Natural Beauty with Chamomile

Chamomile Daisies

This is the year to celebrate chamomile — it was name “Herb of the Year” by The International Herb Association. I have been growing a small patch in my own garden and this month am also offering a workshop at The Sherman Library and Gardens in Corona Del Mar, California. Here is the link if you would like to join me on August 14: click here

Every garden should have a small patch of chamomile growing somewhere. It is a great companion plant helping other plants thrive and grow around it. An old belief is that chamomile was the garden’s doctor. When planted near sick or dying plants, it seemed to cure them and make them grow again. It also can be used in body care products keeping your skin and hair naturally healthy and beautiful.

Janice Cox with the 2025 Herb of the Year Book on Chamomile

I was lucky to be a contributor to this year’s Herb of the Year book published by the IHA if you would like a copy message me and I will send you the link. I also may have a few extra copies here at home. Here are some of the recipes from that book for you to enjoy:

Super Highlighting Hair Rinse

This recipe uses two popular and powerful natural hair highlighting ingredients into one super solution. Chamomile tea brewed fresh from the garden is an old folk recipe for keeping your hair light in color. Lemon juice is what many of us grew up using to add subtle highlights to your hair when outside in the sun. Combined into a hair rinse that can be combed or sprayed on your hair is a natural way to lighten and highlight your hair. This treatment can be drying if used over time so you will want to make sure you condition your hair if needed.

Yield: 8 ounces

1 cup strong chamomile tea

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients and stir well. Pour into a clean bottle with a tight-fitting lid.

To use: Spray or comb through damp hair before going outside.  The sun’s rays will highlight and lighten your hair over time.

German Chamomile Tea Soother

In Germany, chamomile daisies grow in almost every garden, there is a phrase for this well-loved herb in that country – alles zutrat, meaning “capable of anything.” In fact, around the world chamomile is often referred to as the “physician’s plant” because it has so many health applications. This aromatic herb has strong anti inflammatory and disinfecting qualities and is also soothing to wind chapped or sunburned skin. This recipe will soothe and calm your complexion and can be made as easily as a cup of tea.

Yield: 8 ounces

In a ceramic or glass container, pour the boiling water over the chamomile and allow it to steep for at least three hours. Strain out the flowers and pour the resulting liquid into a clean container with with a tight-fitting lid. To use: Apply to clean skin with a clean cotton pad, or spray on skin do not rinse off.

Chamomile Tub Tea

Nothing could be easier than creating a bath of your favorite herbal tea blend. I like to envision my bathtub as one giant teapot with myself floating inside. Bathing in the soothing water and sipping a cup of chamomile or my favorite tea blend is a wonderful way to relax and unwind. I simply fill a large tea ball or muslin bag with a a combination of dried herbs and hand it under my bath spout, as I fill the tub. If you want an even easier method just tie 4-5 tea bags under the waterspout or your shower head. Here are the combinations I like to use:

Yield: 1 -2 ounces

Stimulating: rosemary, lavender, chamomile, peppermint

Relaxing: chamomile, rose petals, lavender, elderflower

Cleansing: sage, thyme, parsley, chamomile

Refreshing: basil, chamomile, lemon balm, mint

 Mix the desired herbs. For a full tub you will need a total of 1 /4 cup, for a shower sack 2 Tablespoons. Hang under the waterspout as you run your bath or shower, letting the water flower through it. Gently squeeze your tea bag or allow the tea ball to float in the bath as you bathe. Some people also use the muslin bags as a scrub sack to cleanse and refresh the skin. After bathing discard or compost your herbs.

Calming Massage Oil

This is an easy infused oil to create and is full of rich oils and relaxing herbs. It would be perfect for after bath or used as a massage oil to soothe tired muscle and calm your mind.

It is important to note when making infused oils you want to use only dried herbs and flowers. Fresh plant material can introduce moisture into your product that could spoil your oil and cause bacteria to grow.

Yield: 5 ounces

1 Tablespoon dried lavender flowers

1 Tablespoon dried chamomile daisies

1 /2 Tablespoon dried geranium leaves

1 /2 cup grape-seed oil

1 Tablespoon apricot kernel oil

2 Tablespoons light sesame oil

1 /2 teaspoon vitamin E oil

Place the dried herbs inside a clean, dry bottle. Pour the grapeseed, apricot kernel, sesame, and vitamin E oils over them. Cover the opening and shake the contents gently. Let the mixture sit for one to two weeks. Strain through paper coffee filters and store in a clean bottle with a tight-fitting lid.

To use: Massage a small amount into your skin. This oil may also be added to your bath or used when making creams or lotion bars.

Children’s Peter Rabbit Bath

We are all familiar with Beatrix Potter’s tale of naughty Peter Rabbit who just could not keep out of Mr. MacGregor’s Garden. At the end of the tale, Peter’s mom gives him a cup of chamomile tea and sends him to bed. She is truly a wise mother as a good night’s rest was just what her little bunny needed. Make up a batch of this chamomile bath for your own little ones.

Yield: 16 ounces

1 /2  cup dried chamomile flowers

2 cups oatmeal

1 /2 cup cornstarch

Place all the ingredients inside a food processor or blender. Grind until you have a smooth, fine powder. The powder should have the consistency of whole grain flower. Pour into a clean, airtight container or use a resealable plastic bag.

To use: Pour 1 /2 cup into your bath as you fill the tub, or place inside a muslin tea bag and hang under the flowing water.

Janice Cox is a garden writer and natural beauty expert. She is the author of Beautiful Flowers, Beautiful Lavender, Beautiful Luffa, Natural Beauty at Home, Natural Beauty from the Garden, Natural Beauty for All Seasons and the newly released Natural Beauty at Home Handbook. She was the beauty editor for Herb Quarterly Magazine for more than twenty years and the education chair for The Herb Society of America. She is a member of The International Herb Association. Mrs Cox loves working with plants and using them in culinary, crafting and wellness projects.  Some of her favorite flowers are Roses, Calendula, Lavender, and Chamomile