By Sarena-Rae Santos, Natural Health Blogger
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.
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.
Health Benefits of Calendula
If you read our Calendula Herbal Profile, 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)
Learn more about the benefits of calendula with our calendula herbal profile here.
Simple Calendula Salve
Ingredients & Materials:
- 1 ½ cups of organic olive oil (or other liquid carrier oil of choice)
- 1 cup of fresh or dried calendula flowers (I used these)
- 1/4 cup of beeswax (I used this)
- 36-144 drops of Earthley’s Skin and Scalp Essential Oil Blend (36 drops is 0.5% dilution, and 144 drops is 2% dilution)
- 2 mason jars
- Wooden utensil (for stirring)
- Cheesecloth
- 12 oz. container to put your salve in (I used 3 of these)
Directions:
Step 1: Place the calendula flowers in a mason jar, and completely cover the calendula flowers with olive oil before securing the lid on the jar.
Step 2: Get a pot and fill it with water before placing your mason jar into the water (the water should cover ¾ of the mason jar) for a proper infusion.
Step 3: 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.
Step 4: When the oil is infused, it should be a more golden/orange color. When it has reached that color, remove it from the heat.
Step 5: 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.
Step 6: 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.
Step 7: 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.
Step 8: 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.
Disclaimer: This post is not intended as medical advice. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and nothing in this post is intended to diagnose, treat, or cure anything. If you have questions, please do your own research or seek advice from a health professional.
I recently ordered calendula herbal oil from Mountain Rose Herbs. I’m new to making herbal remedies, so I’m assuming that means if I were to make this, I would simply skip the first part of the directions? If so, exactly how much of the oil would I need to use with a 1/4 cup of beeswax?
Could you add an essential oil to it as well (for smell as well as any healing properties)?
Could I substitute organic coconut oil for the olive oil?
Can you do this in a crockpot (put the jar in that) instead of in a pot on the stove? Would I do high or low for the temperature? Thanks!