Chamomile

 
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Chamomile: it’s more than the tea you drink when you’re sick (though it’s great for that, too). Not only does it sooth anxiety, it also calms anxious, irritated skin. Specifically, chamomile decreases swelling, redness, and inflammation[1] [2] and helps to speed the healing of acne breakouts and prevent scarring.  

The main constituents of the flowers include several phenolic compounds, primarily the flavonoids apigenin, quercetin, patuletin, luteolin and their glucosides.

We should also make clear that there are actually a few different kinds of Chamomile, and we use two in our products.

German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) is the kind we usually think about and that goes into our tea. While infusing the flower might yield a pale yellow tea (which we use in our chamomile cleansing cream), the essential oil is actually a deep blue—a hallmark of the organic compound azulene, which calms skin. We add a hefty dose of the precious oil to our Mellow Gold face serum.

The principal components of the essential oil extracted from the flowers are the terpenoids α-bisabolol and its oxides and azulenes, including chamazulene, which are known for their anti-inflammatory [3] [4] [5] antiseptic,[6] antioxidant,[7] and anti-inflammatory[8] properties.

Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is often used as ground cover, and has many of the same properties as german chamomile, though not as strongly. Its essential oil is clear, and produces a sweet, apple-like scent that we adore. That’s what you’re smelling in our Chamomile Cleansing Cream.

 

Find it in

Mellow Gold Facial Oil

Chamomile Cleansing Cream

 

Citations

[1]  Mckay, Diane L.; Blumberg, JB (July 2006). "A review of the bioactivity and potential health benefits of chamomile tea (Matricaria recutita L.)". Phytother Res. 20 (7): 519–30. PMID 16628544doi:10.1002/ptr.1900.

[2] Ompal Singh, Zakia Khanam, Neelam Misra, and Manoj Kumar Srivastava. Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.): An overview. Pharmacogn Rev. 2011 Jan-Jun; 5(9): 82–95. Pharmacogn Rev. 2011 Jan-Jun; 5(9): 82–95. PMCID: PMC3210003; doi:  10.4103/0973-7847.79103

[3]  Lal RK, Sharma JR, Misra HO, Singh SP. Induced floral mutants and their productivity in German chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Indian J Agric Sci. 1993;63:27–33. 

[4] Jellinek JC. α-Bisabolol – an agent, anti-inflammatory pour products cosmetique. Perfume Cosmet Aromes. 1984;57:55–7.

[5] Evaluation of antiinflammatory activity of a chamomile extract after topical application.

Tubaro A, Zilli C, Redaelli C, Loggia RD

Planta Med. 1984 Aug; 50(4):359. [PubMed]

[6] Leung AY. 1st ed. New York: John Wiley and sons; 1980. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs and cosmetics; pp. 110–12. 

[7] Roby, M. H., Sarhan, M. A., Selim, K. A., & Khalel, K. I. (2013). Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil and extracts of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare L.) and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.). Industrial Crops and Products, 44, 437-445. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2012.10.012

[8] Jakovlev V, Isaac O, Thiemer K, Kunde R. Pharmacological investigations with compounds of chamomile i. on the pharmacology of (-)-alpha-bisabolol and bisabolol oxides (review) (author's transl).Planta Med. 1979 Feb; 35(2):118-24.[PubMed]