The linden blossoms, those delicate little marvels of golden yellow sunshine and incredible olfactory power, are finally in bloom. They are borne by over a hundred linden trees, almost two centuries old, whose branches are bending under the armfuls of flowers! A bountiful vintage, for the trees having suffered from water stress last summer and winter, they are reacting by producing even more flowers, and therefore fruit, to ensure their progeny in the event of such stress recurring. What fascinating plant intelligence!
Harvesting began at the end of June, entirely by hand. A centuries-old gesture on our family estate in the Dordogne, birthplace of TiL: reach into the tree, delicately grasp the barely-opened flowers, intoxicate yourself with their fragrance, and feel their fabulous soothing power… then repeat endlessly until you’ve filled your baskets with dozens of kilos, used fresh to restore all their molecular integrity. Because if you let them dry out, they lose much of their activity. Of course, it’s more complicated because as soon as they’re picked, they have to be frozen and then transported by refrigerated truck to the extraction site via biotechnology, but that’s the price of efficiency.
For at least a week, fifteen or so people pick everything within reach of their hands, then ladders, and climbers climb to the top of the trees to pick the inaccessible and make gold rain down to the ground…
A concentrate of benefits, linden blossoms make up our exclusive active ingredient, Tiliactiv4®,combined with leaves, buds and twigs. They are particularly rich in sugars (moisturizing polysaccharides) and flavonoids (antioxidants).
It’s astonishing how such graceful flowers can be endowed with such powers, and such a delicious fragrance, a real Proust’s madeleine for many! They release a nectar that bees love, foraging from morning to night. You can tell the tree is in bloom by the sound alone, and by the scent alone – a real feast for the senses!
The linden tree is sometimes called the “bee tree” because of the nectar it produces. The sugar-laden nectar drips onto the leaves, making them sticky. That’s how intense its moisturizing power is!
These flowers are used to their fullest in L’Huile Qui Enchante, a dry oil for face, body and hair. A true repairing and beautifying treatment, based on an oily macerate of silver linden flowers in camelina oil, accompanied by firming white lupin.
It sublimates, moisturizes, nourishes and regenerates, while exhaling a divine, floral, sensual and addictive fragrance. A joyful, comforting olfactory emotion that takes you down an avenue of linden trees in bloom.
Multi-purpose, this enchanting oil is an essential “Swiss army knife” in any summer suitcase:
– A repairing treatment, it works miracles on skin dried out by exposure to the sun, wind and sea.
– As a tan-enhancing treatment, it silkens the skin and restores its elasticity.
– As a hair care product, it works wonders on summer-damaged hair, leaving it supple, shiny and easy to comb. Leave on overnight, or 1 h before shampooing. Or add a few drops to conditioner. After drying, for a shiny finish.
– A fragrant treatment, it dresses skin and hair with a sunny, tender and luminous note.
Everything about the linden tree is edible, a tree of incredible abundance, but the flowers are particularly delicious in soothing herbal teas, especially when fresh: try an iced infusion of freshly picked linden flowers in summer, it’s a real treat!
But that’s not all: linden blossoms are a delicious addition to salads and desserts: creams, madeleines, cakes and shortbread. And the ultimate, the linden blossom jelly our grandmother used to make for our snacks, the famous jelly that inspired the incredible texture of our Gelée à Fleur de Peau cleansing and make-up-removing jelly.
We’d like to share the recipe with you – it’s so subtle and delicate, it’s sure to delight young and old alike:
Place the linden blossoms in a stewpot and cover with water.
Boil for 20 minutes, then leave to infuse for a quarter of an hour and strain.
Then add the sugar and lemon juice, boil while stirring and cook for 5 minutes, then add the agar agar and boil for 3 minutes.
Then fill your sterilized jars with boiling water, close them and turn them upside down.
The proportions for 6 jars are :
600 g linden blossoms
3 liters of water
800 to 1000 g sugar, depending on tastes
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons, depending on size
4 g agar agar, diluted in 4 tablespoons water
We’d love to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to send us your comments
If you have lots of flowers, you can also freeze them and use them all year round. They’ll have much more flavor than if you let them dry, and the effect is guaranteed!
These golden flowers blossom for just a few days each year, and are a rare and precious gift that we at TiL wait patiently for all year round to create our natural, ultra-effective and sensorial skin care products.
From our park to your skin…
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Til is a beauty and well-being brand for skin, body and mind made from the timeless holistic benefits of the Linden tree, harvested on our Dordogne family estate.
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