DIY Calendula-Infused Shea Butter Salve

DIY Calendula-Infused Shea Butter Salve

Guest post by Virginia Miner

Long ago I parted ways with most store-bought lotion and baby products, and this salve does the job of many products quite nicely.

This shea butter-based lotion is infused with the incredible properties of the plantain and calendula plants, and is awesome for pretty much everything. It also uses an infused oil, which Jessica recently showed us how to make.

At my house it probably gets most use for diaper rash. I have even used it with cloth diapers and it doesn’t seem to cause a problem. It is also a good all-purpose body lotion and because of the mild SPF of Shea butter (about SPF 6, according to Mountain Rose Herbs), it can be used as a sunscreen as well.

I use calendula and plantain in my infused oil for their skin-healing properties and lavender and frankincense essential oils for their muscle relaxing properties.

Calendula flowers and plantain leaves grow wild in a lot of parts of the country, so you can forage these if you want. I got mine in dried herb form from Mountain Rose Herbs. If you are dying to try this out and don’t want to bother with infusion or essential oils, you can get at least 80% of the effectiveness using Shea Butter and olive oil alone.

Here’s how you do it!

Plantain & Calendula-Infused Lotion

To infuse olive oil:

Get about 1 cup of good olive oil and 1tbsp each of calendula and plantain.

Now you can infuse it using either heat or time… If you have time, just throw them in a jar together and come back to it in a couple of weeks. If you want to heat infuse your oil, read Jessica’s post to get the lowdown.

To make the lotion:

Use 1 part infused olive oil to 2 parts Shea butter by volume (i.e. use 1/3 cup olive oil to 2/3 cup Shea butter to get 1 cup final product).

Gently melt in a double boiler over low heat until it is all liquid. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes and then add 5-10 drops each of lavender and frankincense essential oils.

Pour it in a jar and let it sit for a day or two. It will take a little bit of time for it to reach its final texture.

Use for all kinds of skin-related ailments, and enjoy!

Notes:

• The smell of shea butter is probably unavoidable here, so be aware in case you’re averse to that particular scent
• If you prefer a different final texture you can play with the proportions to get your preferred thickness
• I discovered that if you stir some activated charcoal and bentonite clay (about 1tsp each per 1/4 cup of Shea butter lotion) you get a good “drawing salve”, great for bites and stings to draw out the toxins

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Original article and pictures take redandhoney.com site