Protect from the evil eye and strengthen health: Pskov herb doll in the RUSSIA EXPO Department Store

The Pskov herb doll by master Alla Fomchenko is not just a bright souvenir. A smart little girl in a dress made of chintz keeps the benefits and pleasant aroma of healing herbs for a long time, pleases the eye and attracts prosperity. You can choose such a unique fragrant amulet in the Department Store of the RUSSIA EXPO.

Even far away from Pskov the herb doll reminds you of its picturesque lands, shrouded in stories and legends. About ancient Izborsk, where the famous fortress rises, about the banks of the Velikaya River, where at the crossing Prince Igor met a peasant girl, the future Princess Olga — the first Christian ruler in Russia, about Lake Peipus, where the fateful for our history Ice Battle took place.

"It is in these historical places that the herbs for my dolls grow, and the idea to breathe new life into an ancient doll struck me in the house of Pushkin's nanny, in Mikhailovsky. I go in — and there is such a fragrance there! I raise my eyes: on a pole along the stove there are bunches of oregano, mint, St. John's wort, meadowsweet, melilot. I decided that these aromas should become the highlight of the Pskov herb doll," Alla Fomchenko shares her secrets.

It was not difficult for Alla Fomchenko to realize her idea. Being a biologist by education, the craftswoman knows perfectly well when to prepare herbs, how to dry them in order to preserve unique natural essential oils of plants.

Herb dolls, according to beliefs, served as guardians of the family hearth, warded off diseases and misfortunes, attracted prosperity to the house. Although the history of this doll goes back in time, it is still relevant today. Put such an herbalist in the headboard — and you'll have aromatherapy at home.

The dolls are about 10 centimeters high, weigh 18-20 grams, are made of chintz and filled with dried medicinal herbs of the Pskov region.  Oregano is good for colds, it is also a woman's herb. Meadowsweet is good for sclerosis, fatigue, belongs to the youthful herbs. Wormwood invigorates, reduces cravings for food, smoking, alcoholic beverages, gives male strength, sanitizes the air. According to beliefs, it helps to protect against evil people, the evil eye. Peppermint soothes and is good for insomnia.

Flavors of herbs are preserved from three to five years and have a beneficial effect on human well-being.  If you crumple the doll lightly from time to time, the dry herbs will again smell brightly on fresh breaks.

"If you brew grass, half of the vitamins are destroyed, and if you breathe it — all the natural phytoncides are yours!", specifies the craftswoman.  

Alla's creativity reshapes the world in its own way, strives to make it better, drawing in the cycle of her energy and talent a wider circle of fans. And the dolls? Dolls, although silently, actively help her in this, flying by the hundreds every year across Russia, near and far abroad. It is not by chance that the herb doll became a prize-winner of the IX All-Russian contest "Tourist Souvenir".

Now the Pskov herb doll is also presented in the Department Store at the RUSSIA EXPO.