Wildflower Herbal Salve Recipe
Spring weeds and wildflowers have incredible benefits for irritated skin. This recipe shows you how to use three common wild plants - dandelion, common daisy (Bellis perennis), and plantain leaf to make a creamy salve you can use all summer long. You begin by making a healing herbal oil using dried flowers and a carrier oil. Next, you melt the herbal oil with cocoa butter and beeswax and pour it into tins to harden. This recipe makes approximately 200 ml (6.76 fl. oz) of salve but can be scaled up to make more.
Servings 2 100ml (3.38 oz) tins
Cost $20
Equipment
- Mason jar (pint) pint-sized
- 2 clean, dry, and sterilized containers (tins or glass jars)
- slow cooker (crockpot) optional
- measuring spoons (stainless steel) optional
Ingredients
To Make the Infused Oil
- 1 pint liquid carrier oil of your choice such as olive oil, sweet almond oil, safflower oil, or avocado oil
- 0.5 cup dried daisy flowers Bellis perennis
- 0.5 cup dried dandelion flowers Taraxacum officinale
- 0.5 cup dried plantain leaves Plantago lanceolata or Plantago major
Wildflower Herbal Salve Recipe
- 142 g infused oil 0.75 cup plus 1 TBSP
- 15 g beeswax 5 tsp
- 15 g cocoa butter 4.5 tsp
Optional ingredients to give the salve a beautiful scent*
- 0.5 g petitgrain essential oil 1/8 tsp
- 0.5 g ylang ylang essential oil 1/8 tsp
- 0.2 g palmarosa essential oil 1/16 tsp
Instructions
Make the Infused Oil
- Loosely place the dried flowers and plantain into a pint jar. Crush the plantain leaves as you do so to increase the surface area.
- Pour the carrier oil over the dried herbs, filling the jar to half an inch from the rim. Clean any excess oil from the rim and seal the jar tightly. Choose one of the three following infusion methods:
- Cold infusion method: place the jar in a dark, room-temperature, place, such as a cupboard, and leave it there for four weeks. Give it a shake a few times during this time or whenever you remember.
- Window sill method: place the jar in a closed paper bag and set it in a warm windowsill. Leave it there for two weeks. The paper bag protects the oil from UV light and helps prevent the oil from going rancid.
- Hot infusion method: place the jar on a rag inside a crock pot. Fill the crockpot almost to the rim of the jar with hot tap water. Turn the crock pot on to high for one hour, then down to low. Leave for twelve hours, filling the crock pot up occasionally with more hot water as it evaporates.
- Once the oil has been infused for the required duration, strain it through a cheesecloth-lined sieve. Measure out the amount needed for the recipe below, and store the remainder in a clean, dry jar kept in a dark place for another batch*
Make the Wildflower Herbal Salve Recipe
- Fill the larger of the two pans with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium.
- Place the beeswax, cocoa butter, and infused oil in the smaller pan and float it inside the pan of hot water. This creates a double boiler which evenly distributes the heat and gently melts the cocoa butter and beeswax. Stir gently with the silicone spatula.
- When the oils are melted, stir in the essential oils if you'd like to use them. The blend provided gives a delicate floral fragrance. Although essential oils have therapeutic properties of their own, I've included them in this recipe mainly for scent.
- Pour the balm into tins or glass containers* and allow it to cool. It may take about four hours to come to room temperature. During this time, don't cover the containers as it can cause condensation on the inner part of the lid. Put lids on after the balms are completely cooled and firmed up.
- You can use the salve immediately. As for shelf life, it can be up to one year or the closest best-by date of the ingredients you used. Check for these on the back of all your bottles, and remember that fresh oil is always best when making skin care.
Notes
* This is a gentle medicinal salve, but it can also be used as a regular skin balm for dry skin. In that case, the floral blend of essential oils will make it absolutely wonderful to use. They are optional ingredients, though, and can be left out.
* The expiration date of the infused oil is the original best-by date of the carrier oil used.
* It's better to use a few smaller containers than one large jar. Why? Ease of use, reduction in dirt and potential contaminants over a period of time, and weird oil hardening. If you pour this entire batch in a large jar you'll probably find that it doesn't solidify with a smooth surface. There will likely be a big pit in the middle. It doesn't affect the product, but it doesn't look great either.