Meet the New Floral Oil That Will Radically Change Your Skin

It’s easy to be a skeptic in the beauty world, where every ingredient is prefaced by the word It and every berry called a “super.” But once in a while, something comes along that holds people’s attention for a little longer—where the blend of efficacy and sheer visual impact sets it a cut above the rest. Case in point: the startlingly aquamarine floral oil called blue tansy. Distilled from a North African flower (its nickname is Moroccan chamomile), the raw material has become a favorite among small-batch skin-care makers—and not just because it looks like it splashed out of a David Hockney pool painting.

May Lindstrom, founder of a namesake Los Angeles–based line, says the floral oil was under the radar when she first came across it in a botanical book about a decade ago, but its inflammation-taming properties piqued her interest as someone who has long battled flare-ups of eczema and dermatitis. When formulating her products, she incorporated the ingredient into her topaz-color face balm, The Blue Cocoon. Nourishing for everyday use and “medicine,” Lindstrom says, for those with sensitive skin, the balm also passes along blue tansy’s reported aromatherapeutic benefits: “What it does for the outside, it does for the inside. It’s anti-anxiety for your skin,” she says.

Julia Wills and Alex Kummerow, the couple behind Seattle’s Herbivore Botanicals, sought out “ingredients that would be balancing, anti-inflammatory, and still hydrating,” recalls Wills, who, given her combination skin, made a particularly good test subject for blue tansy. It wound up being the standout component in the line’s Lapis face oil. Blue tansy also lends its name—and soothing qualities—to the brand’s gentle resurfacing mask.

Between the season’s muggy outdoor air and drying blasts of air conditioning, blue tansy’s equilibrating effects might prove to be just what your summer skin is looking for—and when vacation is in the rearview mirror, those relaxing vibes promise to come in handy, too. Here, eight ways to incorporate the flower into your routine.

 

 

 

The post Meet the New Floral Oil That Will Radically Change Your Skin appeared first on Vogue.