Calendula - Ingredient Highlight

A few years ago, your average person had not heard of calendula; even less knew how to pronounce it when they came across it. However, Calendula has become more mainstream in recent years and for good reason! It is amazing! Still don’t know what Calendula is??? Have you heard of Marigolds? Yes, those cute little orange and yellow flowers we often plant in our gardens to detour pests. Well they are in the same genus! Typically, the Calendula that is used in bath and body products to aid in healing is called Calendula officinalis or the pot marigold; which looks very similar to the ornamental ones we plant in our gardens.

Calendula oil is extracted from the flowers and the leaves can be made into a poultice. Calendula consists of anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial attributes that can speed up the process of healing wounds. Isn’t that awesome? Calendula is also great for baby’s diaper areas! It helps restore the skins natural protective barrier which often gets stripped and irritated in those areas causing a diaper rash. We have used Calendula Butter to help with our kiddo’s eczema and cradle cap too! It has been used for centuries and dates to the Ancient Greek, Roman and Middle Eastern cultures. Those past civilizations used Calendula for medical treatments as well as for food (pot marigolds florets are edible) they also used them to dye fabrics. Calendula flowers were used in Ancient Greece during special ceremonies as decoration and were also made into crowns. Isn’t nature amazing? One plant is able to give us such a variety of uses. Have you tried any products containing Calendula?