When I look at the plants and flowers growing in my Physic garden it’s hard to believe some of these self-same blooms have been helping people since ancient times. One such plant that I am trying to nurture up here on top of the high North Pennines is this pretty little blue flower called Flax ( Linum usitatissimum) or Linen (when manufactured into cloth). The pressed oil is sometimes known as Linseed and the Latin translation of the word usitatissimum is ‘most useful’.

All these different names are confusing and relate to the plant after processing of some kind so I will stick with Flax as this is the plant name. Present day cultivated flax is most closely related to the wild L. angustafolium which is still found throughout the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa, the Near East, Iran, Caucasia and Western Europe. There are other species of the Linum L. genus throughout the Mediterranean and China. So you can see that distribution is wide.

Flax was one of the earliest domesticated plants. It is an annual growing to around 3 ft tall with slender, straplike stems. The flowers are a pure pale blue like those of the Harebell (Scottish Bluebell) with five petals. The fruit contains several glossy brown seeds like an apple pip. Unfortunately the flower is short-lived with it’s petals falling as soon as bright sunlight hits them however there is an abundance of more to come.

Flax is amongst the oldest fibre crops in the world and use of flax for the production of cloth dates back to ancient Egyptian times. Dyed flax fibres found in a cave in Dzudzuana (prehistoric Georgia) have been dated to 30,000 years ago. There are pictures on tombs and temple walls at Thebes depicting flax plants in flower. Both the Greeks and Romans used this plant as a food, fibre and medicine with writings of that time (both ancient Greek and Roman) dating back to the 6th century B.C. mention flax cultivation. The literary works of Homer, Herodotus, Theophrastus and Pliny provide word references to flax and/or linen.

Gauls (the ancient tribes of France and Belgium) and Celts were the earliest flax growers in Western Europe, learning about flax from the Romans. In North America flax was introduced by the Puritans and quickly became a major cash crop. Flax is the emblem of Northern Ireland and it appears on the reverse of the British £1 coin to represent Northern Ireland on coins minted in 1986 and 1991.

Flax seed still has as many uses today – for food, fibres, medication and skincare. The oil is extremely rich in the Omegas 3 and 6 (essential fatty acids) vital for good skin health. It has anti-inflammatory properties and is one of the Fruit oils which benefits acne as the fatty acids present in flax seed help to prevent, not only the clogging of the pores, but thins the sebum which causes this build up.

Flax seed oil is useful for healing scars and abrasions and is used in the treatment of inflamed skin or skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema. Flax seed oil is also useful for dry skin.

This Blog comes about from being caught in a lie – well two lyes really …….shall I explain!

The first lie……
Last Summer at a local Plant Fair where we were selling our products I was explaining to a lovely lady customer just how we make our skincare products insisting that they were totally chemical-free, when a distinguished elderly gentleman leant over and said – ‘that’s not really possible’.

Slightly bristling with defensive fervour I started to assure him that our products were 100% natural when he smiled and said ‘humans are made up entirely of chemicals – oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus and more. What could I say – it’s true…..

Human cells consist of at least 65–90% water (H2O). Therefore oxygen forms the majority of a human body’s mass.

It follows then that plants are composed of chemicals as well – carbohydrates, proteins, fats and chlorophyll are the primary chemical elements. Secondary elements (phytochemicals) are tannins, flavanols, volatile oils, alkaloids, caffeine and so on……

I surmise that there are ‘good’ chemicals which occur in nature and exist to promote life, good health and, in the case of plants, to act as a defence against enemies and pests and to encourage pollinators. ‘Bad’ chemicals are almost (but not entirely – think of Hemlock) manmade and have (mostly) a detrimental effect on the skin and the wider environment outwith the one it was designed to address – such as the watercourse.

So, our products do not contain bad chemicals!

Which brings me on to Caustisized Sea Salt -

The second lye……
In order to handmake cold processed soap containing no chemicals a chemical reaction needs to take place – obscure – but bear with me…..

Saponification is the name given to the chemical reaction that occurs when a vegetable oil or animal fat (acid) is mixed with a strong alkali. There are two resultant products of this reaction – soap and glycerin(e). There is also water present in the equation but it is only a vehicle for the alkali which is otherwise a dry powder. The alkali we choose is Soda – Sea Salt which has been bombarded with electrodes (Sodium Hydroxide). This is called a mineral alkali and is used not only for making soap but in the glass industry, for dyeing, in medicines and for use around the home. The common term for this alkali became simply “lye”, which is not short for alkali, but originated in the Anglo-Saxon language.

In Roman times the alkali part of the process was achieved by using powdered wood ash, usually Beech or Birch.

Understandably there are some customers who are a little apprehensive at the thought of lye being used in their natural soap linking it to Caustic Soda with which they clean their drains – which, in fact, it is – but be reassured there is no lye in the final product as it has reacted with the oils to form soap and glycerine and has completely left the finished bar.

Before our natural cold processed soap is offered for sale it is ph tested to make sure that it is neutral and it is cured for around 6 weeks after making until it is hard enough to sell.

Remember – you can’t make soap without lye……………