine the light of peace and hope within

Call now the healers

Call them close

To watch and guide

To lend assistance to the operating team

That all may be done to the highest good

Of all concerned

Then, in recovery,

Let there be true care and compassion

Let the healers remain

To work on flesh and bone

On blood and organs too

Until all is as it should

As it can be

Let healing light shine forth

To hold each moment

To soothe, to comfort

To surround with love

Let all be done for the highest good

Of body and soul

To aid in life’s rich journey

And beyond

The Operation

We arrived at the hospital at 7am. The new surgeon bounced into my room at 7.30am, announced, "It's going to be horrible in there. If I have to open you up, you'll be here for five days or more." and bounced out again. He seemed to imply the difficulties had been caused by the number of antibiotics given to me during my previous admission but it could have been the length of time (over three years) I had been suffering with the condition.

The operating list started at 8am and I was second on the list. At 11am I was still sitting in my room knitting but luckily the sister/ward manager came in to check I was ok and gave me some more water. Apparently policies have changed and instead of nil by mouth they like you to drink an hour beforehand.

The surgeon did manage to remove eighty per cent of my gallbladder by keyhole surgery. (Chris said he used an old fashioned skeleton key as the major incision was two inches across!) and I came out of the theatre with five holes instead of three including a drain. He had removed three gallstones the size of musket balls. He said it was too dangerous to remove everything as the anterior wall was stuck to other organs. (It was quite sobering to subsequently read his discharge letter to my GP which described the operation as “very difficult”!)

In-patient medication
The anaesthetic cocktail plus liquid morphine and a heavy duty antibiotic (probably Augmentin which necessitated two blood tests the following morning to check liver and kidney function). After the morphine wore off I was given paracetamol and then codeine phosphate at four hourly intervals.

Post-operative issues
Pain – from coughing, movement and internal muscle spasms plus bruising from the anaesthetic venflon in the back of my hand.
Throat – the anaesthetist warned of a sore throat but didn’t mention the post-nasal drip, thick mucus which had to be removed by coughing and “semi-detached” skin flakes on the back of my tongue, plus dehydrated lung tissue arising from the anaesthetic.
Nausea – presumably a reaction to either the anaesthetic, morphine or both. I refused any anti-emetics because they made me feel “spaced out” for several hours when I was given them before.
Internal muscle and other tissue damage from the surgery
The abdominal drain- which prevented me sleeping in any position other than flat on my back and meant I must be aware of the position of the drain bag at all times.
Liver support – necessary because the liver processes all the toxins/medications pumped into me
Bowel regulation – both morphine and codeine derivatives cause acute constipation. Straining to pass “movements” can cause piles and damage newly healed internal organs, so is not advised. I was discharged with senacot tablets but didn’t take any. I had been warned before the operation about possible effects of “bile dumping” by herbalists if I ate fats but this wasn’t mentioned by the surgeon. Only the nurse who cared for me post- surgery and prior to discharge, whose wife had had the same operation, told me I might experience something similar to diarrhoea the day after eating fats.
De-hydration – caused by pre-op nil by mouth, only small amounts of water and two bouts of vomiting over a 36 hour period.

Issue Management Strategies
Although leaving hospital is scary, being in your own, quiet and comfortable home does improve the healing process. The regime of tinctures I’d blended included

Dandelion and burdock for liver support
Plantain – for tissue regeneration, healing dry membranes in lungs and anti-inflammatory
Yarrow – anti-inflammatory and bruising

To this I added
Crampbark - to deal with the internal muscle spasms I’d not anticipated
Fire cider vinegar and honey – I only needed one drink of this to sort out the mucous on the second day when it was becoming intolerable. If I’d thought about it beforehand, I might have made up a respiratory cider vinegar with rosemary, sage and marshmallow but I probably needed the garlic, chillies and other spices as it worked so quickly.
Natural yoghurt and homemade raspberry puree – taken soon after returning home to coat my stomach lining following the bouts of nausea and provide some sustenance after my fast. I had three small amounts at hourly intervals and was then able to face other small meals with no ill effects.

Pain control and bowel regulation - The first few days were not fun; you never realise how many things involve your abdominal muscles until they’ve been damaged! I was also determined to use the minimum of pain killers so I wouldn't have to use a laxative. I managed on three doses of soluble aspirin throughout the day for three days then Chris said those ought to stop, so from day 4 I had one last dose in the morning before travelling to the acute hospital to have the 9" of drain pulled out of my stomach and didn't take any more. It was amazing how much better I felt after this procedure. After half an hour’s rest I was able to walk outside into the garden and stand and pick my St John’s Wort flowers for the next hour!
The first bowel movements on day three were difficult but eased by day four. I tried to drink as much as possible and was eating lots of fruit and vegetables including fats.

Recovery
Every day I improved. For a whole week I did nothing but rest with the minimum of movement. On the Sunday evening I began to feel a little like myself. I was able to teach a few piano pupils in week 2 and a herb workshop at the farm on the Thursday. I had another workshop at the end of the third week, then we went off to Cornwall for two weeks to meet up with friends. I found I was able to drive and go for walks. I still get tired but I'm able to do most things. I have to remember not to carry anything heavy until three months are up at the end of October.

I am now able to eat anything, which isn't a very good thing as I've put back most of the weight I lost prior to the operation and I'd like the scales to go down instead of up! Still, there won't be any more scones, cream and jam for another year! I'm not in any pain apart from the gall bladder area still feeling raw sometimes. My bowels are working well and have had limited problems, for which I am extremely grateful.

I'm sure my quick recovery has a lot to do with the herbs I’ve taken and all the healing energy I've been sent from many different sources. Back in the 1980s, research was carried out which confirmed that people undergoing surgery who were prayed for recovered more quickly than those who weren’t, whether or not the patient knew about the prayers. I’m very grateful to everyone who has taken time to send positive thoughts in my direction.

Although this is a very personal story of abdominal surgery, I hope others will be able to take something away to help with their own circumstances.

Which salve should I make?

When a herbwife first starts infusing oils, it is tempting to turn every herb into a double infused or sun infused oil just to know what it looks like, how it smells and experiment with use.  After a couple of years when your shelves are groaning with oils you thought might be a good idea, the reality hits that actually there are several which aren’t really doing anything except be handed round for people to sniff during talks and demonstrations.  

My unused oils were mugwort, tansy, southernwood and vervain. They could be used as an anointing oil during ceremonies or in ritual bathing. Mugwort, tansy and southernwood have a strong, pleasant scent, so I might try using them in a future experimental lotion.

Every household is different, so the oils you find useful will probably differ from those I love and use regularly. Even so, the following list may help you think about the oils you wish to create. If you’ve never made a herbal oil before then go and read this post first.

Single oils to have within easy reach

For skin and internal tissues

Calendula – this oil goes in most of my skin preparations

Plantain – can be used in any hand or skin lotion, can also replace comfrey in any formula

Yarrow – wonderful healing oil for anything to do with blood

Chickweed – anti-itch, soothing and moisturising, lovely as a bath lotion

Elder bark or leaves – really good for bruising

Comfrey – for broken bones, bruises, varicose veins

Nettles – anti-inflammatory and anti-itching/irritation, moisturising

Horsechestnut – good for strengthening artery/vein walls

For hair and scalp

Rosemary – promotes good blood flow, anti-fungal, moisturising

Thyme – anti-fungal, anti-bacterial

Nettle – promotes hair growth, so useful for alopecia

For ears

Mullein – very good for children’s earache

St John’s wort – there are “scientific studies” which show this oil is as effective as antibiotics for ear infections.

Garlic oil – often combined with mullein to give maximum anti-viral and anti-bacterial effect.

Moisturisers

Marshmallow – my favourite moisturising agent

Violet or heartsease – my second favourite moisturiser

Pain

St John’s wort – I tend to add this oil to any combination “just because”. It’s specific for nerve pain and anti-bacterial

Meadowsweet – for all kinds of pain, contains salicylic acid

Agrimony – for pain caused by constriction

Solomon’s seal – for joint pain

Dandelion flower – light muscle pain, breast massage

Goldenrod – for deep muscle pain

Violet leaf – for breast tissue pain, breaking up fibrous tissue lumps NB Always get any lumps or bumps medically checked out first!

Cooling

Elderflower

Heating

Angelica – lovely massage oil for tight muscles

Ginger – gives a gentle, warming oil

Chilli – use in small amounts as this will heat quickly

Salve combinations

Basic hand salve – plantain, calendula and violet or marshmallow

Old wound salve – comfrey, plantain and yarrow

Eczema preventive salve – calendula and chickweed

Eczema breakout – calendula, chickweed and St John’s wort

Diabetic foot salve – St John’s wort, plantain and marshmallow

Tight muscle pain salve – St John’s wort and agrimony

Varicose veins – horsechestnut and calendula

Joint pain – Solomon’s seal and agrimony

General pain – meadowsweet and St John’s wort

Winter heating oil – Non Shaw's’s hot oil recipe can be found here

Simple Creams

If you want to learn how to make a simple cream which doesn’t separate, read this post.

Aftersun soother – St John’s wort oil plus marshmallow with aloe vera gel and elderflower tincture

Rose moisturising cream – equal parts rose oil and rose tincture

Elderflower face and body cream – elderflower oil and elderflower tincture.

There are innumerable combinations of herbs to provide the perfect salve for the person, condition or moment. What is your favourite?