What’s Good About Plantain Soap?
Plantago major — common plantain
Not to be confused with “cooking” bananas commonly called Plantain which is a major food staple in West and Central Africa, the Caribbean islands, Central America, and northern South America, the Plantain we use in our soap is a common lawn and garden weed, Plantago major. We wilt the leaves from our own gardens and infuse them directly into extra virgin olive oil. This process, called a heat extraction, is a bit like making tea and in the same way, the tea leaches out of the bag into the water, all the goodness of the Plantain ends up in the oil. Plantago major, also called broadleaf plantain, contains a variety of healing phytochemicals among them allantoin, ursolic acid, and flavonoids.
What are those?
If you look at ingredients in cosmetics and skin-care products at your pharmacy you will see on the list of many of them “allantoin.” Why would cosmetic companies want to add that to their products? Because allantoin has special powers! It is moisturizing, hydrating, and an exfoliant, skin-calming, wound-healing, and anti-aging. It also promotes rapid cell proliferation (healing). However, in most cases the allantoin you see on those ingredients lists would be a chemical derivation of what appears naturally in Plantain.
Another valuable phytochemical that occurs naturally in Plantain is ursolic acid. This is the goodness found also in peels of fruits (like apples) as well as in herbs like rosemary and thyme. And then there are flavonoids, which are anti-inflammatory, and protect cells from oxidative damage.
And did I mention that you can eat Plantain leaves? When the leaves are young, they can be eaten fresh, and when they get older they can be cooked in stews and soups. A tea made with the leaves is said to improve digestion, heartburn, and ulcers. Hopefully, you will never need it for this, but the leaves themselves can help neutralize the venom from snake bites.
But we use it in soap because making products to heal skin is what we do. The benefits of Plantain to the skin are tremendous, and that’s so important. After all, the skin is the largest organ of our bodies! In addition to soothing and moisturizing, our Plantain Soap is also helpful in alleviating itching, rashes, cuts, and scarring, and it treats acne.
It might become your favorite bathing bar.
- Sondra
