An herbal salve can be used to help with a variety of medical issues including congestion and burns. You can usually find salves in over the counter options, but you may notice these options contain chemicals and preservatives you may not feel comfortable with.
In fact, some contain fake or synthetic ingredients that can be harmful to your skin or to your sinus passage! Fragrances, dyes, and petroleum ingredients are some of the most common. This leads some people to create their own herbal salves, which allows them to control what goes into them and which herbs are used. Here are a few tips for creating these salves on your own.
Use the Right Oil Base
One of the key tips to making a salve is to make sure you are using the right oil base. You want an oil that will hold up and work as a salve. You don’t want something that is too thin, but instead something with a bit more solid properties to it.
Coconut oil is ideal because it is easy to find, inexpensive, and will harden after it has been mixed. It also melts with body temperature, so you don’t have to worry about it being too hard to use. Make sure you are using a coconut oil base or even a cocoa or shea base. These are all solid oils that will hold up and store easily. They also won’t distract from the healing properties of the herbs you use.
Avoid using fractionated coconut oil for this DIY since it will be a liquid, which we don’t want!
Add Soothing Oils
Don’t stop with just the base oil and the herbs. Boost the salve with other healing property holding herbs and oils. For example, if the salve is for burns consider using Vitamin E oil as well. A few drops can help increase the soothing properties of the salve and help to give hydration to the area. Vitamin E will also help improve the shelf life of your salve. Just make sure it’s from a good source! If you’re gluten-free or celiac, consider avoiding Vitamin E since it’s usually made from wheat sources.
You can also add other herbs as well! Lavender and chamomile are both great options, as well as aloe vera and lavender or aloe and sage. These all help in salves and don’t counteract each other. Just make sure your aloe vera is 100% pure and not a gel with added thickeners. Learn more about sage here and why you need it in your herbal medicine cabinet!
Use Soy Wax
You may wonder why you would use wax in a salve. The reason is to stiffen the mixture and keep that salve feel to it. This is especially true if you are in high humidity areas or high heat areas like tropical environments. The key thing to remember is to use smaller pellets such as soy pellets or beeswax pellets. These are easier to measure for your different recipes and easier to store. Block forms are fine, but they are difficult to breakdown into useable amounts for these types of salves.
Store Them Properly
Salves should be stored in a cool dry place. If you live in a very hot climate, then you may want to store them in the refrigerator until they are needed. This will keep them from melting and help maintain their potency.
Make sure to always use clean hands when scooping from the jar, or, better yet, a clean utensil. This will help limit any bacteria that could spoil your salve.
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