Friar Bernard always woke up before dawn, dressed quickly and silently slipped out of the Abbey to look for his medicinal plants. He was in charge of the herbal lab and only in his laboratory did Friar Bernard feel serene, among his herbs and large tomes, with sometimes damp pages that turned with difficulty. Today his mission was to look for herbs to be macerated to obtain a preparation for the health of the scalp, as indicated by masters who had lived before him. Among the first rays of the sun that began to peek through the branches of the trees around the Abbey, here is the nettle, one of the best plants for hair! And then the marshmallow, chamomile and rosemary. There was almost everything. Friar Bernard took the thyme from Friar William's garden. Good friar William had his head in the clouds so he would not have noticed anything. Friar Bernard ran into his laboratory and immediately got to work, pounding with a mortar and then infusing the herbs. And here the preparation was ready, the friar poured it into a blue glass cruet, closed with a diamond-shaped cap. The preparation was so popular that the friar had to make more, and more again. And even today, right in the Abbey where Friar Bernard once lived, hair products are created, using his recipes, which we too are inspired by today!
Herbs for hair health
The story we have told is fictional but the proposed recipe comes from ancient traditions and has even been studied by science! Yes, in fact, a study has recreated the hair lotion based on leaves of nettle, rosemary and thyme and flowers of chamomile and marshmallow. The application of this lotion on the scalp made it possible to protect the hair follicles, stimulating their activity and promoting hair growth (Rastegar et al, Ann Dermatol, 2015). Not only that, the plants used in the preparation are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, in addition, as shown by the study, they protect the hair follicles from the excessive action of androgens, which could lead to hair loss (Rastegar et al, Ann Dermatol, 2015 - Kregiel et al, Molecules, 2018).
The recipe for hair health
Bring a liter of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add two sprigs of rosemary, 2 sprigs of thyme, 1 tablespoon of nettle leaves, 1 of marshmallow and 1 of chamomile. Leave to infuse for twenty minutes, then filter and let it cool down. Apply to the scalp, massaging gently, and leave on for 10 minutes. Then continue with your usual shampoo.
