This homemade Calendula Salve came out so creamy and smooth. With just a few ingredients, including the ultra-healing calendula flower and raw yellow shea butter, this salve is a soothing and healing product that can help with rashes, cuts and scrapes. It’s also great for relieving tough skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.

Before I get into the recipe, here’s a little more about each of the ingredients I used.

Calendula Flowers (also known as Pot Marigold) is a gentle, healing flower that can help relieve a wide range of skin problems. It is usually found in baby products because of its gentleness, but it is beneficial for people of all ages and all skin types. Calendula is named as such because it is a flower that blooms on the first of each month, which is called calendars in Latin. It has been in use for thousands of years. Calendula is edible and is sometimes used in teas and other recipes such as stews and soups (hence the “Pot” in “Pot Marigold”).

Another beneficial aspect of Calendula is that it is actually moisturizing on its own. In this recipe, I infused a carrier oil (almond oil) with whole Calendula flowers. Which allows the oil-soluble vitamins and nutrients from the flower to be combined with the benefits of the almond oil, adding great benefits to the recipe.

Almond oil itself contains vitamin E, cell renewal that boosts vitamin A and many minerals. In addition, the silica in almond oil helps strengthen the skin to promote faster healing.

Yellow Shea Butter is another amazing healing ingredient that we carry in our store. It consists of unrefined shea butter with an additional ingredient: the extract of the Borututu tree (Cochlospermum angolense). The beautiful deep golden yellow color from this wood is completely natural. It gives a boost of healing to your skin along with an extra silky texture to the butter. When applied topically, it increases the anti-inflammatory effect of shea butter due to the presence of hydroxybenzoic acid.

Yellow shea butter has steadily gained popularity over the past five to ten years for cosmetic applications. It is an exceptional styling product for facial hair and also helps relieve dry itchy skin.

Beeswax from Texas Beekeepers is another product that I absolutely love using. I greatly appreciate being able to support the local population of bees and their contribution to our food crops by sourcing them from apiaries in Texas. Texas Beeswax is a beautiful dark tan and smells like lush honey and wildflowers. It contains all the nutrients from the foliage that the bees visit, as well as the natural products of the bees and their hive – propolis, royal jelly and pollen. Beeswax as a skin care ingredient has also been used for thousands of years – it was an ingredient in the very first recorded face creams, and it has humectant properties that enable it to draw moisture into your skin. In addition, it creates a barrier on top of your skin that provides a physical shield against harsh weather, pollution and dry air or desert conditions.

Calendula ointment recipe

Let me show you how I put this salve together. It is a simple process that does not take much practical time as most of the time required is for the infusion process of flowers and oil. If you have already made the calendula oil from our previous blog post, then you can just use that. If not, here is the oil infusion technique I used for this recipe.

Phase I (infusion of oil)

ingredients

• 1 cup dried Calendula flowers
• 8 oz almond oil

1. In a heat-resistant glass container, pour almond oil over dry calendula flowers
2. Put the container in a pot of water on low heat for 4 hours
3. Allow your oil to cool until it is safe to handle
4. Strain the oil well through a colander.
5. You can compost the remaining flowers, or throw them in your garden as fertilizer.

As a note, there is a slower method of infusing oil that is also quite easy: You simply let your calendula flowers soak in oil in a glass jar for anywhere from 4-8 weeks. You can use either method for this recipe and you will get similar results.

Phase II (Calendula Balm)

ingredients

• 5.6 oz Calendula Infused Almond Oil
• 1 oz Texas Beeswax
• 0.30 oz yellow shea butter

1. Melt yellow shea butter, beeswax and your calendula infused oil over a double boiler
2. Once melted, remove from heat and stir gently
3. Pour into your final containers
4. Allow the ointment to solidify at room temperature for approx. 2 hours
5. And voila! It is ready for use. Apply to the desired area 1-2 times each day or more as needed.
6. Store at room temperature in your container with a lid.

Making your own DIY skincare is easy and offers many benefits for your skin. You want to know exactly what is in your skin care, that the ingredients are fresh and that the nutrients in it are potent. If you’re looking for a quick, easy and unique Christmas gift for your loved ones, why not try making a batch of this salve?

I hope you enjoy this recipe and that your skin feels wonderful while using your new product. As always, please comment below with any questions or feedback you may have.