Plants are Perfect. “Any plant that is being vilified or demonized is being misused.” When I hear someone write-off a plant as negative or harmful, I sometimes take it personally - as if my own family is being trash-talked on the internet, by someone who has never actually met them. PUFAs, essential oils, lavender, beeswax, shea butter, sesame, rosehip, lipid oils in general, phytoestrogens - any phytochemical. In reality, I have heard them all be vilified over the years. Much of what we are exposed to has been so manipulated by the human mind that it is barely recognizably as Nature any longer. What do I mean by this? Your avocado and coconut shampoo, the wheat in your crackers, or the raspberry flavoring in your tea. As a society, we do so much to Nature and these “natural ingredients” to make them more palatable. Easier to use, less earthy, more sudsy, smoother texture, prettier to look at - we do anything and everything to manipulate Nature to make it into something our minds perceive as improved. After all that manipulating, it is common to blame Nature and the plants themselves when we have a reaction to something “natural” - when in reality, we might need to be blaming the manipulation. Another thing I commonly see is, folks encountering real whole raw plants for the first time and their body or skin see it as a foreign substance. Most of us are so disconnected from Nature, that it’s hard to know what is truly natural versus not natural when it’s right in front of our faces. At Laurel Skin, our primary job is to alter Nature as little as possible. We let the wisdom of Mother Earth lead the way, and everything else falls in line. We have a lot of damage to undo: to ourselves and to every industry, including beauty and nutrition. So, before we jump towards the vilification of a plant, let's first ask: Am I using this plant as Nature intended? Curious about PUFAs specifically and how they fit into this conversation? Watch my Herbal Wisdom IG Highlight for a whole spotlight of me providing more information on the commonly vilified PUFAs! xo Laurel Image @trinetteandchris