Raw materials
Spruce resin
Spruce Resin, the Gold of North. It flows deep in the woods, under the bark of spruces,hidden from wayfarers’ sight. Spruce resin has been used for centuries. This valuable antiseptic contains coumaric acids and wood’s own antioxidants such as fibrous lignans. These ingredients protect the wood from microbes and pathogens. In the same way, resin can protect also human skin as a whole. The ladies of the village were thankful to Elias, when their hands, very dry due doing the laundry, softened with the spruce resin. Elias also used the spruce resin for toothache. The spruce resin brought a big help when chewing it like a chewing gum. The spruce resin gets its power from the harsh conditions of Nordic nature, seasonal variations, northern light and the darkness of autumn and winter. This makes it one of nature’s strongest healing forces. That is why many of our products get their power from the Nordic Gold, the Spruce Resin.
Spruce resin is the gold of the North, it purifies and keeps inflammations away.
Spruce resin is like a trustworthy friend, who is always there for you helping in so many situations. It regenerates the nail and heals the skin after burns. Spruce resin also regenerates the skin after, abrasions, scratches and wounds. It also helps when it comes to insect stings, dry cuticles, removing sticks, chapped lips and oral hygiene.
Meadowsweet
Sometimes Elias, wandering from village to village, was suffering from variety of muscle pains and headaches. In the evening when Elias found a peaceful place to rest, a spot from a beautiful meadow which was glowing in the evening sun, he lighted a campfire and took off his birch bark shoes. As the evening dew settled, Elias noticed that the deep sides of the meadow were full of wonderfully fragrant meadowsweets. They were the flowers that already Elias’ mother had used to relief Elias’ growing pains when he was only a child. Meadowsweet contains salicin, nature’s own aspirin. Elias picks them up to make a pain-relieving poultice for his tired feet. In the morning, the pain is gone.
Meadowsweet’s own aspirin relieves pain.
Ginger
Elias had wandered for days in the deep green forests of the north. His joints were having a hard time with all the stumps, slippery branches and angular stones. The help was found from the nature, in the form of ginger. The golden treasure of this grass plant is to be found under the ground – the rhizome. Ginger contains all the vitamins that the joints need and also important zingiberene and bisabolene. Elias knows that these ingredients reduce inflammations in the joints which makes ginger a unique aid when it comes to the welfare of joints and to support their normal functioning and fluid circulation. This time Elias uses his self-made ginger ointment in a wrap for his legs. When it’s all better, he can continue his journey.
Ginger supports the normal functioning of the joints. It also helps with the pain and discomfort caused by osteoarthritis.
Cabbage
The Finnish summer is beautiful. The sun of the late summer was warming the backs of villagers working in the fields. Birches were swaying softly in the gentle wind. Elias was bringing some water to drink to the villagers in the fields, when he saw a woman he knew very well holding her ankle. Immediately Elias put the water containers on the ground and grabbed a leaf from one of the largest cabbages in the field. Glutamine, selenium and amino acid of the cabbage relieve joint pain and help cartilage formation. Cabbages contain also many other important nutrients for the joints, like for example vitamins C, E, and K, manganese, and iron. Soon the sore ankle was okay and the field work was done even faster than before.
Finnish cabbage supports the normal functioning of the joints. It also helps with the pain and discomfort caused by osteoarthritis.
Yarrow
A woman wearing a light cotton dress was walking through a flowering meadow. Cumulus clouds, like fluffy white cotton balls, were sailing through the blue sky. In the meadow the white, round flowers of yarrow were swaying in the wind like meadow’s own little clouds. Elias’ wife Mary was collecting the flowers of the yarrow in her basket. Elias had told her about their power in skin care. The tannins in the flower shrink pores and the essential oils moisturize dry skin. This ancient herb and spice plant contains manganese, magnesium and eugenol. In Finnish it has many names which tells us how multifunctional herb this plant is. Maria appreciated the softening and moisturizing effect of the plant on the skin the most. In the sauna, Maria uses to make an excellent facial mask out of yarrow.
Yarrow contained in Five Herbs Balm, supports the normal functioning of the facial fluid circulation and metabolism. We use domestic high-quality yarrow grown in the meadows without any chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Broadleaf Plantain
Elias stops to pick up a broadleaf plantain from a silent roadside, that small and tenacious plant, also called a hay plaster. Broadleaf plantain contains natural antibacterial ingredients. These ingredients make it an excellent aid for both wounds and skin care. The salicylic acid and allantoin contained in the plant regenerate skin cells and soften scar tissue. Broadleaf plantain also contains vitamins C, A and E, which are important for the skin, as well as tannins which are astringents that tighten pores. Broadleaf plantain supports the normal functioning of the trigeminal nerve. As Elias picks up the leaves of the track, he remembers an old story about a girl waiting for her beloved on the side of the road. The boy never came, and the girl turned into a broadleaf plantain that is still waiting. You are as tenacious and strong-willed as a Finnish woman, Elias smiles to himself and picks up a few more broadleaf plantains to bring to his wife.
The skin rejuvenating effect of a small broadleaf plantain is included in the Five Herbs Face Balm. It supports the normal functioning of the oral mucosa and is suitable for intra-oral massage.
Chickweed
Like Stella, the star of the sky, thinks Elias and picks up the chickweed from the calm rippling clear river. The small water drops glistening on flower’s petals make it look like a bright star. Elias puts the treasure carefully in his backpack. The scientific name of the genus of the plant, Stellaria, comes from a Latin word for a star due to the shape of the flowers. And yes, this plant is a star, in so many ways.
The silicon and potassium in the chickweed support the normal functioning of the skin and help for example with rashes on the face.
Our Five Herbs Face balm contains chickweed which brings beautiful glow on your face and moisturizes your skin.
Dandelion
The yellow meadow of dandelions made Elias to stop for a while. He admired,once again, this little-appreciated natural medicine which was reflecting the power of the sun but was too often thrown away by people. Besides to vitamin C, the nutrient-rich dandelion contains iron and calcium. Dandelion has skin brightening and purifying effects. It contains vitamin A, which is very important for the skin. This flower and it’s leaves, absorbed the northern light, ended up in Elias’ backpack like a treasure.
Our Five Herbs Face Balm contains the solar power of dandelion, which cleanses and brightens.
Burdock
The burdock, growing in the grove meadows, is strong and tough, a genuine child of this northern country. Traditional wraps and poultices made from burdock flowers were treating rashes and abrasions with the help of its bactericidal compounds and picrics. Burdock has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times, and it contains nature’s own antibiotics and ingredients that kill fungi and bacteria. Burdock is an excellent aid for skin care due its tannins. It effectively removes waste products. If Elias was here, with mellow laughter he would warn you about picking burdocks wearing a woolly sweater. Its seeds can’t be taken off by any means!
The Five Herb Face Balm contains burdock, which effectively balances and cleanses the skin.
Ant Liniment
There was especially one sight that delighted Elias in the Finnish forests – the anthill. It’s like a treasure chest, full of life, built on the side of a spruce in the depths of the forest. Elias carefully and respectfully collected the eggs of ants and their acid to prepare valuable ant formic acid alcohol out of them. The gifts from the anthill help with many kinds of cramps and restless legs. They also support normal thyroid and prostate function. Elias made some balm out of this ant liniment to alleviate rheumatism and sold it at his pharmacy in Hämeenlinna. Elias prepared liniment out of the ant eggs, which was a good aid for many ailments. In the sauna, Elias rubbed the ant formic acid liniment on his shoulders and knees and all around his body. The he wrapped a linen cloth around him and let the ant formic acid liniment and the heat of the sauna do their magic.
In the evenings Elias spread the liniment on his restless feet.
Original and genuine ant formic acid alcohol supports the normal functioning of the front and thyroid gland and calms down restless legs.
Beeswax
On his long journeys Elias often lay down to rest for a while in the meadow, a soft buzzing of busy bees above him. In addition to honey, the gift of bees to us is the building material of their nest cells. Beeswax, containing myricin and serine, is produced in the wax glands of the bees. The wax contains antibacterial substances and it heals and softens dry and chapped skin. Beeswax also relieves sunburns on the face. Elias also used to heat beeswax and spread it on his face to protect his skin from the sun.
All of our balms contain organic antibacterial beeswax from a domestic apiary. Beeswax softens and protects the skin.
Rapeseed Oil
Cold pressed rapeseed oil is good for the skin in many ways. It contains omega-3 fatty acids and also omega-6 fatty acids that take care of the skin. The body itself is unable to produce linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid, which both are found in rapeseed oil. Rapeseed oil also contains vitamins E and K, which are important for the skin. All of our products contain nutritious cold pressed rapeseed oil. It also moisturizes, softens and nourishes your skin. Although Elias was never able to take advantage of the treasures of this golden plant, he still would appreciate it a lot. The traveler would probably already be on his knees in the field to explore this plant that was foreign to him. It would be for Flora Fennica, his famous herbarium.
All our balms contain Finnish cold pressed rapeseed oil, which moisturizes and nourishes.