If I had to choose only one skin-care DIY, this would be it.
The reason why? Not only does it work, it works for so many different things. It’s an all-purpose essential oil healing salve. It’s like a natural Neosporin, but even better.
It stops itchy skin from bug bites, rash, or bee stings.
It helps heal scrapes and small cuts.
It moisturizes and protects chapped skin, cracked heels, and dry skin. It works as an intense hand lotion or overnight foot cream.
It soothes razor burn and inflamed pimples.
It helps heal minor burns.
And best of all, it helps calm my eczema symptoms. While it doesn’t cure the underlying causes of eczema, it does amazing things to help with the dry, reddened and cracked skin that I sometimes get on my knuckles, behind my knees, and even on my face.
Yep, this stuff is amazing.
And while I hope I never have to choose just one skin-care DIY item, if I did, this would definitely be it.
Ways I use this essential oil healing salve
1 – eczema
2 – scrapes and small cuts
3 – minor burns
4 – dry skin
5- rash
6 – itchy skin
7 – bug bites
8 – dry, cracked heels
9 – pimples
10 – razor burn
11 – dry chapped hands (and other chapped skin)
What’s in homemade healing salve?
This website contains affiliate links. This means that should you click on certain links, and then subsequently purchase a product, I will receive a small commission. The price is exactly the same for you as it would be without the affiliate link.Â
coconut oil (kind I use) – Coconut oil has so many great benefits for helping moisturize and heal skin. It’s naturally antibacterial and antifungal. It’s quickly absorbed and penetrates skin better than other oils. Plus it acts as carrier oil to dilute the essential oils. Diluting essential oils when used topically is beneficial because it both (1) makes it safer (less risk of skin reactions and overuse sensitivity) and (2) increases the effectiveness of the essential oils by slowing evaporation and improving absorption.
shea butter (find my favorite here)-Â Shea butter is an intense moisturizer for dry skin plus it’s high in vitamins A and E as well as essential fatty acids.
jojoba oil (find here) – Unlike other oils and butters, the wax structure of jojoba oil is very similar to the natural oils of our skin. It has antibacterial properties. Plus it’s full of antioxidants and nutrients that help soothe and calm inflammation.
beeswax (find here)- Beeswax performs two functions in this salve: (1) it soothes, protects, and nourishes skin and (2) raises the melting temperature – coconut oil melts at 76 degrees F, so without the beeswax on a warm day, this salve would completely liquefy. Beeswax has a much higher melting temperature (144 degrees F), so adding a little beeswax helps to keep the salve at least somewhat solid in warm weather.
frankincense essential oil – Frankincense helps protect, regenerate, and repair skin cells. It has antiseptic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties that may help speed healing of minor wounds, insect bites, and rashes.
lavender essential oil – Lavender helps improve blood circulation, is anti-inflammatory, calms and soothes skin, and provides temporary pain relief.
helichrysum essential oil – Helichrysum is a super power for skin! It’s anti-inflammatory, helps improve circulation, inhibits microbial growth, helps fight infection, helps lessen the appearance of scars, and maintains cell health.
tea tree essential oil – Tea tree is great for skin healing and repair. Its antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties work to relieve itching, redness, and inflammation.
adorable mini mason jars (find them here)
convenient tubes that I use to keep healing salve in my purse and travel with (find them here)
bamboo sticks to stir (find them here)
How to make essential oil healing salve?
click here to get a free printable of this recipe
step 1:Â add 2 tablespoons beeswax to a heat-safe glass bowl or measuring cup
step 2:Â melt the beeswax is the double boiler method
Put the heat-safe glass bowl/measuring cup into a pot of simmering water. Melt beeswax over medium heat. Stir occasionally. It will take about 15 minutes to melt beeswax. Make sure beeswax is completely melted, otherwise the beeswax might partially re-solidify, making the sore muscle rub grainy.
step 3: add 2 tablespoons coconut oil to the melted beeswax
step 4:Â add 1 tablespoon shea butter
step 5:Â add 1/4 cup jojoba oil (or substitute sweet almond oil)
step 6:Â after everything is completely melted, remove from heat and let it cool slightly before adding essential oils
step 7:Â add the following essential oils (75 drops in total)
15 drops frankincense essential oil
25 drops lavender essential oil
15 drops helichrysum essential oil
20 drops tea tree essential oil
note:Â this is a 3% dilution.
step 8:Â pour into jars
I like these adorable mini mason jars (find them here)
step 9:Â I also pour my healing salve into these convenient tubes (find them here).
I keep one of these in my purse so that I always have it handy.
They’re made from PET plastic which is safe to use with diluted essential oils like this healing salve.
step 10:Â let the healing salve cool completely before you put the lid on
Here’s my essential oil healing salve recipe one more time
click here to get a free printable of this recipe
1) add 2 tablespoons beeswax (find here) to a heat-safe glass bowl or measuring cup then melt the beeswax is the double boiler method
Put the heat-safe glass bowl/measuring cup into a pot of simmering water. Melt beeswax over medium heat. Stir occasionally. It will take about 15 minutes to melt beeswax. Make sure beeswax is completely melted, otherwise the beeswax might partially re-solidify, making the sore muscle rub grainy.
2) add the following to the melted beeswax and continue heating in double boiler until everything is melted
2 tablespoons coconut oil (kind I use)
1 tablespoon shea butter (this is my favorite kind)
1/4 cup jojoba oil (find here)
3) after everything is completely melted, remove from heat and let it cool slightly before adding essential oils
4) add the following essential oils (75 drops in total)
15 drops frankincense essential oil
25 drops lavender essential oil
15 drops helichrysum essential oil
20 drops tea tree essential oil
note:Â this is a 3% dilution.
5) pour into containers
I use these adorable mini mason jars (find them here)
and
I also use these convenient tubes (find them here). I keep one of these in my purse so that I always have it handy. They’re made from PET plastic which is safe to use with diluted essential oils like this healing salve.
6) let the healing salve cool completely before you put the lid on
How to use homemade essential oil healing salve
- clean and dry skin before using salve
- apply thin layer one to three times a day as needed
- for minor burns, first apply a drop or two of lavender essential oil. Wait to apply healing salve until the minor burn is no longer emitting heat. (if you use salve when the minor burn is still giving off heat, the salve could trap the heat in and slow healing)
Where to get supplies?
This website contains affiliate links. This means that should you click on certain links, and then subsequently purchase a product, I will receive a small commission. The price is exactly the same for you as it would be without the affiliate link.Â
mini mason jars – find here
empty tubes (PET plastic that’s safe for diluted essential oils like this salve) – find here
beeswax – find here
coconut oil – find here
jojoba oil – find here
shea butter – find here
click here to get a free printable of this recipe
here are a few other essential oil posts that I think you’ll like:
20 Favorite Roller Bottle Blend Recipes and Free Printable Labels
DIY Calming Magnesium Body Butter with Essential Oils
Clever & Creative Ways to Use Empty Essential Oil Bottles
25+ Easy DIY Gifts Made with Essential Oils
Essential Oil Nail Serum for Dry, Weak, and Brittle Fingernails
DIY Sore Muscle Rub with Essential Oils
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Please note: Products mentioned in this article have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products and information on this page are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This website is not a substitute for professional care. Always consult your medical doctor regarding your medical care. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
Disclaimer: Please know that this website contains affiliate links. This means that should you click on certain links, and then subsequently purchase a product, I will receive a small commission. The price is exactly the same for you as it would be without the affiliate link.Â
Hi Sarah,
I’ve made this salve and it is the best! My family and friends absolutely rave about it. I’m going to make the lip tubes for stocking stuffers and wondered if you have a label that would fit on the tubes or a suggestion on where to look for one? Many thanks for sharing all of your recipes!
Hi Gail,
How fun! What a great idea! Those tubes would make great stocking stuffers.
I don’t think a label on the tube will work very well. Because the tube gets squeezed, I fear the label would come off pretty easily.
What if instead you put the tubes inside small sacks or organza jewelry bags. Then you could put a hang tag on the sack to say that it’s a healing salve with usage instructions?
Sarah
Hello! Thanks for sharing your recipe! I am wondering if this would also work to be stored in chapstick containers or is it too soft for that?
As formulated, it’s too soft to work in a chapstick tube, but you could add a bit more beeswax and that would harden it up.
Just be careful not touch the chapstick tube to any cut or irritated skin directly. Or you could use the chapstick tube to apply to skin, then simply wipe tube with a clean tissue to remove the surface layer of salve from chapstick tube when you’re done. That’s because you want to keep the salve clean so that it lasts as long as possible.
Hello Sarah! I have just found your site and really enjoying it!! I’m interested in making your healing salve, it sounds wonderful! I’m new to diy creams etc, and concerned about EO ratios, especiallally some that may be sun senitive if used in to high an amount. You mentioned usning a 3% ratio here, could you be so kind as to explain how you work out the % of a formula, as I, or perhaps othes not that experienced, may want to increase or decrease the percentage of EO to a total formula? I hope I have explained this properly, and I thank you so very much if you could help explain. :-). Thank you also for your lovely site!
Sure thing. The 3% refers to the dilution ratio. In this case, a 3% dilution means that for every 100 drops of a carrier oil (coconut oil, shea butter, jojoba, and beeswax in this recipe), there are 3 drops of essential oil.
This recipe uses 9 tablespoons of carrier oil (4 Tbsp jojoba, 1 Tbsp shea butter, 2 Tbsp coconut oil and 2 Tbsp beeswax).
There are 300 drops in a tablespoon.
9 tablespoons x 300 drops per tablespoon = 2,700 drops of carrier oil in this recipe.
There are 75 drops of essential oil in this recipe.
75 drops essential oil / 2,700 drops of carrier oil = 2.8% (I rounded up to 3%)
If you want a stronger blend (that is, a higher dilution ratio), then you increase the number of drops of essential oil. You can work out the amounts using a little algebra. If you want a 5% dilution rate, then the calculation for this recipe would be x/2,700=5%. x= 2,700 x .05 x= 135 drops of essential oil.
Same process for calculating a more diluted or gentler blend (that is, a lower dilution ratio). For example, say you wanted a 1% dilution ratio for this healing salve.
x/2,700=1% x=2,700 x .01 x= 27 drops of essential oil
How much does one recipe make? 2 four oz jars? Thank you.
It makes a little more than 1/2 cup of salve. Depending on how full you fill each jar, it’s about enough for 2 two ounce jars OR 1 two ounce jar and 2-3 small tubes of salve.