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Calendula salve is a great herbal remedy to always keep on hand and it would make a great gift for anybody! It's not overly complicated to make and has lots of benefits. It has anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. Which make it great for applying it on minor cuts, scrapes, and burns but it's great for many other things too like chapped lips.
Speaking of chapped lips... if you are looking for a way to make your own lip balm, look no further.
Ingredients & Supplies:
- 2 Tbsp. Calendula Oil**
- 1/4 Tbsp. Shea Butter
- 1/2 Tbsp. Beeswax pellets
- 1-2 drops Essential oil(s) (optional)
- 1 oz. Tins
- Pipette
**If you want to make your own calendula oil, you will need to make it at least 3 weeks before you wish to make your salve. You can buy some already made if you don't have the time to wait. Our preference is to make it ourselves so we know exactly what is in it. Making the calendula oil is very simple, but you do have to think ahead a little. All you do is steep dried calendula flowers in a carrier oil. You can use sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, or argan oil. We used sweet almond oil in one and argan in the other. We made a very large batch in a 32 oz. mason jar for a class we were teaching, but you can do something smaller like the 8 oz. jar we did on the right.
Add dried calendula flowers so that your jar is 3/4 full of flowers and then pour over your oil. You can use whatever size jar you want. The key is to fill it 3/4 full and then add your oil of choice. No heat is necessary and it's great for this oil to get some sun as it will help the calendula infuse into the oil better. Let this flowers soak for 3 weeks to a couple of months. If you are really thinking ahead, you can grow and dry your own calendula.
After you have let it sit for the appropriate time, then you will run the oil & flowers through a cheesecloth to strain out the flowers and be left with only oil. No big deal if a few calendula bits are left. Now your calendula oil is ready to use!
Melt the beeswax, shea butter, and calendula oil over a double boiler. You don't need a special double boiler, we just used a glass bowl over a pot. Add water to a deep enough pot that a glass bowl on top won't touch the bottom and then put the glass bowl on top. Bam- double boiler. Let the water get up to a boil and the mixture will start to melt. The beeswax will take the longest to melt, but stir as it melts to keep everything incorporated.
Once the mixture is melted, turn off the heat. At this point you can add whatever essential oil you would like to use and then mix it in.
Pour the mixture into whatever container you would like to use. We love these metal tins but you can also use these glass jars. We also used a pipette which made "pouring" less messy and more accurate. If you are making multiples, you could pour the hot mixture into a measuring cup with a spout and then pour from there.
We made these stickers to put on our salve tins. This is great if you want to give this as a gift. You can get these printed at a print shop or office supply store and it's a nice little touch. If in the end you feel like you'd like your salve to be a little softer, reduce the amount of beeswax and if you want it to be a little more solid, add a little more beeswax.
Store your salve in a cool, dark place. If stored properly the shelf life of the exact recipe in this post is up to 6 months. Your salve will smell like an old box of crayons if it has gone rancid.
If you like making your own self care products, check out our blog post on making your own lip balm and making your own hand scrub.
Thanks for stopping in :) Happy DIYing!
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