Lemon Balm Hydrosol

Our artisan distilled hydrosols are crafted with locally grown, organic herbs, and a whole lotta love.

The scent of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) could best be described as a mellow, grassy, lemony scent. It is mild, kind and comforting, like a favorite sweater.

Properties: hydrating, uplifting, calming, anti-viral, anti- inflammatory

Good for: irritability, herpes/cold sores, skin inflammation and rashes (including bug bites and diaper rash)

Ways to use: Face, body and hair spray, facial toner, pillow mist, room spray, meditation spray

Highlights: Lemon balm is a potent anti-viral and is great for preventing and calming cold sores. It’s also excellent first aid for rashes, burns and skin irritations like eczema and poison ivy!

MISSION STATEMENT As we move toward increasing our sustainability as a company, it is our mission as to develop more products focused on using local, sustainably sourced plants and ingredients.

WHAT IS A HYDROSOL? Hydrosols are often referred to as "floral waters" but they’re actually made from many different parts of a plant, including flowers, leaves, stems, roots, etc. They are crafted by distilling fresh plants on an alembic copper still. Hydrosols are the water portion of the essential oil distillation process. We distill fresh herbs on an alembic copper still, which results in a good amount of hydrosol and sometimes a very tiny amount of essential oil. The distillation process when distilling for hydrosols has some differences from an essential oil distillation, but it uses the same equipment.

WHY A COPPER STILL? Copper acts as a natural preservative and sweetens the final product in a way that stainless steel does not. Copper also ensures smaller batches, which typically ensures a higher quality product than one that is mass-produced.

WHERE DO WE GET OUR PLANTS? All plants for our hydrosols are from UGArden or Heartsong Herbs in Athens or were grown in our owner, Emilie's, garden in Atlanta. All of our plants are grown organically, but aren’t certified organic because they’re grown in much smaller gardens than organic certification makes sense for.

WHY CHOOSE A HYDROSOL OVER AN ESSENTIAL OIL? Essential oils certainly have their place in aromatherapy and natural products, but there are several important advantages to selecting a hydrosol to use instead of an essential oil:

1. Hydrosols are more sustainable. You get a greater yield with considerably less plant material. So not only is it more sustainable to plants and the natural world, but it is also a product we can grow and produce locally, rather than having it shipped from overseas, which is where most essential oils are produced.
2. They are safer than essential oils because you can't apply essential oils directly to skin.
3. Essential oils are only one component of the plant, whereas hydrosols contain more healing constituents of the whole plant.

WHAT ARE HYDROSOLS USED FOR? So many uses!  The most basic use is as a face or skin spritz. They can be used as mild facial toners or cleansers, to cool hot skin (hello hot flashes!), a hair scalp or tonic, an aromatic mist, a pick me up, or for meditation. Plus, each herb has specific indications that it is good for. For example, lemon balm is an anti-viral that is great for treating and preventing cold sores!