Journal

Making Calendula Balm or Salve

I first became aware of the amazing soothing powers of calendula when my youngest daughter caught chicken pox as a baby. This is many, many years ago now but I still vividly remember the horror of her being so covered with itchy scabs, inconsolable, unable to bear clothing, unable to feed - completely miserable.

A friend suggested bathing her in a mix of oats and dried calendula flowers - so simple I was sceptical, but it soothed her almost immediately - taking the itch out of the pox, allowing her to feed, be held and snuggle into sleep.

Making calendula balm - perfect as a moisturiser, to help with irritated skin, or to soothe insect bites - is incredibly simple.

You need.

• Calendula oil (you can make this by steeping calendula flowers in any base carrier oil for 4-6 weeks on a sunny windowsill or you can buy it).
• Beeswax pellets
• Essential oils (lavender and tea tree work well)
• An old glass or metal bowl you don't mind getting covered in wax
• Small jars

Weigh out your calendula infused oil and add 1/8 of that in beeswax pellets - so if you have 80g oil add in 10g wax.

Carefully heat in a bain marie/double boiler (or put your bowl over a pan of boiling water or in a steamer) or on low setting in a microwave - just until the wax melts. You do not want to overcook the calendula oil as it is sensitive to heat - so it is important to take your time and heat it slowly.

Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding in essential oils - it depends on how strong a scent you want but I find 20-25 drops per 80g oil works well.

Stir well and pour into the jars - leave a gap at the top of about 0.5 cm and leave to cool naturally before putting the top on.

Label.

We have put together a beautiful box of everything you need to make calendula oils and balms from scratch, along with full instruction cards - check it out here

If you are interested in making natural products from herbs and flowers you can sign up below to get access to our e-book library along with my Friday letters.

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