Zhen Zhu | 珍珠

Pearls.  Those precious ivory colored orbs that are the amazing result of an irritating grain of sand.  Pearl powder is one of the ingredients in our *new* {Pearl + Berry Face Mask} and an herb that I have been fascinated with since learning about it 2 years ago.  In Chinese herbalism pearls are known as zhēn zhū  and when used internally have an affinity to the Heart and Liver channels.  They help calm the shen, quiet the spirit and settle internal wind through calming the Liver.  They are cold, sweet and salty in nature.  Pearls are thought to capture the essence of the moonlight and as such are quite yin in nature and this is what helps them be so calming and grounding while helping with sleep.  

Pearls are really interesting in that they are also used in external therapies to reduce scaring after injury.  Pearl powder can be mixed with saliva (indeed) or lemon juice and applied to relatively new scars to promote healing and reduce scarring.  I LOVE external therapies, and am completely smitten with this herb.  There are for sure other ways to help reduce scaring (I'll be sharing a scar cream with you in the future that uses artisan black vinegar and several Chinese herbs that ferment together for some time before forming a salve) but this is a super easy and interesting method.  

The pearl powder in our face mask is from fresh water pearls and is used to help the skin heal and repair itself; it's full of antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes that help it do this.  Our pearl powder is sourced from Moon Juice in California, and has been levigated (very finely powdered using a wet grinding process).