Immortelle (Helichrysum)

A natural history

Immortelle is a silvery, golden flowered shrub of the dry Mediterranean scrub, most associated with Corsica, Sardinia, and the Balkans. Crush its leaves and you catch a warm, curry like scent that has nothing to do with the spice. For generations around the Mediterranean its flowering tops were steeped in oil and rubbed onto bruises, sprains, and tired skin, a staple of coastal folk care.

Its name says everything. Immortelle, the everlasting, earned the title because the small golden blooms hold their color and shape long after they are cut and dried, never appearing to fade or wilt. Bunches of them have decorated homes and shrines for centuries precisely because they seem, quietly, to last forever.

What it does for your skin

Immortelle is rich in antioxidant compounds, chief among them a molecule called arzanol. In laboratory studies on human skin cells, arzanol protected the cells from oxidative stress, which its researchers tied to cosmetic potential.^[1] Separate analysis of the plant's polyphenols, rich in quercetin type flavonoids, confirmed antioxidant and anti inflammatory activity in testing.^[2] In a formula it works as an antioxidant botanical that helps stressed, dull looking skin appear revived. The skin evidence so far is laboratory based.

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