With spring approaching, it is the perfect time to renew and refresh our best and most beautiful selves. Our daily rituals and routines offer a luxurious moment of calm, self-love, and appreciation. And what we use to nourish ourselves externally has as much of an impact as what we use internally.
Herbal salves and infused oils provide a wonderful opportunity to deliver the benefits of herbs to our body’s largest organ, the skin.
As the seasons shift, our skin can often bear the brunt of it. Let your skin be deeply nourished and restored with this super herb-packed skin salve and bask in the glow that the power of plants provides.
This vibrant recipe was made to bottle the best of spring’s herbs for nutritive body care and as a celebration to the earth re-awakening.
This is a multistep recipe beginning with making your own herbal infused oil. If you have an herbal infused oil on hand that you want to use, skip to step #2. Otherwise, follow the steps below to make an infused oil rich with herbs to support healthy skin. You can keep the infused oil on-hand for all sorts of purposes like massages, baths, and salt scrubs, or you can continue on and turn it into a salve as we’ve done here in this recipe.
Wild Spring Infused Skin Salve
Makes about: 8 1-oz jars
Step 1: Making herbal infused oils
Materials needed:
- 8-10 tins or jars with lids: 1-2 oz sizes, depending on your preference
- Long wooden spoon
- Grater with large holes (for beeswax)
- Liquid measuring cup
- Double boiler (or makeshift double boiler)
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups dried herbs (We used equal parts dried calendula, red clover, plantain, and cleavers). We recommend using organically grown herbs, free of synthetic pesticides or herbicides.
- 2 cups organic olive oil (or other carrier oil of choice: jojoba, avocado, apricot, etc.)
If you are using your own freshly harvested herbs, they will need to be dried first to avoid the growth of any mold from the moisture of the plants. You can dry herbs in a dehydrator if you have one, or in an oven at low temperature (start at 120°F, then reduce to 100°F after a few hours) to dry them completely. It’s best to process the herbs before drying by removing any large stems or parts that need to be composted. Here’s more information on storing dried herbs.
Directions:
- Add water to the bottom pot of your double boiler until half full. Place herbs and oil into the top pot and place above.
- Once water is boiling, turn to low heat, and let the herbs and oils infuse for about 60 minutes.
- Take care to keep attended and not to get any water into your herbal oil.
- Once infused, pour the oil through a cheesecloth into a glass jar.
- Once drained, gather the cheesecloth with clean, dry hands and squeeze out the remaining oil, discard the herbs, and retain the oil.
- Store in a dry place for up to 6 months, or use as we have in this spring salve.
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup infused herbal oil
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1 oz beeswax
- Optional: 15-18 drops essential oils of your choice – we used geranium and orange essential oils for a fresh and grounded scent.
Directions:
- Add water to the bottom pot of your double boiler, and then pour your infused oil into the top pot and place above. You can also create a makeshift double boiler if you don’t have one. The main goal is to provide non-direct and even heat without burning.
- Bring your double boiler to low heat and grate in your beeswax; then add coconut oil. Once everything has melted, add your essential oils.
- Stir the mixture, and then quickly turn off your burner.
- Now you can put this mixture into a liquid measuring cup to make pouring your final product easy. Slowly pour into each tin and allow the salves to cool for an hour or two.
Once complete, you can liberally use the salve all over the desired area on the body, avoiding the eyes.
Here’s to being our most beautiful selves, inside and out!