Edible experiment

Few months ago I’ve been asked to prepare a sugar-based depilation mass. Preferably including herbs that heal and treat irritated skin. Oh, I like challenges!

At the beginning I decided to go for few ingredients only: sugar, figs, lemon and water. Having no idea about proportions, I had to try. The first attempt contained too many figs, the mass remained soft but delicious on a taste. So, I put it on a pie!

I served the pie with the story and got acknowledgment for both. Especially when I have everybody assured that the mass on the pie has not been used for original purpose yet.

The second attempt brought a much better result. The mass was still a bit soft and resilient, but effective for fine blond hairs. Fortunately, I have that!

The third time was lucky. I got excellent and effective consistency. I already used herbs, my very first choice were chamomile and aloe vera. It still tasted great, so I can depilate and satisfy the taste for sweet at the same moment.

There are a lot of herbal options for this edible depilation and I look forward to the next one. Do you have recommendation or experience? Thanks for both!

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Yellow Bedstraw: Galium verum

Abundant plant on sunny slopes, dry meadows or along the roads looks more like bushy weed than a useful medicinal herb. Perhaps only huge amount of little yellow flowers attracts careful attention of people and lovely attention of bees.

I chose this herb among the five for my Herbal Materia Medica course and before I am going to be overwhelmed by scientific information I would like to share my existing experience.

Yellow Bedstraw (Galium verum) is not as friendly or sticky as its more famous relative Galium aparine. It doesn’t play the major role in homeopathic or Chinese medicine but it stands nearby and waits for being understood and wisely used.

This herb is for those who cannot be discouraged by untidy appearance, a little bit prickly inaccessibility or unpleasant bitter astringent taste. That’s why it’s mostly used externally.

I love its effects in soaps for problematic skin treatment, no matter if it’s adolescent acne or adults’ hemorrhoids. In facial treatment can be used also as a bath or tonic. Affected areas are treated well by yellow bedstraw which I occasionally supplement by other potent herbs.

If I want to use yellow bedstraw internally, I usually go for capsules. My tired kidneys like to be refreshed from time to time, so I combine yellow bedstraw with heather and goldenrod, manually powder them and fill the capsules. There is very welcome side effect because yellow bedstraw also helps with night spasm in legs which I sometimes suffer.

Before other products appeared on the market, yellow bedstraw was widely used in cheese production. In accordance to its astringent taste yellow bedstraw is able to coagulate milk very effectively. You can try and have a useful fun.

Agrimony: The Herb of Truth

I love Agrimony like a beautiful and noble plant, like an effective medicinal plant and also like an essential flower remedy. It’s an amazing gift of nature and fully deserves our protection and respect.

I have my favorite place, where I observe and collect Agrimony plants. When at the end of spring begin to appear velvety hairs on young leaves and buds, I feel tenderness and vulnerability. It seems to be soft and supple. But few weeks later Agrimony dramatically changes its appearance. It rapidly drives the main stem to a great height, to keep track of everything what is happening around. Suddenly, tenderness becomes pride and vulnerability becomes need to control. Optimistic yellow flowers abundant on the top of stem balance both polarities. And this is the right season to collect Agrimony before its stem lignifies. Lignification represents the stage, when Agrimony preserves mask of optimistic arrogance, ignoring its own vulnerability and willingness to help.

Harvesting at the right time, Agrimony has a wide range of healing effects for both, exterior and interior application. I like yellow slightly bitter tea of Agrimony, which positively affects entire digestive system without any side effects. Additionally it strengthens our immunity. Externally, Agrimony is very helpful for wound healing and treatment of skin diseases. Together with Yarrow, Agrimony belongs to the most effective plants for coalescence of what has been divided and for aftercare of scars.

Who is familiar with the flower remedies of Dr.Bach, knows well the effects of Agrimony in our emotional system. And if you remember the words about physical appearance of Agrimony, you get an idea of these effects. Agrimony flower remedy helps to all, who covers vulnerability and true emotions by funny faces. People, who seem to be optimistic in every situation, just as they always have everything under control, are like Agrimony, which begins to lignify.

And that is why I call Agrimony “the herb of truth”. It helps to be honest and not to hide weaknesses and fear, not to waste energy on maintaining of artificial and always positive masks. Thanks to Agrimony we can feel free and freely use any of emotions.

The Chocolate Tree

Of course there is no “chocolate tree”, chocolate is a product from the seeds of the Cocoa Tree (Theobroma Cacao). It is a tropical evergreen tree, whose oil seeds are known as cocoa beans.  And from the beans we get the cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

Anyway Chocolate tree sounds well, doesn’t it? If you could dream about, how the “chocolate tree” looks like?

Chocolate is a subject of various myths and legends with many effects including the aphrodisiac ones. If a nickname of the petroleum is black gold, I would call the chocolate as brown gold. I feel its magical and deep earthy energy which is able to connect body and soul to substantial items. Perhaps because of high content of fat we descend to depths like on a chocolate slide, ending without injury in the right place.

Today, most people of so called “civilized world” consider chocolate like a common sweetness because there is a huge quantity of chocolate on the market (in a wide range of quality), we can buy it everywhere from supermarket to petrol station. It devaluates chocolate and its extraordinary features.

Heavy and sticky energy of chocolate is suitable for application on the lower part of body, especially on feet of those who run away from problems or stay in dreams or virtual reality too often. Together with other ingredients like cinnamon, clove, vanilla or chili chocolate warms up your feet and allows you to stand on ground, face difficulties and find solutions.

I like to use chocolate to gentle massage of legs below the knees. Cocoa butter is an efficient carrier for herbs and tinctures assisting with treatment of varicose veins, for example blossom of horse chestnut.

I also use the cocoa butter for preparation of herbal vaginal suppositories. And I am convinced that it is the magical X-factor from the cocoa butter, which expands herbal healing effects in this deep place of secrets. Scientifically speaking, the cocoa butter has an appropriate consistency and melting temperature for this kind of application.

What surprisingly chocolate does not like, is the stomach acid. It paralyzes most of special effects, it takes the magic away. So common eating of chocolate snacks is not effective application of the extraordinary features of cocoa and chocolate. It rather confirms their devaluation and lack of respect for this brown gold.

Intensive Beauty of Violet

Even if you really love winter and white snow, the first spring sunshine and the first tentative flowers must cheer your heart.

Among the spring flower pioneers Violet has unique position. It has a power immediately hit your nose by penetrating sweet aroma. Later you will see a beautiful green carpet with tiny violet flowers.

You can be so intoxicated by the scent of violets that you start to eat them. You will find that violets are delicious! I love to add them into spring fresh salads.

Violets intensive aroma has also healing effects. For those who are little bit depressive after long winter nights, violets bring light and sweetness into their minds.

But there is one important skill of violets which can be successfully used in whole year. As much as the scent of violets is pungent, the healing energy can penetrate through the skin and treat various problems like acne, eczema or hemorrhoids.

In that case Violet likes to cooperate with deep earthy ingredients like oak bark or chocolate.

I do love my lip balm “Violets in chocolate” so much!

What is your favorite use of violets?