Soothing Skin Salve

Hello there, and welcome to 2018 everyone! (Lol) I had great, great plans for this blog and website in 2018 and then life happened. Who can relate to that? However, I am a firm believer that even when we maybe do not meet the expectations we had for ourselves, it is never too late to strive to try again. And so, let me be the first to say: I’m back! (At least for today 😉 )

I have had multiple requests for my soothing skin salve recipe, and so I have decided that would be a great place to start to get things rolling again. In the future, I am looking to share more on health and wellness in general, as well as more specifics into my own health struggles of the past year and a half and how what I’ve learned can help you. So, stay tuned! Also, if you are not already doing so, I highly recommend following me on social media. While finding the energy (and brain power) to write a lengthy blog post doesn’t always come easy to me these days, sharing small bits on platforms like Instagram is less of a struggle. You can find me on Instagram at @healthy.home.body. I also have a Facebook support group that you can find by searching for “Healthy Home Body Support Group”.

So, let’s talk about skin! As I’m sure many (if not all) of you know, our skin is our body’s largest organ. It protects us; we detox through it; it helps us regulate our body temperature; it acts as a reservoir for the synthesis of Vitamin D; and it helps us to sense hot, cold, touch, and pain. Despite the fact that it does all of these great things for us on a daily basis, we often don’t give a whole lot of thought to it, especially when we are younger (and really, that’s when we should be thinking about caring for it the most!) Some of us are naturally blessed with good, healthy skin, and so we tend to appreciate what it does for us even less.

I fall into that category – I have always had healthy, glowing skin. I rarely had breakouts as a teenager. I don’t tend to get rashes. I’ve never had eczema. Actually, my complexion was one of the things that I always liked about myself and didn’t find fault with. So, because of everything ELSE that I worried about regarding my body (like most women do), I neglected my skin.

Now I realize more deeply what is involved in caring for our skin. See, before I felt that moisturizing or having a beauty routine was being vain, and I was happy with the fact that I didn’t “need” to do all of that. But there is so, so much more to it than that. Caring for our skin means caring for the ORGAN that helps to protect and regulate us. Would we neglect caring for our heart or our brain because it seemed vain to do so? Absolutely not! So why should our skin receive any less care?

And so I’ve started moisturizing and washing my face with a gentle cleanser with essential oils designed to nourish my skin. I wear a hat if I’m out in the heat of the day, and I am a lot more faithful about wearing sunscreen than I ever was in the past (my DIY recipe coming up soon!) I do these things, not out of vanity, but because I care for my body, and that includes my skin.

This soothing skin salve recipe is meant for times when your skin is feeling unhappy, such as in the case of rashes, bites, stings, burns, scrapes, dry or itchy or otherwise affected skin. You can also use it regularly on extra dry skin, like I do on my hands in the wintertime. It is LOADED with essential oils, but feel free to apply extra essential oils to your skin if you wish and then apply this salve as a barrier over top.

I have also included a second recipe specifically for when eczema is a concern. It can be applied to affected skin “as is”, or you could dilute it even further with additional carrier oil (oils like coconut, jojoba, avocado, sweet almond, etc.) if you desire.

Note: the first step of this recipe takes several weeks to “infuse”, so if you are planning to make this salve in the future, get started with that first step today!

Then, once you are ready to make the salve, make sure to have all your essential oils ready to go, as once the salve starts to set up, it sets up!

SOOTHING SKIN SALVE

½ cup organic virgin coconut oil
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup organic jojoba oil
1/8 cup beeswax
1/3 cup calendula flowers
Essential oils

1. Melt coconut oil on low heat in medium saucepan. Add in the calendula flowers, and simmer on low for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally (a few times is fine).

2. Pour the oil and calendula flowers into a quart sized glass Mason jar. Add the olive oil and jojoba oil, apply a tight lid, and leave to sit for at least 8 weeks. (If you can place the jar in a sunny location, that is ideal, but a cupboard will also work). This last batch of salve base I left on the shelf for several months, so it’s not going to hurt if you forget about it and it sits there for longer than expected.

3. After the oils have sat for several weeks, strain the oil through cheesecloth to remove the calendula flowers. You now have a golden-colored, calendula-infused oil product. Add the oil into a medium saucepan and heat on low. Add the beeswax (you can cut this from a block or use beeswax pellets) and melt. After the beeswax is melted, I like to take just a little bit of the oil from the pan and stick it along with the spoon in the fridge for a minute or two (or drip it on your countertop to sit for 5 minutes or more). It won’t be quite as firm as it will be in the end, but it gives you an idea if it’s too liquidy. At this point, you can add more beeswax if you desire a firmer final product. I tend to prefer a more “spreadable” salve that doesn’t become too firm, which is what the 1/8 cup of beeswax will give you.

4. Remove from heat and let cool for about 15 minutes. If you used beeswax pellets, the oil is likely not as hot, so you may only need to let it cool for 5-10 minutes or so.

5. Add essential oils and stir to mix.

6. Pour into individual salve jars (I prefer glass) and allow to cool completely before applying lids.
This recipe makes about 1 cup of salve total and is good for at least a year.

Essential Oil Blend #1 (for a general skin salve):

20 drops lavender
13 drops tea tree (melaleuca alternifolia)
10 drops elemi
10 drops geranium
7 drops Roman chamomile (German chamomile may be substituted)
5 drops helichrysum
5 drops frankincense

 

Essential Oil Blend #2 (specially formulated for eczema):

20 drops German chamomile
13 drops helichrysum
10 drops lavender
10 drops geranium
7 drops juniper
7 drops patchouli
5 drops bergamot
5 drops frankincense
5 drops myrrh
5 drops tea tree
3 drops peppermint

 

Note: the eczema salve will have a slightly greenish tinge to it, as the blue from the German chamomile blends with the golden yellow color of your salve base. Pictured here is the regular skin salve.

 

 

I have had several friends tell me how much the eczema blend has been helpful to their skin! We use the regular skin salve for a wide variety of purposes, for everything from chapped skin to applying it to earrings before inserting into pierced ears to prevent reactions to the metal. I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! It’s also super fun to make, as your kitchen will smell ah-mazing!!!

 

 

Best wishes,
~ Alicia