Apothecary: Calendula Healing Salve

Working in the garden, my hands often take a beating from cuts, insect bites, and splinters. The wet soil and constant watering also have a habit of drying out my nail beds, causing the dreaded hangnails to form. In the winter, my partner's hands end up a chapped and painful mess of cracked skin. This is where my handy calendula salve comes in. This, along with my yarrow salve, are the two salves I turn to the most when treating minor skin problems. And, like my yarrow salve, this salve is super easy to make!

Calendula Healing Salve

Ingredients
Dried calendula flowers
Carrier oil (I used olive oil)
1 oz beeswax

Sterilized 4 oz jar

Sterilized 2 salve tins

Directions
Fill the 4-ounce jar 3/4 of the way full with the dried calendula flowers. Cover completely with your carrier oil, seal, and give it a good shake while visualizing the oil infusing with healing energy. Place in a warm sunny window for 4 to 6 weeks, shaking daily. Remember to continue visualizing the oil infusing with healing energy every time you give the jar a shake. You can also say a quick chant along the lines of "Calendula yellow and bright, infuse this mixture with healing light." To speed up this process, you can heat the oil and herb mixture on low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring clockwise to infuse the mixture with healing energy.

Once the oil is sufficiently infused, strain the liquid and combine with the beeswax in a double boiler. Heat the beeswax and oil on low until the mixture is well combined stirring clockwise to bring health, wellness, and healing to you. You don't want to overheat the mixture otherwise you will reduce the effectiveness of the salve. Immediately pour into your salve tins and store them in a cool, dark place for up to a year.

This particular salve is perfect for dry cracked skin, rashes, swelling, acne, stings, scrapes, chickenpox, eczema, cradle cap, and other skin ailments. 

How It Works

Calendula is naturally antiseptic, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory, which makes it perfect for treating skin wounds. It keeps harmful bacteria and viruses from infecting the wound while reducing inflammation and promoting cell repair and growth. Combined with a moisturizing oil and beeswax, the salve is able to form a barrier between the skin and the environment without clogging your pores. Furthermore, beeswax is naturally anti-inflammatory, thus reducing swelling and inflammation, and also high in vitamin A which is needed for cellular reconstruction. Together, these ingredients make a powerful topical healing salve, perfect for most skin wounds. 

Because I used olive oil, I wouldn't suggest using this salve to treat burns. However, if you picked a different carrier oil suitable for burns such as jojoba, go for it! Just be sure to research oils safe for burns before using it on a burn otherwise you will end up trapping the heat in the skin and making the burn worse and slowing the healing process significantly.

Is there a particular way you use calendula? Do you have a different recipe for healing skin wounds? Share in the comments below!

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