Lemon Balm–A Healing Herb

If you are thinking of starting a little herb garden lemon balm is one to include.  It’s truly a healing herb.  It’s most commonly found in herbal bedtime/calming teas, but it can also be applied to the skin.  As it is antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, it is great for cleansing pores and alleviating redness of the skin.  Lemon balm grows just as well as mint…once you plant a little, a lot more comes.  Literally, it could take over the garden if you don’t keep it contained.  As the name suggests, it smells and tastes like lemon–kind of a grassy lemon fragrance and taste.  If you wanted to try this on your skin, you can find lemon balm in essential oil form and dilute it down with a carrier oil and apply topically or you could steep dried lemon balm in water like you would a tea, let it cool down and apply the lemon balm infused water on your skin for a cleansing wash.  There are lots of options worth exploring if you take a liking to this herb.  Try it first and see =)