Learn how to create a homemade hand salve. Great for and dry cracked skin, perfect for gardeners, and makes a special Mother’s Day gift.
I’m making a nice hand salve for Mother’s Day gifts this year. Almost every year, my sisters and sisters-in-law get together, at my oldest sister’s mother-in-law’s house, to celebrate Mother’s Day. We order P.F. Chang’s, which one of the guys picks up so no one has to cook, and I always buy or make a small gift for all the moms.
Gardener’s Bliss Homemade Hand Salve
This year, I thought I’d make a nice hand salve for use after a hard days work in the garden, or really anytime. Originally I wanted to add jewelweed extract. You may remember from your Girl Scout (or Boy Scout) days that jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, aka Touch-Me-Not or Whistle Weed, has the ability to relieve skin irritations from insect bites and even poison ivy.
If you notice, many commercial soaps and sprays have jewelweed as the main ingredient. However, since the extract is made with water and alcohol, I had a really hard time incorporating the extract into the salve.
Update: I have since made a Homemade Jewelweed Salve by infusing oil with the plant in the summer.
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Hand Salve Supplies
- 5 T. beeswax pellets
- 1 c. coconut oil
- 1 c. olive oil
- lavender & lemon essential oil (5 drops lavender/15 lemon) each
- 5 vitamin E capsules (acts as a preservative)
- 2 oz glass jars with lids (makes 8 or 4 – 4 oz jars)
How to Make Hand Salve
- First, place the wax, coconut oil and olive oil in a large glass measuring cup. You could also use a clean large glass jar.
- Then place the measuring cup in a pot of simmering water.
- Stir occasionally as the ingredients melt into a nice liquid.
- While you are waiting, take the time to place the essential oils into your glass jars.
- Once the wax and coconut oil is melted, dip a spoon into the liquid and then place it in the freezer for a minute, to see what the consistency is like. If you would prefer it to be thicker, add more beeswax. Add more oil if you want it to be thinner.
- Then, remove the measuring cup from the water and let it sit to cool slightly, just a couple of minutes.
- Next, add your vitamin E by pricking the capsule with a pin and squeezing the oil into the salve mixture.
- Stir and pour into the glass jars. This recipe filled exactly eight 2 oz. jars.
There are many recipes out there for this type of salve, basically combining beeswax and oils in varying amounts, depending on how thick you want the final product. Essential oils for healing properties and scent are almost always included. Still, many people go the extra mile and add a few other goodies.
Hand Salve Options and Extras
- Honey – Said to be healing to the skin
- Carrier Oils – Sweet Almond, Jojoba, Sunflower Oil, and many more. They vary in texture, scent and shelf life
- Infused Base Oils – Infuse a carrier oil with plants like calendula petals or comfrey
- Cocoa butter or shea butter
Take this recipe and go on from there to experiment and create a unique batch of your own. Keep a couple and share the rest with your favorite people.
P.S. If you enjoy making homemade skin care products you may want to try this DIY Foot Scrub or Dry Body Oil project. You can find these and many more on my DIY Projects Page.
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Mary Ann says
Patty.
I plan on making this salve. It sound so easy abs I’m always looking for something for healing hands as are my daughters. I have a question about the oils. Do you use just one type of oil or a few. You mention lemon and lavender. I have both. Do you combine them?
pestep81@gmail.com says
You can use any oils you want. I used olive and coconut because I always have olive and coconut seems to be in fashion.;) For future reference you can infuse flowers in other oils like olive or almond oil by letting them steep or gently heating them on the stove and then straining them. Calendula is a good flower for skin and would be an option. Also I think the coconut gives it a thicker consistency but you could just add extra beeswax if you decided not to use coconut oil. The essential oil part is also up to you. I just happen to really like lemon and lavender. I only used 5 drops of the lavender in each jar because I didn’t want it to be too feminine in case the girls wanted to share with the guys. Lemon is my favorite scent so I used a lot many 15-20 drops. It just depends on what you like. I put them in the jars while the other ingredients where melting. This way you can experiment with the scent before combining with the salve liquid. Let me know how they turn out. I just realized that this was a big spoiler alert for my moms ;). Oh well, at least it gives others like you a chance to make it in time for Mother’s Day.