The Power of Nature: Ingredient Highlight, Calendula

🌼 Calendula: Skin’s Golden Ally

Calendula Officinalis

June Ingredient Highlight – Old City Apothecary

There are herbs you grow because they’re useful… and then there are herbs you grow because they feel like family. For me, calendula is both.

Every spring, I tuck her seeds into the soil, and without fail, she rises… bright-faced and golden, like a little sun. I grow her intentionally, harvest her gently, and infuse her slowly into oils that become skin-loving staples in my apothecary.

Calendula isn’t just a pretty face. She’s been used by herbalists for centuries to help soothe the skin, calm inflammation, support healing, and encourage lymphatic movement. If you’ve ever used a salve, balm, or serum that made your skin feel better fast, there’s a good chance calendula was quietly doing the heavy lifting.

🌼 Wait… Isn’t Calendula Just Marigold?

It’s a common mix-up, but calendula (Calendula officinalis) is not the same as the bright marigolds you’ll find at your local garden center. Those are usually Tagetes species… gorgeous, yes, but primarily ornamental and not traditionally used in herbal medicine. Calendula, on the other hand, is the one herbalists reach for when the skin needs support. If you’ve ever thought about drying marigolds from your flower bed to make a salve, this is your gentle PSA: it’s calendula officinalis you’re looking for. And once you’ve worked with her golden petals, you’ll never go back.

🌿 Why Herbalists Love Calendula

Calendula is what I reach for when skin needs gentle repair. She’s mild enough for the most sensitive skin, but powerful enough to support deeper healing. Here’s why she’s earned her place in just about every herbalist’s apothecary:

• Skin-soothing: Redness, irritation, dryness, or reactivity… calendula brings calm without being heavy

• Wound-healing: Stimulates tissue repair and regeneration, which makes her ideal for cuts, scrapes, or chapped skin

• Anti-inflammatory: Her flavonoids and triterpenes help cool inflammation—whether from bug bites, sun exposure, or flare-ups

• Lymph-moving: Gently supports lymphatic flow, especially helpful for swelling or fluid stagnation

• Antimicrobial: Natural compounds discourage bacterial growth, which can support minor wound healing and skin balance

  
  

She’s also deeply nourishing. Calendula supports skin at a cellular level, helping it maintain resilience over time. I think of her as an herb that’s not just reactive… she’s proactive. And that’s something I value in every formula I create.

🌱 How Easy Is Calendula to Grow?

So easy. Truly. Calendula is an annual, but in my garden, she reseeds herself freely and often returns the next year without any coaxing. She’s hardy, drought-tolerant, and doesn’t need much fuss… just sun and a bit of well-drained soil. She even tolerates cooler temps and keeps blooming into early fall in many zones.

The trick to getting potent, resin-rich blooms is harvesting regularly. I pick her flowers every few days during peak bloom, and the more you harvest, the more she gives. I dry the blossoms whole, store them away from heat, light and infuse them into oil slowly for several weeks.

✨ Where You’ll Find Her in My Apothecary

At Old City Apothecary, I only use homegrown, solar-dried calendula… never powdered, never bulk-ordered. You’ll find her in:

• Hocus Pocus, our black drawing salve

• Awake, an herbal tea blend supporting the adrenal glands

• And now… in a formula I’ve been quietly using, testing, and falling in love with

🌞 Sunveil is coming soon.

Sunveil is an antioxidant-rich facial oil that combines calendula with astaxanthin—another powerhouse that I can’t wait to share more about. But for now… let’s just say calendula is stepping into a new spotlight.

With sunshine, skin-soothing care, and a little calendula gold,

—Sarah

Old City Apothecary