It was Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of King Minos of Crete, who gave Theseus, with whom she had fallen in love, the ball of yarn that allowed the Greek hero to get out of the labyrinth. And it was always Ariadne who fled with Theseus to Athens, leaving behind her home and family. But Ariadne did not arrive in Athens, in fact, Theseus, taking advantage of a moment in which Ariadne had fallen asleep, abandoned her on the Greek island of Naxos before setting sail for Athens. According to a legend, it was Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, who ordered Theseus to abandon Ariadne in order to marry her. But we like another version of the myth, the one in which the young woman, once she realized she was left alone, began to cry. From each Ariadne's tear a plant with an intense scent grew from the soil, the thyme. The aroma of thyme attracted Dionysus, who, seeing such a beautiful girl crying alone, fell in love with her. Dionysus and Ariadne got married and traveled the world to let all humans know the power of laughter and joy. So let's revive this fascinating myth by recreating an equally enveloping and powerful cosmetic at home, a cosmetic prepared with thyme! Thyme, according to the ancients, represented courage and vital energy and all this power passes to the cosmetics with which the thyme is prepared. Let's start, but first, let's see the beauty properties of thyme.
Thyme, beauty properties
Thyme is rich in essential oils that give it anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, useful both for mature skin with wrinkles and young and acne-prone skin. In particular, thymus helps to fight photoaging and damage caused by UV rays, wrinkles and skin spots (Sun et al, J Cell Mol Med, 2017). Not only that, the thymus also shows antimicrobial properties, very effective especially against the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, one of the main causes of acne (Fachini Queiroz et al, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med., 2012). In particular, the essential oil of thyme at concentrations of 0.25% has been shown to kill the bacterium in 5 minutes (Zu et al, Molecules, 2010).
Thyme cosmetics
For young skin, here is an idea to take advantage of the antibacterial and antiseptic properties of thyme, useful against acne, impure skin and blackheads. Finely blend a teaspoon of dried thyme. In a bowl, mix the thyme powder with a spoonful of ventilated green clay. Add a little water until you get a creamy consistency and apply to a clean face, leave on for ten minutes, then rinse. In the case of mature skin, on the other hand, to counteract the damage of free radicals and renew the skin, you can blend together with a level teaspoon of thyme also a level teaspoon of rosemary, a powerful anti-aging agent against free radical damage (Nobile et al, Food Nutr Res, 2016), mix the powder with two tablespoons of yogurt, combine a teaspoon of argan oil, mix. Leave on clean face for ten minutes, then rinse. Then, to complete the treatment, whether you have impure or mature skin, you can spray thyme water on your face. Finally, complete with a couple of drops of a serum oil or a pinch of face cream.
