DIY Gorse Under Eye Mask

If you are in the UK during lockdown you might have noticed that the air is filled with coconut peachy wonderfulness from all of the gorses that blankets the landscape. Gorse is a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family and is a native plant to western Europe and North Africa, it has these thick thorns that hurt like a mother when poked. In my research, Gorse doesn’t have any apparent medical properties but healers in the 1930’s thought that gorse could be a cure for people with feelings of “great hopelessness” and “despair” and Bach Flower Remedies wrote that “Gorse is for those who have suffered much and whose courage, as it were, has failed; who have lost the heart to try anymore.” If Gorse doesn’t help cure your hopelessness and despair during these unprecedented times then you should know that you can also make wine out of gorse but that is for another time.  

This coconut-vanilla-peachy-goodness is like liquid gold. I have been splashing some into my bath, I have been using it as a perfume and i’ve even froze the liquid in ice cubes to jazz up some sun tea.

Recipe 

1/2 cup gorse infuse water

2 chamomile tea bag

¼ cucumber 

20 cotton rounds

Reusable ziplock bags or Tupperware

Step 1: gorse infused water (1 litre of gorse flowers to 1litre of filtered water and let it sit in your fridge for 24-36 hours). Once infused you’ll strain the flowers out and compost them, or you could boil them to make a yellow dye to paint with. 

Step 2: Throw gorse water and tea bags into a small pan and slowly heat until it is hot (don’t bring it to a boil) and let It sit for 20-25 minutes. Squeeze the tea bags and toss the tea bags into the compost. 

Step 3: Blend gorse chamomile water and cucumber and place it in a shallow bowl.

Step 4: cut all-cotton round in half and cut the straight edge to make a crescent moon shape.

Step 5: soak cotton rounds in the mixture for 15-20 seconds. 

Step 6: lay flay in your reusable ziplock bag and try your best not to overlap the eye mask. 

Step 7: Store in your freezer!  

Step 8: pull a pair of under-eye masks whenever you want a little spa moment and let it thaw a little before placing under your eyes. 

Step 9: be completely cured of hopeless and despair!

I might make a separate account for this kind of content so let me know if you are interested in joining me on a naturalist guide to beauty and self-care! I am always on a journey to be more conscious of the things I put on my body and reducing my harm to the environment.

Cheers!