How To Make A Healing Lip Salve

This recipe is also great for guys and for kids as it isn’t brightly colored or strongly scented. This recipe incorporates optional healing herbs that help heal and protect the lips, but you can leave these ingredients out to have an unscented and simply moisturizing version. Homemade healing lip balm/salve also lasts forever, since a little goes a really long way.

The herbal ingredients are naturally moisturizing, antibacterial, and antifungal, and some people have success with using it to speed healing of cold sores. It doesn’t contain petroleum or chemicals like most commercial lip products so you can feel safe using it on yourself of your kids.

All ingredients and tins and lip chap containers to store it in are available here. (Storing in a lip-chap container makes it portable and easy to apply. )

You Will Need:

• 1 cups of olive or almond oil
• 1 teaspoon echinacea root (optional)
• 1 teaspoon comfrey leaf (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of plantain leaf (herb-not banana!)
• 1 teaspoon of calendula flowers (optional)
• 1 teaspoon yarrow flowers (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of rosemary leaf (optional)
• 1/4 cup beeswax pastilles
• 1/2 tsp grapefruit seed extract or vitamin E oil to preserve (optional)
• 5-10 drops peppermint essential oil for scent/cooling/soothing (optional)

How To Make Healing Salve:

1. Infuse the herbs into the olive oil. There are two ways to do this. You can either combine the herbs and the olive oil in a jar with an airtight lid and leave 3-4 weeks, shaking daily  OR heat the herbs and olive oil over low/low heat in a double boiler for 3 hours (low heat!) until the oil is very green. You can also omit this step completely, or just a drop of each of the essential oils instead.
2. Strain the herbs out of the oil by pouring through a cheesecloth. Let all the oil drip out and then squeeze the herbs to get the remaining oil out.
3. Discard the herbs.
4. Heat 1/4 cup of the infused oil in a double boiler with the beeswax until melted and mixed. (save the extra oil for use on wounds/cuts or for another batch of lip salve).
5. Pour into small tins, glass jars or lip chap tubes and use on dry or chapped lips.

Source: Wellness Mama