Cooling house leek gel is combined with the anti-inflammatory and anti-itch properties of chickweed. Take 50g of houseleek along with a handful of chickweed and blitz them using a hand-held blender, food processor, or good old-fashioned pestle and mortar. Spoon the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze. The cubes can then stay in the…
The recipe I have based this on claims to be close to what Cleopatra used as a cleanser, so if it can remove all that khol it’s worth trying. I have other recipes that add a decoction of houseleek leaves to a basic cleansing cream recipe but personally I prefer a more liquid cleanser as…
Roughly chop a quarter of a small cucumber. Put this into a blender with three to five houseleek leaves and process until smooth. Strain the mix through a sieve to extract the juice, you’ll want 50ml of this in the next stage. Separately, put 25ml witch hazel in a pan. Add a white or green…
A recent report said that ‘masks’ are the most searched-for skincare term on Google, they’re certainly hugely popular as a way to care for and soothe skin and as a simple self-boosting treat. I’ve suggested using green clay (otherwise known as fullers earth) but you could also use other clays (white kaolin, pink clay or…
Here’s a lovely recipe for easing hard-working feet. It makes the most of leaves you can gather from hedgerows and the garden. If you set the infusion going before you head out for a walk, it will be ready to warm and enjoy when you get back and need it most. Collect together equal amounts…
A traditional recipe for chapped hands. Take a whole houseleek and liquidize to express the juice. Strain this through a sieve. Shred two lady’s mantle leaves and then pound them with a pestle and mortar. Gently warm 1 teaspoon almond oil with 1 teaspoon honey until the honey has dissolved. Beat in the pulverised lady’s…
A herbal way to satisfy our modern desire for hand sanitising sprays, great to keep in the kit bag when out-and-about. Blitz your houseleek leaves and sieve to extract the juice. Put this in a small pan and slowly add 10ml herbal infused oil, whisking thoroughly together. As it cools, add 5ml thyme tincture and…
Houseleeks: our temperate alternative to aloe vera in skincare A perennial feature of the garden I grew up in was the spiky little plants that ran in shallow beds along the edge of the terrace. While I’d happily pluck flowerheads from elsewhere and shred petals into jam jars to make perfumes and potions, the sharp…
TEMPERATE SKINCARE: Do your values show in your selfies? Permaculture teaches us to think in systems: to observe the natural flows that occur and to ensure any interventions we make enhance the symbiosis. Recognising the constant regeneration and renewal of our own skin as an intricate, well-functioning natural system offers us a good perspective on…
It’s ‘peak foraging’ time for skincare ingredients. Our hedgerows are offering up new gifts every day. Here’s my top ten list of things to look out for right now in our fields and hedgerows. And, if you have garden, perhaps you have some of my top ten garden herbs to gather in July. Marshmallow This is the cheering marshmallow…
