Herbal Renewal Use Your Backyard Bounty To Whip Up Quick Refreshers For Body And Sole

The next time you pick a handful of fresh mint from your garden for a salad, don’t forget a few sprigs for your face. Whipped up with rosemary, lemon balm and a few other simple ingredients, mint makes a cooling, fragrant astringent to combat oily summer skin.

With the bounty of backyard herb gardens, summer is the perfect season to make your own natural beauty products. Or if you don’t have a green thumb, dried herbs and other botanicals are easy to buy and just as effective. Whatever your source, the products you make yourself are light, fresh and less expensive than much of what you can buy in the stores.

After a bit of practice, concocting your own lotions and potions is relatively quick and easy, says Stephanie Tourles, a licensed aesthetician from Massachusetts, who has written “The Herbal Body Book” (Storey Communications Inc. $12.95, (800) 441-5700). Tourles began experimenting with natural and herbal cosmetic recipes when her skin-care and makeup clients complained of allergic reactions to expensive commercially prepared products.

She was no novice to the healing properties of herbs and flowers. As a child, her grandfather would take her out to the woods on his North Georgia farm and teach her which plants helped a cough and which roots could be used for an antiseptic.

“That really sparked my interest,” she says. “I researched everything.”

Her book tells how to make more than 100 face, skin, hair and nail products. It also has a guide to herbs and a list of mail-order sources for all the ingredients you will need, including the bottles and jars for storing your creations.

Her favorites include Lavender Lane, (916) 334-4400, for oils and a variety of bottles and jars, and Mountain Rose, (800) 879-3337, for herbs, oils and other supplies.

Tourles lists herbs and oils that may irritate the eyes and skin. She recommends that people with allergies do a 24-hour patch test of these on their skin before making an entire recipe. Another word of warning: Just because the products may look and smell edible doesn’t mean they are safe to eat.

These easy recipes offer relief for hot summer feet, for faces shiny with humidity and from pesky insects. The natural insect repellent - a welcome alternative to crop-dusting yourself with toxic pesticides - works for “moderately hungry” mosquitoes, Tourles says. Ravenous ones may require stronger measures.

INSECT REPELLENT

2 cups witch hazel

1-1/2 teaspoons essential oil of citronella or lemongrass

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a 16-ounce spray bottle. Shake vigorously. Requires no refrigeration. Apply liberally as needed. Keep away from eyes, nose and mouth. Yields approximately 50 applications for entire body.

HERBAL ASTRINGENT

1 cup distilled water

1/2 cup pure vodka

1 teaspoon each: sage, yarrow, chamomile, rosemary, lemon balm, peppermint and strawberry leaves

1/4 cup witch hazel

Mix ingredients thoroughly and store for two weeks in a tightly sealed jar. Keep in a cool, dark place. Strain and store in a bottle or spritzer. Refrigeration is not required. Use 1 teaspoon per application. Yield: about 84 applications. This removes oil and perspiration.

FRAGRANT HAIR SHEEN

Essential oil of rosemary, lavender or sandalwood

In the palm of the hand place five drops essential oil of your choice or two drops of each of the oils. Rub the palms together and gently, pat and scrunch your slightly damp hair. Make sure to distribute oils evenly, paying special attention to ends. If you set your hair, apply immediately before setting. If you use a blow dryer, apply in the middle of the styling process. Good for normal and dry hair, Use after every shampoo or as desired. Makes hair fragrant and shiny.

FOOT REFRESHER

Foot tub

Marbles

5 to 10 drops of essential oil of lemon, lavender, camphor, peppermint, rosemary, juniper or eucalyptus

1/2 cup sea salt (or table salt)

To a tub of very hot or very cold water, add oil of choice and salt. Add enough marbles to cover tub bottom. Soak feet for 15-20 minutes while rolling them over marbles. Occasionally, grasp and release marbles with toes. Follow with lotion.