Flower Power

A little flower native to Morocco is making a big mark on the natural skincare world, with its deep blue hue and skin-soothing properties.

- Shannon Dunn

Beauty trends come and go. What is deemed the hottest ingredient one moment is soon surpassed by another that’s said to be even better. However, the latest star of the skincare industry, blue tansy (Tanacetum annuum), looks set to become a mainstay due to its ability to calm inflamed skin — and emotions.

For the skin, its anti-microbial, antifungal and anti-allergenic properties are making it a go-to flower for those suffering from inflamed conditions such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. For the emotions, blue tansy is, in fact, from the chamomile family (think Roman and German chamomile), so you can expect it to be calming; yet its sweet smell is also uplifting.

Sometimes called “Moroccan chamomile” or “Moroccan tansy”, the essential oil extracted from it is at the centre of all the fuss. The steam distillation process, which extracts the revered oil from the plant’s leaves, yellow flowers and stems, produces a rich, cobalt blue.

That deep blue hue

While chamazulene is an aromatic chemical compound that gives all chamomile oils their colours, the plant itself doesn’t contain it — it’s only formed through the steam distillation process, which is why the blue tansy plant isn’t actually blue. A sesquiterpene compound called matricin, found naturally in the aerial parts of chamomile plants, goes through a reaction when it’s in the presence of water vapour at high temperatures. The “reaction product” is chamazulene, resulting in the deep blue hue.