Only the true witchy herbalist seems to enjoy bitter. Cos she KNOWS that's where the medicine, the healing and the real magic lies. Over time, people have learned to sidestep bitter and are almost afraid of it. Recoil at the very thought of it. And so many of the healing properties of bitter plants that heal without having to ingest them have, therefore, also been sidestepped and forgotten in our comfort-driven-sweeter-please world.
Neem. It's definitely not the bitterest plant in the world, but it's in the top 10. An ancient remedy for all manner of things from cancer and parasite infestation to malaria whilst being a phenomenal and effective contraceptive. In Thailand, however, people generally only know young neem leaves as a side dish for curries. Most Thai houses and villages have a neem tree handy (called "sadao" in Thai) but its medicinal uses and Ayurvedic history are largely unknown here.
Neem oil, which is extracted from the seeds, has a huge number of health and healing uses, as do medicines brewed from the leaves and taken internally. But I want to focus here simply on the neem leaves and what they do externally for the skin.
- The crushed leaves made into a paste and applied to the skin are known in Ayurveda (for thousands of years!) to help remove scars and blemishes;
- Neem leaves are celebrated for their ability to help even out skin pigmentation;
- Being naturally anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial, neem leaves help to treat and heal acne, fungal conditions and also skin infections;
- Neem leaves help manage both over-active sebum production (oily skin) and gently moisturize dry skin;
- Being naturally anti-inflammatory, neem leaves help reduce redness, puffiness and irritation;
- Neem leaves are wonderful for soothing irritated, itchy skin and are often prized by people struggling to manage either psoriasis or eczema;
- Neem leaves are used widely in India to treat itchy skin conditions like scabies, and also to help heal skin ulceration;
- Neem leaves are used as a frontline treatment for itchy skin;
- Neem leaves help reduce the visible appearance of aging in the skin.
If you have a neem tree handy, you can simply make a tea from the leaves and apply to the skin with clean cotton or freshly washed hands. Or you can dry the leaves carefully in the shade on a hot day, crush them and mix the powder with water - apply to the skin and leave on for 20-30 min before rinsing off with pure, clean, cool water.
My organic Thai herbal business, Pure Thai Naturals is working with the indigenous displaced Karen refugee community along the Thai Burma border to harvest and solar-dry neem leaves as a social enterprise. We have a new line of products being released in the coming weeks which feature neem leaves: a Body Scrub, Thai Herbal Clay Face Masque and a Face Scrub, all made with solar dried organic neem leaves, Thai ginger and lime. Completing our new neem line (for now) is a gorgeous new Body-Massage oil made with Neem Seed Oil, Ginger and Lime in a base of pure virgin coconut oil, moringa oil and Thai rice bran oil.
My 13 year old daughter (@nabithecat) tried the Thai Herbal Facial Clay with Neem Leaves, Ginger and Lime for me today. Her reaction? "Wow mama - I could feel it made my face warm, and then cool and so much softer when I washed it off!" She noticed straight away that the few little blemishes she had were much less and considerably faded by the end of the afternoon.
I will be featuring our new neem leaf products here on steem, complete with links to our new online store. And yes, you WILL be able to pay in steem dollars and have them happily shipped to almost anywhere (except Australia and New Zealand due to their stringent plant quarantine laws). :) You can also follow our facebook business page at Pure Thai Naturals to stay in touch with our new product developments.
I'm EXCITED that ancient plant wisdom CAN be made convenient and available in a modern world; and especially excited that producing these products using magnificent neem leaves from along the Thai-Burma border, we will be creating work and opportunity for some very disenfranchised, vulnerable people. Stay tuned as we will be inviting people to join us in this fabulous social enterprise in the coming week.
"Nature itself is the best physician" Hippocrates.
Another informative post and hopefully more local Thai people will also take up the opportunity to use it apart from the young leaves for curry .
Great for the soil and plants when their is an i festoon of aphids for example
I hope LOTS of people - Thai, Burmese, indigenous mountain people, cashed up tourists - all learn more about what we have in this beautiful part of the world, and start both using it and living more sustainably. :)
Sound like great products and I'm looking forward to seeing them when they come out. And, great to be able to buy gifts etc with SBDs :)
I look forward to helping to lead the charge with retailing on steemit. :)
Very good post @artemislives. Nice to see you driving some traffic to your projects now, thanks to network effect your SEO and exposure will be a huge boost through the steemit platform.
I love that you give such informative and yet down to earth gifts. Here's to helping bridge the ancient knowledge with the high technology tools to empower social enterprise.
Also perfect offering your products for SBD/STEEM, you will be a welcome listing for the launch of @steemshop! 👍
I am EXCITED about the launch of @steemshop !! Building bridges is what we are about, no?? x
And following @steemshop too now. Thank you for the nudge. :)
Sounds good!
and as @eftnow says: we should be able to order this with some freshly earned SBD by you
And yes, happily shipping to Switzerland. :) Thinking of you as the move draws closer, Karin. Enjoy each moment - it's all good.
Thanks for your mental support madame!
Im cool in general!
yeah when I have my place all set, I will order some, sound fantastic!
11 day countdown
I use it on my plants as a natural pesticide!
It makes an AWESOME natural pesticide!! :) Wonderful to hear.
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