Is there anyone who doesn’t like beautiful, tender daisy flowers popping up everywhere in the world – except Antarctica – every year once the snow begins to thaw? Not only are they a fitting decoration for little girls’ and hippies’ headbands; they can also be used as a great herbal ingredient for homemade natural cosmetic preparations. We are going to show you how to use them, but first …
A few facts …
The common daisy grows on meadows and pastures at a wide range of altitudes from valleys to mountain slopes. I
t is a perennial plant with rosettes of small rounded or spoon-shaped leaves that grow flat to the ground. In some places it may start to bloom in late winter, but generally it blooms from early to mid summer, although when grown under ideal conditions it has a very long flowering season and will even produce a few flowers in the middle of mild winters.
In medieval times the daisy was considered a universal cure and was used extensively. Active chemicals contained in daisies include mainly saponins, bitter agents, slime, tannins, organic acids, and flavonoids, plus vitamin C, found mainly in the leaves.
Picking the plant
The daisy-picking season begins in early spring and ends in mid fall. Flower heads not in full blossom with a stalk up to 2 cm (0.8 inches) are dried in an airy place or in a room temperature under 40°C (104ºF). Leaves should be eaten raw because of their high vitamin C content, especially in the spring months. 
That is why daisy is used along with other wild growing herbs as a tasty ingredient in salads.
Using the plant
Tea made from daisy flowers is primarily used to get the throat rid of excessive phlegm. Less known is its blood purifying effect, and for this purpose I suggest that you use common daisy in combination with nettle, as daisy adds a better taste to nettle, which some people find unpleasant-tasting.
Common daisy is also used in cosmetics, mainly as an oily maceration made from dried daisy flowers and oil.
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