This Homemade Calendula Salve came out so creamy and smooth. With just a few ingredients, including the highly healing calendula flower and raw yellow shea butter, this salve is a soothing and healing product that can help with rashes, cuts and scrapes. It’s also great for soothing tough skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
Before I get into the recipe, here’s a little more about each of the ingredients I used.
Calendula Flowers (also known as Pot Marigold) is a gentle, healing flower that can help soothe a wide range of skin problems. It’s usually found in baby products because of its softness, but it’s beneficial for people of all ages and all skin types. Calendula is so named because it is a flower that blooms on the first of every month, which is called calends in Latin. It has been used for thousands of years. Calendula is edible and is sometimes used in teas and other recipes such as stews and soups (hence the “Pot” in “Pot Marigold”).
Another beneficial aspect of calendula is that it is moisturizing in itself. In this recipe I added a carrier oil (almond oil) with whole Calendula flowers. Which allows the fat soluble vitamins and nutrients of the flower to combine with the benefits of almond oil and adds great benefits to the recipe.
Almond oil contains vitamin E, vitamin A which enhances cell renewal and many minerals. Additionally, the silicon dioxide in almond oil helps strengthen the skin for faster healing.
Yellow shea butter is another fantastic healing ingredient that we carry in our store. It consists of raw shea butter with an additional ingredient: the extract of the Borututu tree (Cochlospermum angolense). The beautiful deep golden yellow color from this tree is completely natural. It provides a healing boost to your skin along with an extra silky texture to the butter. When applied topically, it enhances the anti-inflammatory effect of shea butter due to the presence of hydroxybenzoic acid.
Yellow shea butter has been steadily gaining popularity over the past five to ten years for cosmetic applications. It’s a great styling product for facial hair and also helps soothe dry, itchy skin.
Beeswax from Texas Beekeepers is another product I really like to use. I greatly appreciate being able to support the local bee population and their contributions to our food crops by supplying Texas apiaries. Texas Beeswax is a beautiful dark tan and smells like rich honey and wildflowers. It contains all the nutrients from the foliage that bees visit, as well as the natural products of bees and their hive – propolis, royal jelly and pollen. Beeswax as a skin care ingredient has been used for thousands of years too – it was an ingredient in the first recorded face creams and has moisturizing properties that make it able to draw moisture into your skin. Additionally, it creates a barrier on top of your skin that provides a natural shield from harsh weather, pollution and dry air or desert conditions.
Recipe for Calendula Salve
Let me show you how I put this salve together. It is a simple process that does not require much hands-on time, as most of the time is spent on the process of infusing the flowers and oil. If you have already made the calendula oil from our previous blog post, then you can just use it. If not, here is the oil infusing technique I used for this recipe.
Phase I (Oil Injection)
Components
- 1 cup dried calendula flowers
- 8 oz almond oil
- In a glass, heatproof container, pour almond oil over dried calendula flowers
- Place the container in a pot of water on low heat for 4 hours
- Allow your oil to cool until it is safe to handle
- Drain the oil well through a strainer.
- You can compost the leftover flowers or throw them into your garden as fertilizer.
Note, there is a slower method for infusing oil that is also quite easy: Simply let calendula flowers soak in oil in a glass jar for 4-8 weeks. You can use either method for this recipe and you will get similar results.
Phase II (calendula balm)
Components
- 5.6 oz Calendula Infused Almond Oil
- 1 oz Texas beeswax
- 0.30 oz yellow shea butter
- Melt yellow shea butter, beeswax and calendula oil in a double boiler system
- Once melted, remove from heat and stir gently
- Pour into your final containers
- Let the ointment solidify at room temperature for about 2 hours
- And voila! It is ready to use. Apply to desired area 1-2 times daily or more as needed.
- Store at room temperature in your container with a lid.
Recipe video
Creating your own DIY skin care is easy and provides many benefits for your skin. You’ll know exactly what’s in your skincare, that the ingredients are fresh, and that the nutrients inside are potent. If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and unique holiday gift for your loved ones, why not try making a batch of this salve?
I hope you enjoy this recipe and your skin feels great while using your new product. As always, comment below with any questions or comments you may have.
