Serene Skinfusions

Fennel, Nettle and Tulsi

I have already written about how much tea is empirically wonderful for skin. Since I’ve spent every childhood summer seeing actual tea grown, picked and cured into being I am particular about differentiating tea from infusions even as they are a huge part of my life. There are many herbal infusions that are wonderfully useful. My tastes in infusions evolved in England that has totally sublime non-tea infusions — 3 in particular — Dr. Stuarts, Pukka and TeaPigs own my entire devotion. I realise that everyone is widely aware of the usual chamomile and peppermint infusions but I want to write about three specific infusions that less well-known but magnificent for the skin — the best skinfusions! I’ve picked three though spearmint deserves an honorable mention — it’s a rarer but really effective solution to acne caused by drug allergies — and you can find it in Pukka’s Three Mint tea.

1. Fennel — I love fennel — I can eat it any time of the day — it’s a flavour that wakes me up. My favourite is fresh fennel in salads but given the extent of work involved in hauling out a mandoline to shaving fennel, it’s frankly more summer-friendly food. It’s crunchy, refreshing and great on the tummy. In India we frequently serve fennel seeds after big meals to aid digestion but they do not compare to actual fennel. It’s also a fantastic antioxidant and splendid detoxifier. The easiest way to harness the benefits of fennel especially in the winter is through a serene fennel skinfusion — my favourite is the fennel licorice tea by Teapigs and the Wild Fennel tea by Dr. Stuarts but since neither is available in the States I am enslaved by Pukka’s Three Fennel tea that draws on fennel, fennel seeds and fennel leaves — god it’s a versatile plant and Pukka does a neat job bringing together. The meaning of the word pukka is genuine or very good — it’s a word that slipped into the British vernacular from Hindi!
2. Tulsi — this is called holy basil in English but it’s major in Hindu homes. The tulsi plant is not at all one that I was raised to consume as it is totally sacred and if we use it, it’s to adorn a deity or sprinkle theertham (camphor tinged holy water). It’s actually considered to be a form of the goddess Lakshmi — our goddess of wealth — so I have a complex relationship with a Tulsi infusion. It’s such a pure herb that I don’t keep it in the kitchen with the rest of my things — I keep it by a window and only drink it on Tuesdays and let it infuse while I’m doing my evening meditation and save the tea bags for my eyes. The Pukka version is a blend of 3 tulsi varieties including the worshipped Ram Tulsi and Krishna Tulsi. The main benefits are purification and it totally helps clear the skin but I think it really adds ethereal cosmic heft to my meditation.
3. Nettle — this herb — a pet of herbalists everywhere is considered a weed by folks not in the know. My favourite skinfusion using nettle is Dr. Stuarts Skin Purify that also has dandelion and I have actually seen skin transformed by its use — especially allergy-induced breakouts. Now the taste is rather nondescript but the benefits are not — it’s anti-inflammatory even as a topical and a marvelous anti-oxidant. I know it’s a rare ingredient in food but easily added to one’s diet as a skinfusion.

I like Nettle and Fennel with Peppermint in the Pukka Cleanse tea. I wish I were a real herbalist since there’s so much of incalculable value in plants — in tending to your gardens. See this magnificent Victor Hugo quote — it makes me want to be a good farmer!

When the nettle is young, the leaves make excellent greens; when it grows old it has filaments and fibers like hemp and flax. Cloth made from the nettle is as good as that made from hemp. Chopped up, the nettle is good for poultry; pounded, it is good for horned cattle. The seed of the nettle mixed with the fodder of animals gives a luster to their skin; the root, mixed with salt, produces a beautiful yellow dye. It makes, however, excellent hay, as it can be cut twice in a season. And what does the nettle need? very little soil, no care, no culture; except that the seeds fall as fast as they ripen, and it is difficult to gather them; that is all. If we would take a little pains, the nettle would be useful; we neglect it, and it becomes harmful. Then we kill it. How much men are like the nettle! My friends, remember this, that there are no weeds, and no worthless men, there are only bad farmers.- Victor Hugo