What is certified organic young barley shoot hydrosol?
You probably have a general idea of what young barley shoots are. But if we talk about barley shoot hydrosol, things get more complicated.
No panic, hydrosol is just the technical term used in cosmetic jargon to refer to a form of floral water or plant water.
Note that this isn't juice obtained by pressing the plant. Otherwise, your eye patches would probably be green! Extracting this precious liquid is a bit more technical. But yes, we could have called it "barley shoot plant water."
And since you appreciate organic cosmetics, this is a good opportunity to talk to you about one of the most ancient methods of extracting active plant ingredients: steam distillation. Yes, biotechnology is great, but in many cases, we still use good old-fashioned, timeless, and undeniably effective techniques.
Let's start with a brief reminder of the principle of distillation.
Steam distillation is a highly valued extraction process in organic cosmetics because it doesn't require the use of solvents. This age-old method works simply with heat and a still. This apparatus, consisting of a series of containers, allows the different liquid components of a plant to be separated and then collected according to their boiling point.
If the plant contains aromatic compounds, you will obtain, on one hand, hydrosol (essentially the vapor once cooled and condensed) and, on the other hand, essential oil. Distilling rose petals, for example, will produce rose hydrosol or floral water as well as rose essential oil. This is therefore the meeting point between herbalism and aromatherapy !
The advantage of hydrosol is that it contains more of the plant's active ingredients than, for example, a traditional infusion method. However, it is much more diluted and therefore gentler on the skin than an essential oil.
That's why you can use floral or plant waters without moderation on your skin, whereas precautions are necessary with essential oils!
The benefits of barley grass in cosmetics
Young barley shoots, or barley grass, are considered a superfood. Barley is harvested before it begins to develop its seeds. The advantage of using the plant in its immature form is a greater richness in trace elements such as copper, potassium, manganese, and zinc . Barley grass also contains vitamins B, C, and E. We say, "It's all good stuff to revitalize the skin and help it rebalance its natural functions!"
Since the ears of grain haven't yet formed, we use the plant's tillers . Imagine grass with several blades growing from the same plant. It's the same principle, except that instead of blades of grass, we have mini-stems. Tillers are precisely these young shoots that grow from the initial seedling. They will form a kind of clump, as you can see in the photo. Not every stem will produce an ear of grain. The strongest will elongate, and the others will naturally regress. But in our case, this doesn't really matter since we'll harvest the plant before this stage of competition between tillers!
A gluten-free cereal whose hydrosol is present in our eye patches.
To be perfectly honest, we're a little hesitant to highlight "gluten-free" in the marketing of our eye patches . After all, there's very little risk that you might consider eating them after use (in fact, it's strongly discouraged). Therefore, we don't mention it in the product description.
However, it's an interesting topic for a blog. The debate remains open regarding the potential risks of gluten allergies in cosmetics. But for products used around and on the mouth, this is understandable.
Therefore, we could consider using the same hydrogel technology as for the Eye Patches, a mask for the lips.
Would you be interested?
Note:
If you'd like to try a remineralizing and revitalizing treatment with young barley shoot juice, you can find it in organic stores in a very convenient powder form that you can easily mix. And unlike the colorless, plant-based water version used in our patches, you'll be able to admire its beautiful green color. Yes, in addition to minerals and vitamins, this form also provides a good dose of antioxidant chlorophyll.
