Rose and Chickweed dry skin and eczema balm
A bit more hedgewitchery...
In the winter I get dry and flaky skin in patches on my face and so does my youngest daughter. We both needed a cream for those patches but not necessarily for the whole face. I love Neal's Yards- gorgeous natural products with a sound environmental ethos but very expensive. I've used samples of their wild rose beauty balm in the past but there is no way I'm going to fork out £40 for a jar of it even if it does last ages. It's amazing stuff- cleanser, moisturiser, lip balm- but when you look at the list of ingredients they're pretty straightforward. In true internet style somebody has already made they're own version of it and I used Jenni Raincloud's version as my starting point.
I made it pretty much as she's written it the first time and it was lovely. I did use it as my moisturiser but you have to give it time to sink in or you look very shiny!
My eldest daughter has now got a flare up of her eczema for the first time in years. Only on her knuckles but it's itchy and sore and she has to wash her hands frequently at work so it's becoming a problem. When she was a toddler it was exacerbated by cow's milk so she's switched to nut, goat and sheep's milk and cheese to see if that helps and in the meantime I did a bit of research to see what herbs would help her. Chickweed is cited as being good for itchy eczema so I did a bit of weeding and infused some sunflower oil (I think!) with some dried chickweed and left it in a warm spot for a couple of weeks, strained it and used it in the next batch of balm.
Making balms and salves is very straightforward. No water means no need for preservatives or refrigeration and it really is just measure, melt and pour.
You melt the oils, butter and beeswax together,
remove from the heat and add the essential oils
stir and pour into jars.
And that's it!
Rose and Chickweed Dry Skin and Eczema Balm
2 tbsp rosehip seed oil
2 tbsp chickweed infused oil
1 tbsp jojoba oil
2 tbsp hemp seed oil
1 tbsp borage seed oil
3/4 tbsp shea butter (approx) (optional)
1/2 tbsp grated beeswax
5 drops geranium essential oil
2 drops rosemary essential oil
2 drops chamomile roman essential oil
2 drops patchouli essential oil
4 drops rose essential oil (palma rosa is a cheaper alternative)
2 drops frankincense essential oil
In the winter I get dry and flaky skin in patches on my face and so does my youngest daughter. We both needed a cream for those patches but not necessarily for the whole face. I love Neal's Yards- gorgeous natural products with a sound environmental ethos but very expensive. I've used samples of their wild rose beauty balm in the past but there is no way I'm going to fork out £40 for a jar of it even if it does last ages. It's amazing stuff- cleanser, moisturiser, lip balm- but when you look at the list of ingredients they're pretty straightforward. In true internet style somebody has already made they're own version of it and I used Jenni Raincloud's version as my starting point.
I made it pretty much as she's written it the first time and it was lovely. I did use it as my moisturiser but you have to give it time to sink in or you look very shiny!
My eldest daughter has now got a flare up of her eczema for the first time in years. Only on her knuckles but it's itchy and sore and she has to wash her hands frequently at work so it's becoming a problem. When she was a toddler it was exacerbated by cow's milk so she's switched to nut, goat and sheep's milk and cheese to see if that helps and in the meantime I did a bit of research to see what herbs would help her. Chickweed is cited as being good for itchy eczema so I did a bit of weeding and infused some sunflower oil (I think!) with some dried chickweed and left it in a warm spot for a couple of weeks, strained it and used it in the next batch of balm.
Making balms and salves is very straightforward. No water means no need for preservatives or refrigeration and it really is just measure, melt and pour.
You melt the oils, butter and beeswax together,
remove from the heat and add the essential oils
stir and pour into jars.
And that's it!
Rose and Chickweed Dry Skin and Eczema Balm
2 tbsp rosehip seed oil
2 tbsp chickweed infused oil
1 tbsp jojoba oil
2 tbsp hemp seed oil
1 tbsp borage seed oil
3/4 tbsp shea butter (approx) (optional)
1/2 tbsp grated beeswax
5 drops geranium essential oil
2 drops rosemary essential oil
2 drops chamomile roman essential oil
2 drops patchouli essential oil
4 drops rose essential oil (palma rosa is a cheaper alternative)
2 drops frankincense essential oil
Melt all ingredients EXCEPT essential oils together over a low heat, preferably in a bain marie (I just used a saucepan). As soon as the beeswax has melted remove from the heat and stir in essential oils. Pour into jar and put lid on when cool.
You could also use plantain, nettle and/or calendula infused oils instead of or as well as the chickweed. Dry the herb, cover with sunflower/olive/almond oil and leave in a warm spot for a couple of weeks before straining.
I've marked the shea butter as optional but actually, you could simplify this easily with a smaller range of oils as long as you keep the proportions the same. You'll miss out of the benefits of say, borage oil, but you could use more hemp oil instead.
You could also certainly reduce the range of essential oils as they are expensive to buy, especially if you are not using them for anything else. Again, you'll use the benefits of that particular oil if you omit it but you;ll still have a very nice cream.
Don't be tempted to add more essential oils as they can irritate the skin in large quantities and don't substitute for other oils unless you know they are skin safe. Some citrus oils are phototoxic, for example.
Be especially careful with the essential oils that you buy and make sure they come from a reputable company.
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