Healing Winter Hands Salve

With the cold New England weather dry hands are bound to happen. Luckily this Calendula & Rose Hips Salve will come to the rescue! The calendula flower has been noted to promote cell repair and new growth while being gentle and soothing on the skin. Rosehips add antioxidants and essential fatty acids to give your skin a healthy boost that it craves during the winter. This is also a great for healing garden hands once the weather warms up!

I started the beginnings of this moisturizer a month ago when I added ¼ cup dried calendula flowers and ¼ cup rose hips to 1 cup of almond oil and left in a cabinet for a month. I would give it a good shake every few days, but besides that there was no extra work to be done. I like low maintenance projects and this fits the bill.

Once the herbs had infused into the oil it was time to get going on the full recipe. I made sure to have all of my other ingredients and supplies set up, mise en place, if you will. If you do it will make your life much easier and keep your kitchen much cleaner. I set up my double boiler, using a pan filled with water, brought to a boil, with a pyrex bowl on top. I used a 2 cup measuring cup, measuring spoons, a small colander, a spatula, a kitchen scale, a few small bowls and my salve containers. I also had beeswax, shea butter and the essential oils ready to go.

I began my straining the oil into the glass measuring cup, weighing out the beeswax and shea butter and added everything to the double boiler with 3 – 4 drops of essential oil. Once it was all melted together I poured everything back into my glass measuring cup and quickly (before everything hardened up) added the liquid to the salve containers. While I waited for the lotion to cool I cleaned the dishes and made the labels for the top of the tins.

This has a pretty solid consistency and I will use a beauty spoon to take it out of the tin, but once it is on your skin it melts right in. If you want it a little softer you could add less beeswax or more oil. To check this once the mixture has all melted together, take a spoon, dip it into the oil and place in the freezer for a few minutes until hardened. Adjust from there to what your preference is.I would do this at night as a treatment for dry hands and/or feet, especially now that sandal season is finally approaching.

Calendula & Rose Hips Salve 1 cup infused almond oil 2 oz. beeswax 3 Tbsp. shea butter 3-4 drops of sweet orange essential oil   Drain the infused oil. Add all ingredients into a double boiler and heat until melted. Test the consistency of the salve by dipping a spoon into the mixture and placing in the freezer for a few minutes. Adjust accordingly with more oil (for a softer salve) or more beeswax (for a more solid salve). Once you are ready, using potholders, because the oil will be hot, pour the oil mixture in the glass measuring cup and add quickly to the containers/tins. Let cool completely before putting lids on.