One thing that I have found to be super useful is to make salves for various situations. Salves are used on the skin, and depending on what situation I am trying to solve, I will make the mixture of herbs different. But there is a basic formula that I use pretty regularly.
There are many different ways to make salves, but my basic formula is what I use. This doesn't mean that it's the only way. Many other authors will have their own way of making salves, and I'm sure that they work as well. This is just MY basic mixture.
Basically, salves include oils, with herbs infused in them either by heat or by time, with the addition of essential oils for scent and additional benefits and beeswax to make it a bit more solid for applying it to the skin.
Some of the oils that can be used are olive oil, grapeseed oil, and jojoba oil. Olive oil is absorbed pretty readily by the skin while grapeseed oil most sits on the top. Jojoba is technically a wax, but it closely matches the oils that your skin gives off. So it frequently is used for many cosmetic conditions.
I like to use a mixture of 1/2 olive oil, 1/4 grapeseed oil and 1/4 jojoba oil. Sometimes I use some castor oil, or argon oil depending on the situation. We will have some later articles that have specific information about the oils so you can make your own mixtures.
I like to use a mixture of 1/2 olive oil, 1/4 grapeseed oil and 1/4 jojoba oil. Sometimes I use some castor oil, or argon oil depending on the situation. We will have some later articles that have specific information about the oils so you can make your own mixtures.
There are 2 herbs that I use in most of my formulas. They are almost always included in most of my mentor's formulas too. They are plantain and calendula which are popular for skin conditioning. I then add some other herbs when I want to solve a particular situation. Things like chickweed for itchiness or peppermint for fungal situations and lots of other ones.
I will have some specific recipes for certain salves that I use the most. Those will include the mix of the oils, the mix of the herbs and the mix of essential oils.
Somethings to remember:
Use 1 ounce by weight of beeswax to 1 cup (8 ounces by volume) when you get to that step. You can double that for making lip balms, but the general rule should work well. You can make adjustments if needed.
Avoid getting water into the oils as best you can. For this reason, I use a double boiler that has a full pot on top of the lower one rather than an open double boiler that is sometimes used for soap making. Any water in the oils can allow a mold to grow.
Storage is not a big problem. Beeswax does a great job of keeping it safe from going bad as long as you didn't get any water in the mix. It will keep for a long time at room temperature. But I generally only make one cup at a time, so it doesn't last that long!
Cleanup is a little difficult, but I wipe everything with paper towels, then use a good dishwasher detergent that cuts grease, and it cleans them up really well. Just don't put them in the dishwasher!
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