Stinging Nettle Infused Oil

Welcome to the Stinging Nettle Suite.

In the earliest signs of spring, when the cherry blossoms burst through grey skies and sunsets begins to drag their heels, stinging nettles arrive; wily plants misunderstood by those who see an invasive stinger of a weed and loved by foragers who know it’s nourishing virtues. I’ve foraged for and eaten nettles my whole life from as early as I can remember. It was my mother’s heritage as well, having had the knowledge passed to her from her grandmother and aunts. I also read herbal books my mother had for as long and still remember Mr.s Grieve’s (A Modern Herbal) recipe for nettle pudding and suggested antidote,

 “ Nettle in, dock out. Dock rub nettle out!” I thrashed nettles on my arms more than a few times followed by dock to test the theory and found that the only thing to cancel out nettle stings was time.

Stinging nettle properties are extraordinary. Not only do they improve the soil they grow in, they improve skin. Hair also benefits with oil infused stinging nettles, bringing shine and strength to strands. Stinging nettle is a whole body kind of wild herb.

This oil infusion has been by my producer in Greece, the same one that also expertly produces a few of my other greek oils such as our exquisite rose otto. Nettles are macerated in greek olive oil which I consider superior to all other olive oils save for some of the wonderful Californian oils available close by our apothecary. Greek olive oil in of itself is one of the nutritive oils one can use on the skin but with the addition of nettle infusion, I find it to be extra softening and hydrating on the skin. The best skin care program I found over summer which also happened to be the most cost-effective was using the nettle oil infusion and spritzing with nettle leaf hydrosol for extra hydration. I also tested the oil on my hair over the summer to combat the chlorine from daily swim classes. I found that it protected my hair and also conditioned it to avoid split ends.