What are the benefits of washing your face with mugwort?

Artemisia is a plant of the Asteraceae family. Artemisia is actually also called mugwort. This plant is widely distributed in China and can be found in most places. It is worth mentioning that Artemisia has a wide range of medicinal value. For example, during the Dragon Boat Festival every year, people will pick Artemisia argyi and put it at home, which can play a role in warding off evil spirits. In the future, you can use Artemisia argyi to wash your face, which is also good for the skin.

What are the benefits of washing your face with mugwort?

Boil a bowl of water with mugwort, and there will be some pure mugwort essential oil in the water. The main effects of mugwort essential oil are regulating qi and blood, warming the meridians, removing cold and dampness, relieving pain, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, stimulating the digestive glands, suppressing cough and reducing phlegm, promoting circulation, and replenishing qi. Since it has "antibacterial and anti-inflammatory" effects, it has a very good effect of relieving itching and dandruff. The key point is that it does not damage the hair and scalp.

In the early stage, wash your hair with mugwort water about 3 times a week; when the itching and dandruff are gone, you can wash your hair 1-2 times a week. This is very good for the maintenance of the entire scalp and hair. After washing your hair with mugwort once, the scalp will basically stop itching; if you wash your hair 3 times, the dandruff will basically disappear; if you persist for 3 months, it seems that there are more and more hair, and the headaches that you used to suffer from frequently are also much better!

How to wash your hair with mugwort

Step 1: Boil a bowl of mugwort water with dried mugwort. The thicker the better.

Step 2: Wet your entire scalp with mugwort water, then wrap your hair with a towel and let the mugwort water remain on your scalp for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Rinse with shampoo or warm water.

Step 4: Use your fingers to comb your hair 100 times.

Effects and functions of wormwood:

It is actually divided into two parts. "Acupuncture" means pricking the acupuncture points with a needle, while "moxibustion" means using burning mugwort to fumigate and burn the acupuncture points. The acupuncture points are certainly stimulated by the heat, but not all paper or grass that can be burned can be used for "moxibustion". The smell of the wormwood must have played a role as well.

When Chinese people use cupping to treat rheumatism, the effect is better when using mugwort as fuel. Mugwort is bitter, pungent and warm in nature, and enters the spleen, liver and kidneys. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: Mugwort leaves are used as medicine, which are warm in nature, bitter in taste, non-toxic, purely yang in nature, and can pass through the twelve meridians. It has the effects of restoring yang, regulating qi and blood, expelling dampness and cold, stopping bleeding and stabilizing the fetus, and is also commonly used in acupuncture. Therefore, it is also called "medicinal herb". Most of the "herbal baths" that are popular in Taiwan use mugwort.

Regarding the properties of mugwort, "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Mugwort can cure all diseases." "Compendium of Materia Medica Congxin" says: "Mugwort is bitter and pungent, warm when raw, hot when cooked, and has a purely yang nature. It can restore the lost yang, connect the twelve meridians, run through the three yin meridians, regulate qi and blood, expel cold and dampness, warm the uterus... Using it for moxibustion can penetrate all meridians and cure all diseases." This shows that using mugwort as a moxibustion material has the effects of dredging blood vessels, eliminating yin and cold, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules, and restoring yang and rescuing from adverse conditions. Modern pharmacology has discovered that mugwort contains a lot of volatile oil, including 1.8-cineole (accounting for more than 50%), and others include α-thujone, sesquiterpene alcohols and their esters. The air-dried leaves contain 10.13% minerals, 2.59% fat, 25.85% protein, and vitamins A, B1, B2, C, etc. When using moxa leaves for moxibustion, generally speaking, the older the leaves, the better. Hence, there is a saying that “a seven-year illness requires three years of treatment with moxa” (Mencius).