Homemade Calendula Salve
Updated: 4 days ago
The perfect recipe for getting you hooked on making your own herbal remedies. It is a simple salve combining olive oil, calendula, and beeswax. The combination of ingredients creates a solidified ointment with healing and soothing properties for all occasions.
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If you read my article, Benefits of Calendula, you'd know calendula has been used internally and topically for centuries to heal wounds, burns, and rashes. Still, it does so much more, including but not limited to the following:
Rich in antioxidants (1)
Spasmolytic and spasmogenic properties (2)
Antiviral properties (3)
Antifungal properties (4)
May promote wound healing (5)
May improve skin health (6)
May support heart health (7)
May support oral health (8)
Anticancer properties (9)
You may wonder how you could get these benefits, and the simple answer is a calendula slave.
This recipe is perfect for getting you hooked on making your own herbal remedies. It is a simple salve combining oil, calendula, and beeswax. The combination of ingredients creates a solidified ointment with healing and soothing properties for all occasions.
The wonderful part about this salve is the potential to customize it with essential oils. Personally, I added Earthley's Skin and Scalp Essential Oil Blend at a 1% dilution (72 drops) to help heal some old surgical scars. Earthley combined the citrusy notes of geranium and Neroli with the richness of sandalwood to create this therapeutic essential oil blend that encourages soothing and healing. When used topically, this blend can help repair dry or damaged skin, soothe a dry scalp, and reduce redness. This blend is also calming, relaxing, and not heavily scented. This essential oil blend has a 0.5% and 2% dilution recommendation (36 drops = 0.5% dilution, and 144 drops = 2% dilution).
If you are not entirely ready to make your own, or if you need something similar until your materials come in, Earthley's All-Purpose Salve is a great option. All-Purpose Salve is the perfect remedy for minor scrapes, cuts, rashes, burns, and more. Safe for all ages, this multi-purpose salve stick is a must-have for any family.
Other Essential Oils You Can Add
I recommend avoiding essential oils known to cause photosensitivity, like angelica root, bergamot, orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime, and mandarin. Instead, I recommend the following essential oils commonly used for skin health:
Blue Tansy is one of our precious oils. Blue Tansy possesses a complex, herbaceous aroma with sweet, apple-like undertones. This essential oil is best known for its anti-inflammatory properties, making it the perfect go-to when those pesky allergy seasons roll through. On top of its respiratory benefits, use this to help soothe troubled or irritated skin. Emotionally, Blue Tansy supports high self-esteem and boosts confidence.
Geranium Egyptian is a marvelous skin-balancing oil that can improve skin complexion. It is known for its beneficial effects on women's reproductive health and can help ease the tension associated with the stress of daily life. It is uplifting and gentle.
Helichrysum Italicum is used to reduce the appearance of scars, wrinkles, or other skin blemishes on the face or body. Organic Helichrysum Italicum supports the body through post-illness fatigue and convalescence, mainly by boosting normal immune function. Organic Helichrysum Italicum oil is believed to soothe deep emotions and diffuse anger and destructive feelings.
Lavender is perhaps the most well-known of the essential oils, and for a good reason. Lavender essential oil is renowned for its many beneficial properties, including promoting calm and relaxation and being a nervous tension reliever. It can also be added to a carrier oil to help reduce the appearance of scars and wrinkles and help soothe alterations in skin integrity, such as during sun exposure or a minor cooking burn.
Neroli is the perfect essential oil for when you need a break from the world. It is one of the most comforting and effective essential oils when dealing with grief, nervous tension, or exhaustion. Neroli is often used in skincare preparations to promote a healthy complexion. Adding Neroli to a lotion or carrier oil can help reduce the appearance of scarring, wrinkles, and blemishes, all while minimizing the look of pores and supporting new cell growth.
Rose Absolute is extremely useful in skin rejuvenation, as Rose oil counteracts the visible signs of aging, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and helping smooth skin. Rose Absolute is also reputed to help with the "power surges" suffered by many women going through the normal change of life.
Tea Tree is one of the world's best-known and beloved essential oils. It is known to have remarkable effects on irritated skin by helping to ease redness and restore smoothness. Other popular uses include helping to combat skin blemishes and soothing skin that has been overexposed in the sun.
Homemade Calendula Salve
Ingredients & Materials:
1/2 cups of organic olive oil
1/3 cup of fresh or dried calendula flowers
1.5 tbsp. of beeswax or candelilla wax
36-144 drops of Earthley's Skin and Scalp Essential Oil Blend or other essential oil
2 mason jars (I used these)
Wooden utensil (for stirring)
Canning jar lifter (I have the Norpro Canning Jar Lifter)
Cheesecloth (I used this)
4 oz. container to put your salve in (I used this)
Directions:
Gather your ingredients (preferably organic) and materials: olive oil, dried calendula flowers, beeswax or candelilla wax, essential oil of choice (optional), 2 mason jars, wooden utensil (for stirring), cheesecloth, and a storage container.
After you've gathered the ingredients, place the calendula flowers in a mason jar and completely cover the calendula flowers with olive oil before securing the lid on the jar.
After securing the lid of the jar, get a pot and fill it with water before placing your mason jar into the water (the water should cover 3/4 of the mason jar) for a proper double broiler infusion.
To prepare for the heat infusion, heat the water to a light simmer and let the oil infuse in the heat for 1-2 hours. You can start with medium heat and then drop to a low simmer when it starts to bubble the slightest (anything hotter may cause the glass to explode). Be sure to check the water level every 15 minutes and add water to the pot as necessary.
When the oil is infused, it should be a more golden/orange color. When it has reached that color, remove it from the heat.
After removing the infusion from the heat, strain the infusion through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into another glass mason jar. Be sure to squeeze all the oil from the calendula flowers.
After straining your infusion, pour out some of the water in the pot from the infusion process leaving enough to cover approximately half of the mason jar preparing for the melting process.
Add the beeswax to the oil infusion and put it back on the stovetop in the water to melt the beeswax, occasionally mixing with a wooden utensil.
When the beeswax is completely melted, pour it into the container of your choice. Let the salve cool, and use it for any skin issues your family might be experiencing.