DIY Healing Salve

Mommas! I did it! I made my first medicinal, healing salve. And let me tell you, it is way easier than I had it in my head!

So my little girl has been suffering with intense flare ups of eczema since she was born. It seems to get worse when she cuts some teeth. Our Naturopath (read Godsend!) explained this is because her immune system could be on overdrive during that time and running a little haywire. And it definitely shows up with different foods. So far she can have oat milk, sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, and beets. Strange combination, but we press on to find more things that agree with her.

Her poor skin is riddled with dry patches, rashes, and scabs from her itching at the rashes. So I needed something super calming, and healing for her. I've been making her lotion since she was born, but then all of a sudden she broke out into hives with just plain coconut oil. A call into her doctor and she recommended Calendula Salve. "You've made salve, right?" Gulp...Nope.... In my head it was so much bigger than it really was. With her encouragement and recipe in hand I went to my stash of glass jars (fellow hoarders, this is why we keep them :) ).

First you need to infuse some olive oil with the Calendula flowers. Don't stop reading now. It is so easy. Just fill a jar to the top with the dried flowers (I got a big bag of dried flowers off of Amazon a few years ago to make winter paw wax for my pups.)

Then fill the jar to the tippy top (within a 1/8" of the top) with olive oil (FYI our Naturopath said Costco's brand of olive oil is one of the quality ones). I tapped the jar on the counter a few times to get all the air bubbles out. *Key-Get all the air out and leave little room for condensation at the top. Bacteria can grow in the condensation water. Just fill the jar as full as possible.* Put the cover on, and put the jar in a sunny window for 3-4 weeks. Just ignore it. It'll do its thing.

Then when its ready (deep orange color), pour the oil into a saucepan over low heat (straining the flowers out).

Add beeswax pastilles. I used about a 1/4 cup to 1 cup of infused oil.

Stir mixture until the beeswax is melted. To make sure you get the consistency you like, you can take out a teaspoon and put it in the freezer. Let it harden and check the consistency. If it is too soft, add more beeswax.

If it is right, fill up your jar! At this step you can add in more skin healing Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade essential oils such as doTerra's Lavender, Frankincense, and Copaiba. You need the right tools for the job, here is a link to get them.

Let it cool and harden. Then it is ready to use!

So easy, right?!?! The hardest part is probably leaving it alone in the window sill. And it leaves her skin so soft and its healing so well!

That reminds me, I better go get her second batch infusing so we'll be ready in a few weeks when she needs more. Here is a pic of the jar I used, nothing better than Alaskan Kelp Pickles. #localfood Nothing better than having a use for an item you hoard. :) :) :)