This week I’m going to try Ninon’s herbal bath recipe. Ninon de L’Enclos lived in the 17th century and supposedly she looked like 30 when she was 70. Even the King Louis XIV called her “marvel of his reign” because she looked so young and beautiful when she was in her 80s. I have covered her neck and face massage routine and her beauty cream recipe in other videos and I’ll put the links below and here.
Besides the and face massage and the “stinky” beauty cream that I’ve been trying since I made it, she supposedly took a daily bath.
Here’s her herbal bath recipe and external benefits of each:
- Thyme. Thyme is good for boosting your good mood besides being antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-parasitic.
- Mint. Mint is antiseptic, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and good for cooling and toning your skin, controlling oil secretion for acne, clearing your sinus, and alleviating stress and pain.
- Rosemary. Rosemary is astringent to tighten pores, protects skin from sun damage and free radicals, increases circulation for your skin to glow, moisturizes skin, and controls oil for acne.
- Lavender. Lavender is good for relaxing and de-stress. Its antioxidants are good for fighting against fine lines and wrinkles.
- Comfrey root. Now this can be a questionable one because it has poisonous substance called Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids or PAs. Comfrey has been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes for bone fractures, muscle and joint pain, bruises, and swelling. It promotes cell regeneration and accelerates skin healing.
However, research says it will cause liver damage and even cancer and that’s why it’s banned in some countries. But my understanding is that the research was done on rats in very high dosage. I’ve also read some interesting healing stories of comfrey on humans.
I will put the link below for the article that I think explains the history of comfrey fairly so you can read it for yourself and decide for yourself.
As for this bath recipe, although you are not putting this in your mouth, skin does absorb what you put on. Do not use comfrey if you have open wounds and cuts because PAs can get into your bloodstream. Do not use it if you are pregnant, nursing, child, elderly, or if you have a history of liver disease or if you are concerned at all. From what I’ve read so far, I think it’s safe for me so I will go ahead and use it. Again, please decide for yourself regarding the use of comfrey.
I haven’t seen the exact amount other than “handful” so I’m just going to eye it. Since these herbs are in the same small containers, I’m just going to use the whole thing.
Small container of lavender. When you open this bag the smell is amazing. By the way, I bought 1 pound of dried lavender and it’s huge. I’m glad I got the resealable one. And small container of comfrey.
Put 2 quarts or 8 cups of water on heat. I separated the herbs and mixed them. Then I stuffed them in a bag for steeping. I’m using a turkey stuffing bag. It looks like a long sock. You can also use muslin bag or wrap it in a cheesecloth.
Mix all the herbs. I moved the knot higher so I can spread them out and it will steep better. Put it in a hot water and seep for at least 20 minutes covered.
When it’s ready, mix it in the bath tub. This is when I realized maybe this is too big but oh well. This is the color of bath water that I enjoyed.
I slept really good that night and I felt my muscles were definitely looser. As expected, I didn’t see any drastic change on my skin just from one bath but I just loved the smell. Even when I was steeping it in the kitchen the smell was so nice. I can’t do it every day but I will definitely try this again maybe with half the amount of herbs that I used.
Btw, there weren’t many posts about this bath recipe on the internet so I researched it in Japanese too. I was also looking for the original recipe for the beauty cream possibly in French and someone commented on the other video that the original recipes for both the beauty cream and the bath are said to be included in this book called “La Parfumeur Imperial.”
I found the book online but since I don’t speak French, I spent hours Google-translating this 400+ page book one page at a time like this but I couldn’t find them. If I did it right there was only one mention of Ninon in a sentence that says This water can also be used successfully like the one of the Ninon de L’Enclos on page 349. Oh well. I tried.
Finally, wash your bathtub right away because these herbs have tannins and it can stain your bathtub like this.
Thanks for watching. I’ll see you back next week. Make it a great week. Feel free to comment below and please don’t forget to subscribe.
Massage Monday #430 – Ninon’s Herbal Bath Recipe http://bit.ly/mm-430