Commonly called lavender or English lavender formerly L. officinalis, it is a flowering plant native to the western Mediterranean, primarily the Pyrenees and other mountains in northern Spain. English lavender is commonly grown as an ornamental plant. It is popular for its colourful flowers and its fragrance. The flowers and leaves are used either in the form of lavender oil or as herbal tea.

Cosmetic use

Essential oils distilled from members of the genus Lavandula have been used both cosmetically and therapeutically for centuries. Lavender essential oil, when diluted with a carrier oil, is commonly used as a relaxant with massage. Lavender flower petals and oil are popular ingredients of handmade soap, lotions and eye pillows. In combination with other oils such as thyme, rosemary and cedar wood, it is used in alopecia areata or hair loss. One study showed evidence that this combination might improve hair growth by as much as 44% after seven months of treatment.

L. vera is primarily constituted of linalyl acetate and linalol.

Serenoa repens (Arecaceae, Palmae) Syn: Sabal serrulata

Commonly called saw palmetto, it is a small, scrubby dwarf palm tree native to North America and grows primarily along the Atlantic coast in Georgia and Florida. Saw palmetto berries were used by the American Indians to treat genitourinary tract conditions and also as a tonic for nutritional supplementation.

The active ingredients are believed to be found in the plant’s brown-black berries and in the form of an extract it is the most popular herbal treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia. It is also popular as an herbal remedy for a type of hair loss and baldness called androgenic alopecia, or male- and female-pattern baldness.

Cosmetic use

Saw palmetto extract has been suggested as a potential treatment for male pattern baldness. This type of hair loss is typically the greatest at the top of the head or around the temples. Much of saw palmetto’s popularity as a remedy for hair loss and baldness, however, is based on how it is believed to work rather than on evidence that it actually does. It is reported to inhibit 5-alpha reductase and is used in hair care gels, creams etc.

Saw palmetto berries contain 1.5% of pleasant-smelling oil constituted of 63% free fatty acids such as capric, caprylic, caproic, lauric, palmitic and oleic acids. Ethyl esters of these fatty acids, beta sitosterol and daucosterol are the other reported constituents of the oil. The berries are also comprised of carotenes, lipase, tannins and sugars.

The lipid-soluble components of the berries are extracted and purified, yielding the pharmacologically active portion of the oil. This medicinally used extract contains about 85% to 95% fatty acids and sterols. It is rich in fatty acids and phytosterols. A lipophilic extract of saw palmetto is being used clinically to treat benign hyperplasia.