Herbal Face Creams Built on Plant Oils

A cream is an emulsion, oil and water held together, so it has three parts: the oils, the botanicals carried in them, and the system that keeps the whole thing stable and safe.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is the base oil. The plant is native to North America, domesticated by Indigenous peoples several thousand years ago, and reached Europe via Spanish traders in the sixteenth century. Its heads famously track the sun while young, though they stop once mature.

Rice bran (Oryza sativa) oil comes from the husk left after milling, a by-product that would otherwise be waste. It's been used in Japan for centuries, where it's called komenuka.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a garden weed most people pull up without looking at it, and a long-standing fixture of the Western topical herbal cabinet. Its flowers close before rain, which earned it the old name poor man's weatherglass. It's in Hydrating Cream and Cooling Cream.

Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is the pot marigold, and it turns any oil it sits in a deep gold. Monastery gardens across medieval Europe grew it as a staple. It's in Botanical Day Cream.

Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) is a low, creeping plant that smells of apples when walked on, chamomile lawns were a feature of Tudor gardens for exactly that reason. It's distinct from German chamomile, and both appear in Cooling Cream.

Passionfruit seed (Passiflora edulis) gives maracuja oil, pressed from the seeds left over from juice production, and it's notably light for a seed oil.