Ingredients With A Purpose: Blue Tansy. Why Your Brain and Your Skin Love It.

February 19, 2019 3 min read

Blue tansy benefits for skin and aromatherapy yellow bird blog

You may have heard of the beautiful blue tansy oil, but have no idea why it's blue, why it's in skin care, and what it's supposed to do. So this post is ALL for you. We will talk about what it is (and why it's actually blue), why our brains love it, why our skin loves it, and how to best use it. Let's get started.

The Skinny: What is Blue Tansy Oil and how is it derived?

Also commonly referred to as Moroccan Blue Chamomile or Blue Chamomile, Blue Tansy oil is derived through steam distillation from the yellow, not blue-hued (strange, right?) Tanacetum annuum plant. Growing as a weed primarily in France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco.


So if the blue tansy plant is yellow, where does the blue come from? Great question! The rich, blue-hue is all thanks to the chamazulene organic content in the plant, which is derived during the steam distillation process. And let me just tell you, if you’ve never smelled this oil, it is a beautiful balance of herbaceous and sweet-- in fact the aromatherapy benefits of the oil are relaxation and inflammation.

A quick note on aromatherapy and how it works:

Aromatherapy can be somewhat of a confusing topic. Basically, when you inhale a fragrance through your nose you are inhaling physical molecules. They go to your olfactory system in the brain and that's the part of your brain that manages smell. These molecules that go into the nose and mouth when you breathe can also travel from there to other parts of your body.

When the molecules reach the brain they can affect your limbic system which is connected to emotions, motivation, blood pressure, memory, stress, and hormone balance (since the limbic system helps tell your body how to react). This is why the scent of products matters, and why we use very specific essential oils. So what we interpret as the actual scent of the blue tansy does in fact play a specific role in helping your body. If you want to read more on how smells and the brain work, check out this article.

Fun Fact: Our sense of smell is is the only place where our central nervous system is directly connected to the environment.

The Good Stuff: What do the ingredients in Blue Tansy oil do for my skin?

One of the key benefits of Blue Tansy is that it is both gentle and calming, making it ideal even for people with sensitive skin. Abundant in antioxidants, and highly anti-inflammatory, Blue Tansy has the same relaxing effect on the nervous system as most chamomiles, while helping to balance your endocrine system. Having a balanced endocrine system is key to managing oxidative stress in the body. When you have high oxidative stress, this awakens your body’s inflammatory response, which can result in outer manifestations like eczema, rosacea, dermatitis, and psoriasis. Also because of the antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of blue tansy this also helps fight bacteria on your skin and soothe any visible redness. Blue Tansy is soothing for your skin and for your nervous system. This is why your skin AND brain love it. I personally love that this can help soothe irritations on the surface while also helping calm the nervous system.

If you have known or suspected allergies to chamomile, I can only recommend you do a patch test to make sure you’re all good before going all in!


The Next Step: Reap the benefits of Blue Tansy oil

To reap the full benefits of Blue Tansy oil, you should make sure you’re using products with actual blue tansy, not blue chamomile or other oils known to be imposters!

We created our best selling Blue Tansy Face Oil with the blue tansy as a cornerstone ingredient for all of the reasons listed above. You can find our Blue Tansy Face Oil here or on Amazon. We also have a newer Blue Tansy Face Mask! I personally use blue tansy daily. (And I like to use it before bed to help soothe my skin from a full day and to help calm my mind and body.) 



Nicole P
Nicole P



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