The plant everyone avoids touching is, dried or as an extract, one of the most nourishing herbs of the European tradition.

What is nettle?

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is a perennial herb of the Urticaceae family that grows in rich, damp soil all over Europe. Its leaves are covered in hollow hairs that break at a touch and release histamine and formic acid — the familiar “sting”, which disappears on boiling, drying or extraction. The leaves are exceptionally rich in minerals (silicon, iron, calcium, potassium), chlorophyll, vitamins A, C and K, flavonoids (quercetin) and caffeic acid. Cosmetics use the extract and the dried leaves.

What are the benefits of nettle?

Nettle is the traditional scalp and hair herb across Europe. Applied topically it:

• Cleanses and tones the scalp
• Has a mildly astringent action, suited to oiliness
• Offers silicon and trace elements
• Provides flavonoids with antioxidant activity
• Helps hair look stronger and shinier

The herb that clothes and feeds

Cloth was woven from nettle fibre as early as the Bronze Age, and in the First World War German uniforms were sewn from nettle fabric when cotton ran out. In the kitchen it is cooked like spinach, and in herbal tradition its infusion is the classic spring “cleanser”. A nettle hair rinse is among the oldest beauty recipes of the European countryside.

Where does it come from?

Nettle is native to Europe and temperate Asia and now grows on every continent. In Greece it is found wild in ravines and mountain meadows; the extract for cosmetic use is produced mainly in France, Germany and the Balkans.