Yarrow's botanical name, Achillea, comes from Achilles — legend has it he used the plant to stop his soldiers' bleeding on the battlefield. That's likely more myth than medicine, but yarrow really does have a documented, dual action that's unusual for a single plant.

The first is azulene, a strong anti-inflammatory compound. The second is tannins, which have an astringent effect — they tighten and calm skin on contact. Most plants do one of these well. Yarrow does both, which is why it works on skin that's inflamed and easily irritated at the same time, rather than just one or the other.

We forage yarrow by hand near Ottawa and slow-infuse it into oil. It's the main ingredient in our Wild Yarrow body butter, built for hands and skin that have been through wind, cold, or a long day of actual work.

We use yarrow topically only. If you've read elsewhere about yarrow tea or tinctures, that's a different use case with different considerations — not something we're going to weigh in on here.