About this episode
When you’re dealing with a skin problem, it’s good to come at it from both directions: internal and external. Today we’re focusing on the external remedies, highlighting some of our favorite ways to work with topical herbs for acne. Steam is a great way to deliver aromatic herbal constituents to the whole surface of the face, and as the warmth opens the pores, these can get deeper in to the skin. A simple rosewater toner is great to tighten up the pores afterwards. Clay masks are good on their own, but even better if you mix herbal powders in to contribute anti-inflammatory activity. Echinacea and turmeric aren’t well-known for it, but they’re actually both fantastic herbs for acne – the trick is to apply them topically, not just ingest them. So even if you already take herbs for acne by tea or tincture, or as supplements – and those can help in a lot of cases – don’t neglect the topicals! Herbs discussed include: chamomile , yarrow , thyme , lavender, rose , echinacea, turmeric. Our Integumentary Health course covers acne, naturally, but also a wide range of other skin troubles – whether we call it eczema, psoriasis, or just “that troublesome patch of skin”. Topical applications for common herbs play a big role in this work, and we also dig into the effective herbs you can take orally to see results on the skin. Like all our offerings , this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with Ryn & Katja. As always, please subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen, so others can find it more easily. Thank you!! Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas. Support the show You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!