Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden

Beautiful Skin With Herbs

After our long, wet winter, you might be planning on renewing your tan. I know that my skin has turned lily-white! But too much sun can damage our skin, which is the largest organ we own. Here in Hawai‘i, many things besides the sun can harm our skin: bugs that bite, lava that we hike over, and tools in the kitchen and garden that can cut us. I always say that “a day in the garden without blood is like a day not in the garden,” because I often poke myself with a tool, thorn or branch.

Safe and easy products

Before you make any skin care product, do a patch test, especially if you have sensitive skin or a history of allergies. Just do this:

Mash up the plant in a mortar and pestle or blender. Mix it with a small amount of water. Apply a small amount, about the size of a quarter, to your inner forearm, and then let it dry. Apply a Band-Aid loosely. Wait four hours: If no redness or itching happens, it’s OK to use that plant.

Wrinkle remover

In a blender combine 1/4 cup chopped cucumber, 1 egg white, 2 TB. mayonnaise, and 2 oz. fruit kernel oil, such as almond oil. Blend for 30 seconds, and then apply to your skin in the morning and again in the evening. Remove the excess with tissue.

Avocado-mint activator

Put a handful of fresh mint into your blender and whirl it for 15-20 seconds. Add an equal amount of ripe avocado and blend. Wash your face and leave it damp. Apply the avo-mint mixture, massaging it into your skin with upward and outward movements for a few minutes. Remove the excess cream with tissue and rinse your face with mint tea as an astringent.

Guava acne mask

Mash one guava and strain the juice out. The pulp of this fruit helps to loosen blackheads and dry up pimples. Smear the pulp on your clean skin and allow it to remain for 10-20 minutes. Rinse with warm water, and then rinse your face first with the saved guava juice and finally with cool water.

Noni leaf healer

Pick one young leaf from a non-sprayed noni tree. Using tongs, hold the leaf over a flame for 10 seconds on both sides. When it cools, fold it up into a little package and then place it over your wound or boil and tape it in place. Leave the leaf on your wound all day or overnight. You probably won't have to repeat this process because it works so well!

Papaya or plumeria exfoliant

Pick several leaves from a non-sprayed papaya or plumeria tree. Air dry them for several days in a warm, dark place, or bake them in a slow oven (200 degrees) for 60 minutes (keep checking). Crunch up the dried leaves by hand or in a blender or food processor. Put the leaf powder into a jar with a tight-fitting lid and add an equal amount of cornmeal, then shake it up. To use, put a small amount of the papaya/cornmeal mixture into your palm and then add a small amount of water to moisten. Scrub your face or other needy body parts with it, and then rinse clean.

Skin healing oil

Gather any of the following herbs, or purchase dried herbs: comfrey, plantain, tea tree, noni, lavender, calendula, St. John's wort. Chop and place in a quart jar, fill with olive oil, and then cover and allow it to steep in the sun for 10 days. Strain mixture and add 1/2 teaspoon of vitamin E oil, 2 TB aloe vera extract, and 1 TB tea tree oil. Bottle, label and store.

Noni healing hand salve or lip balm

1-1/4 cups chopped noni fruit infused in olive oil, as above
1/4 cup aloe extract
1/4 cup beeswax
Heat the noni oil and the beeswax separately. When both are liquid and hot, combine them. For 1/4 oz. lip balm tubs, add 4 drops of your favorite essential oil before you fill them. Use on all wounds or as a lip balm.

Mask for dry skin

Mash a ripe avocado with a little buttermilk. Smear it directly onto your face. Walk around or lie in the sun and let the nourishing avocado oil do its work. Wipe off the excess with tissue and rinse with warm water. Massage the oily remains into your skin.

Most of the recipes are from Jeanne Rose’s Herbal Body Book: the Herbal Way to Natural Beauty and Health for Men and Women. The skin healing oil and noni healing hand salve are Hi‘iaka’s Garden recipes.

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Barbara Fahs is the owner and creator of Hi‘iaka's Healing Herb Garden, LLC and author of the book Super Simple Guide to Creating Hawaiian Gardens. Contact her at 966-6126 or www.hiiakas.com to read past Hawai‘i Island Journal columns and learn about her workshops, internships and Garden tours.