The Benefits of Wild Nettle in Skincare: A Powerhouse for Calm, Clear Skin

We couldn’t resist extolling the virtues of the tiny but mighty, punchy packhorse of the weed world - Urtica Dioica, or to you and I, the stinging nettle! At this time of the year nettles popup everywhere, voraciously growing on roadsides, flower beds, riverbanks and field edges. 

Despite their somewhat tetchy reputation, the plant is actually good for humans in a number of ways. 

Therapeutic use of nettles is recorded as far back as the bronze age and this ancient knowledge is still valued and relevant today. Aside from their presence in herbal supplements, nettles can be used in a plethora of other forms such as food, clothing, medicine and (to our delight) skincare! 

Urtica Dioica is often overlooked, but this mighty little plant is packed with skin-loving properties. Nettles in skincare are making a well-deserved comeback. From herbal teas to textiles, and now, high-performance beauty formulations, nettles are more than just a garden nuisance. Here's why they're becoming a go-to ingredient in natural skincare.

At Raven Botanicals, we love nettles in skincare formulations for their unparalleled ability to balance and heal. You'll find this powerhouse herb in formulas designed to calm, clarify and nourish the skin - especially in our Rescue Serum - the "silver bullet" for stressed, sensitised or blemish-prone skin. This formula combines ancient plant knowledge with modern botanical science to deliver results you can see and feel.

Nettles aren’t just good for your skin, they have deep roots in folklore! Nettles feature widely in mythical folklore around the world and have long been recognised for their nutritional bounty as well as their sting. Our forebears were a suspicious lot and nettle is steeped in lots of interesting myths and lore!

1. Mystical Roots of the Nettle

For centuries, nettles have carried a dual identity: feared for their sting, but revered for their power. Across Europe, they were thought to ward off evil spirits, illness, and even lightning. In Norse legend, nettles were sacred to Thor, and burned in the fireplace to protect homes during thunderstorms. In folk healing, nettles were pulled from the ground with whispered chants to draw sickness away from the body.

2. The Witch’s Herb

Known in old English herbals as the “witch’s herb,” nettle was believed to hold protective magic. Carried in a pouch or tucked into clothing, it was said to shield the bearer from hexes and curses. Some traditions tied bundles of nettle and yarrow above doorways to keep unwanted energies out. This protective nature carries through into its modern skincare use — shielding sensitive skin from stress, irritation, and imbalance.

3. Nettle and the Wee Folk

In Celtic folklore, nettles were sometimes seen as markers of fairy paths or burial sites of the “wee folk.” If nettles grew in a ring or circle, people would opt to walk around rather than through it - out of respect for mystical beings. Others believed the plant was gifted to humans by woodland spirits, its sting a reminder  to tread lightly on the land. 

4. A Plant of Purification and Power

Nettle was often used in old cleansing rituals — swept across thresholds, stirred into bathwater, or steeped as a tonic to “cleanse the blood.” Its sting was thought to awaken the body’s natural defences and drive out stagnation, both physical and spiritual. In this way, nettle became more than a weed, it was a symbol of  renewal. Today, its purifying energy is harnessed in skincare to detoxify, refresh, and rebalance the skin.

It’s clear this spiky herb has long been held in reverence, and where skincare is concerned, modern science now backs up at least some of what our ancestors believed!