Benefits of calendula for your skin and hair

Hey!

Today a short post on herbs. Actually about just one herb – calendula. Do you know this plant? Do you know its properties? If not, read on. I’ve gathered a few fun facts about calendula just for you 🙂

Calendula. Get to know it better!

This plant, also known as pot marigold, belongs to the family Asteraceae. You can find it growing in backyards and meadows – it’s a common flower. It’s super easy to recognize it by a very characteristic colouring – its petals and disc floret are vividly orange or bright-yellow. However, this sunny flower is more than just a decoration. All around the world, people make use of the numerous medicinal properties of calendula. It’s picked up to prepare infusions, syroups, wet dressings and ointments. I remember myself using calendula ointment to treat the corns on my feet. It really helped me!

Obviously, there is more to pot marigold than that. You can introduce this inconspicuous flower into your beauty routine. What for? Here is why.

Medicinal properties of calendula

The raw material used in herbal medicine is the calendula cluster, which is its entire orange flower. It’s proven to hide numerous precious substances such as resin, essential oil, rutin, saponins, terpene compounds, plant sterols, coumarins and many more. I assume that these names may be a little mysterious for you, but trust me, they have many health benefits.

Owing to these substances, pot marigold proves itself as an anti-inflammatory agent. It relieves inflammation and accelerates wound healing processes, which is why calendula ointment deals so well with the corns: it makes skin repair faster so the corn disappears. Additionally, pot marigold:

• reduces irritations
• stimulates healing up of scalded and burned tissue
• aids in curing ulcers
• reduces swellings, puffiness and bruises
• works as a muscle relaxer and diuretic
• is fungicidal
• brings relief to skin

Calendula in beauty routine

I’d like to show you the other side of pot marigold – the one that helps you improve your appearance a bit. Did you know that there are many beauty products enriched with calendula extract? You can find this orange flower in face creams (perfect for sensitive skin), eye creams and body balms.

Obviously, there is nothing standing in the way of picking such pot marigold flowers (fresh or dried) and adding them into your homemade beauty products: face masks, conditioners, lotions, etc. I’m sure you won’t regret that.

Benefits of calendula for skin

Face creams with pot marigold extract can be used by everyone because they have many benefits for all skin types. However, as far as I’m concerned they are recommended mainly to sensitive skin. So, if your skin is hyper-reactive, a calendula cream will calm it down. Not without a reason calendula is also commonly used in eye creams – it reduces puffiness and erases dark circles. Additionally, pot marigold:

• minimizes the appearance of skin imperfections
• smooths out and eliminates rough skin
• improves moisture
• relieves irritations and calms skin down
• soothes skin after sunbathing
• balances skin pH levels

Benefits of calendula for hair

As you’ve probably already noticed, pot marigold provides many different benefits. You can apply it not only to the skin but also to hair and the scalp. Why should you treat the scalp with calendula extract? For example to deal with oily hair because this plant is able to balance oily glands. Additionally, it helps remove dandruff. So, if your scalp is affected by this ailment, try to find a shampoo enriched with pot marigold. Lastly, calendula hair wash is expected to balance the scalp pH, strengthen the hair and improve moisture.