Urban beauty: the skincare herbs that grow free around the city

A beautiful wildflower meadow our city council planted in town

I've always been fascinated by medicinal and edible plants, my friend's will testify that wherever we are; beach, lane, garden or park, there will be a load of plants who's names I will suddenly reel off along with their therapeutic or dietary properties. An ex-partner of mine used to call these 'flower stops' as I was always stopping to sniff flowers or say "oooh this is a..."

In my current hometown of Plymouth in Devon, I've noticed quite a few medicinal and edible plants dotted about, for those who care to notice, some of these have been deliberately planted by the council and some are random wild herbs making a home amongst the pavement cracks and dust.

Chickweed

Chickweed - Stellaria media

Chickweed is an excellent salad herb, it has a really mild flavour. It contains a wide variety of 'skin nutrients' such as:

Beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A),vitaminsB1(Thiamin) B2(Riboflavin) and B3 (Niacin), Vitamin C which is essential for collagen production, Bio-flavonoids (including glycoside rutin), Gamma-linoleic Acid (omega-6 essential fatty acid) and the following minerals: calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, iron, manganese, silicon, zinc.

I wouldn't gather it from close to a drain like in my picture, as it's likely to be contaminated. Gather from parks and gardens rather than along the side of main roads (where it seems to enjoy growing!). This one was sprouting out of the cobbles by Sutton Harbour, Plymouth.

Pot Marigold

Pot Marigold - Calendula offinalis

Calendula has a long history of being helpful for troubled skin, a soothing demulcent it is often employed in making creams for eczema, often alongside St Johns Wort and for anti-ageing products. Infusing the fresh petals in sunflower oil yields Calendula Maceration a golden oil readily added to any of your formulations.

This one was lurking near The Barbican, in an old lock-up - hence the camera distance from the plant, I was shooting through a gate!

Ladies Mantle

Ladies Mantle - Alchemilla Mollis

Known as the 'herbal boob job', Ladies Mantle is a herb for female troubles such as excessive menstruation which is usually treated by drinking infusions of the leaves. In beauty remedies, this herb is used for uplifting the breasts - a tincture or extract of the leaves is incorporated into 'breast firming creams. I 've never tried so I can't vouch for it's effectiveness.

This particular specimen I found in a municipal planting outside Costa Coffee, Old Town St. Plymouth

 

Lavender

Lavender: Lavandula augustifolia

Lavender is one of the best known herbs for skincare, it's name even comes from Latin verb 'lavare' which means 'to wash'. Lavender can be used as dried flowerbuds in skinscrubs and as essential oil or infused oils in creams and lotions. Lavender's therapeutic skincare proeprties include: wound healing, skin cell regeneration, calming, soothing and cleansing.

This lovely bush is one of many in a municipal planting in the town centre, Plymouth.

 

Mahonia

Mahonia: Mahonia aquifolium

Mahonia isn't utilised in skincare generally, although Neals Yard use it in tincture form in their 'clear skin formula'. Some herbalists use in in formulas for dry skin and scalp too. For my cosmetic purposes I love to capture the purple dye from the berries (which by the way are edible and can be made into jam) and use to colour my skincare products. The berry juice can be extracted into glycerine as a glycerite to ensure long safe storage.

Mahonia - also know as Oregon Grape - grows all over Plymouth, this particular on is right in the town centre in the lovely garden area outside Sainsbury's.

 

Lemon Balm

Lemon Balm: Melissa officinalis

Sweetly citrusy Lemon Balm is a wonderful herb for lifting the mood, the fresh leaves can be gently infused to make a tasty tea. The essential oil from Lemon Balm is very expensive as the plant yeilds very little essential oil (in comparison to how strong it smells!) so it takes many plants and much effort. You can harness that aroma by making a simple infused oil, where the fresh plant matter is steeped in organic sunflower oil for 2 weeks then strained. Scientific research shows that certain compounds called Flavinoids in Melissa can protect against UV skin damage [Trommer, H., Neubert, R.H.H., Screening for new antioxidative compounds for topical administration using skin lipid model systems. J. Pharm. Pharmaceut. Sci. 2005; 8:494-506.].

The Melissa in the picture is growing all around in the council plantings at the top of Plymouth city centre before the underpass that leads to the train station.

 

Yarrow

Yarrow: Achillea milleflium

Yarrow has feathery leaves and a tall stem that ends in a pretty umbrella of whte and pink flowers. The fresh leaves have been used to stop blood flow for wounds and nosebleeds as it is a powerful astringent. When the leaves are distilled into essential oil they produce a chemical called Azulene which is anti-inflammatory - hence yarrow being used for skin that flares up with acneic onditions or eczema.

Yarrow grows everywhere, mostly unnoticed underfoot in lawns. This patch I spotted on the long slopey walk down to the train station in Plymouth

 

Herbal identification game!

Guess the herbs! there are at least 4 in this image.

Over to you! this final image has at least 4 medicinal/edible herbs in it - can you spot them? Write them in the comments box.

Keep an eye out in your local town or city, it is surprising how many therapeutic or edible plants there are around us even if we don't see them at first. Don't pick anything from busy areas with traffic or where dogs go to do their business regularly. Stay safe and if you're not sure what something is don't pick it!

Yours aromatically,

Star


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