Calendula Salve

I have gone down a bit of a rabbit hole... I've become a pretty avid gardener, chef and creator. This year for the first time I grew flowers. One of the flowers I grew in my garden was calendula. This vibrant orange flower is pretty magical. Next growing season I highly recommend you grow it. It can be used as an edible flower, infused in oils, or dehydrated and used as a tea. There are many health benefits too.

Living in Alberta our family can always use more moisture for our skin, so I decided to make a salve with the calendula I grew and dehydrated. Throughout the growing season I harvested and hung my calendula to dry. Once dry I threw a whole bunch of it in a mason jar with coconut oil to infuse. I let it steep for two months simply because life got busy, but one month would suffice. After the month of steeping has passed you’ll strain the flowers out of the oil using cheesecloth resulting in the calendula infused oil you see in the recipe below. If you didn’t grow and dry your own calendula no need to fret. The local health food store in my city sells bulk loose leaf tea including calendula. Ask around at your local stores and you might be pleasantly surprised to find some dried calendula. If all else fails you can always buy some dried calendula on Amazon.

I have tried my hand at salves before and this is by far my favorite recipe that I’ve created. It is the perfect amount of moisture and none of the greasiness.

As a side note our son has eczema and I haven’t found any cream that helps except this homemade one. His skin was one of my biggest motivations to make this salve. Calendula is extremely potent but gentle enough for kids.

Calendula Salve

1 cup beeswax pellets

1/2 cup jojoba oil

1/2 cup calendula infused coconut oil

10 drops lavender essential oil

Set up a double boiler by putting a stainless steel bowl over a pot of boiling water. Add beeswax pellets to the bowl. Stir until completely melted. Once the beeswax is melted take the bowl off of the heat and add the calendula infused coconut oil, jojoba oil and lavender essential oil. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour into storage containers. This recipe makes 2 cups of salve. I highly recommend dividing the salve into four 125ml wide mouth jars.

Rub all over your body and enjoy!