It is summer now, with the confinement is totally lifted and the very successful vaccinated campaigns here in France, we are finally allowed for travelling again. I have never got so excited since the first lockdown in 2020. I am totally looking forward to having a trip close to nature. Since we are fully vaccinated, this year we are definitely going to do camping in the wild. It is our family’s annual summer activity (except last year we didn’t manage to make it for you-know-why). We were thrilled. Apart from preparing what is necessary for camping like tents, stove (obviously) and etc, there are also 2 essential DIY products that I normally will bring it with me. The first one is an essential oil repellent spray that I posted not so long ago, and the second one is a lavender salve. Long before I started to DIY my skincare products, I used to use this lavender salve from Provence, I love it so much. Aside from smelling super good, this salve is also very versatile. So on this 14 July French Day, we are going to recreate one from scratch!
Lavender salve is good for…
- Apply lavender salve to irritated skin to reduce swelling, redness, and irritation. This includes rashes, bug bites, burns or sunburn, acne, scrapes, eczema, stings, and scars.
- Aftershave balm, prevent razor burn.
- Perfect for chapped lips, rough elbows, dry hands for general moisture.
- Solid perfume. Dab some lavender salve around your temples, neck, wrists, and under your nose, and take a few deep breaths.
- Dry cracked heels
- Baby’s diaper rash
- Body massage
We can’t avoid getting bugs/insects/mosquito bites when you are in the wild even when you have a good repellent spray. They seem like have the ability to sneak close to you and bite the zone that is not protected properly. Or just patiently waited until your repellent spray faded away (this is why it is important to reapply it from time to time).
How to diy healing lavender salve
The healing power of the salve comes from lavender essential oil, avocado oil, and mango butter. While it is totally possible to make your own lavender-infused oil to enhance the healing power, this tutorial is however just a homemade recipe using lavender essential oil as it is more accessible from everywhere in the world. In my formulation, to get the most of lavender essential oil, I formulated it at 2% of the total weight to get the most of it. For babies and toddler diaper rash, you might want to leave it unscented or a minimal of 0.5%.
InĀ avocado oil, the mainĀ fatty acidsĀ were oleicĀ fatty acidĀ (47.2%) and palmitic (23.6%). Oleic acid is an omega-9 fatty acid that your body naturally produces. To be specific, itās found in our sebum. It is great for replenishing dry, aging skin. It penetrates the skin to moisturize below the skinās surface.Ā Another lovely ingredient in our healing salve is mango butter. ItĀ contains vitamin A, an antioxidant that stimulates theĀ skin’sĀ natural renewal process. It encourages theĀ skinĀ to produce new, healthyĀ skinĀ cells. Top it up with some fast-absorbing liquid vegetable oils like almond oil and fractionated coconut oil, this salve really has all the botanical healing elements. Lastly, to get that ointment-like texture, I added some beeswax.
Formulation of lavender salve
| Phase | Ingredients | % w/w |
|---|---|---|
| A | Mango butter | 15% |
| A | Almond Oil | 25% |
| A | Fractionated Coconut Oil | 22% |
| A | Beeswax | 10% |
| A | Avocado Oil | 25% |
| B | Lavender Essential Oil | 2% |
| B | Vitamin E (optional) [ US / Europe ] | 0.5% |
Get all the above ingredients from Plant Therapy and start formulating!!
Check out all my recipes with lavender essential oil here!
DIY Tools
- double-boiler [US / Europe]
- electronic balance precision 0.01g [US / Europe]
- mini inox whisk [ US / Europe ]
- mini silicon spatula [ US / Europe ]
- 50ml glass jar [ US / Europe ] or 50ml aluminum can [ US / Europe ]
Related Post: Essential DIY Equipment and Tools for DIY Beauty Crafters
DIY Healing Lavender Salve
Course: Beauty RecipesDifficulty: Easy30
g15
minutesPhase A- Heating Phase; Phase B – Post-Heating Phase
Ingredients
Phase A/ 4.5g Mango butter
Phase A/ 7.5g Almond Oil
Phase A/ 6.6g Fractionated Coconut Oil
Phase A/ 3g Beeswax
Phase A/ 7.5g Avocado Oil
Phase B/0.6g Lavender Essential Oil (for 2% in 30g)
Phase B/ 0.15g Vitamin E (optional)
Directions
- Weigh the phase A ingredients and transfer them into a double-boiler. Place it over a barely-simmered water bath. Stir and mix until the beeswax is totally melted and mixed with the other ingredients.
- Remove the double-boiler and continue stirring until it is slightly cooled down. Add in phase B ingredients. And continue stirring.
- Decant your mixture into the container.
- Voila, that’s it
Notes & Substitution
- Vitamin E is optional if you are making it in a small batch like me. Chances are you might already finish it long before it would go rancid. However, if you are making it in a big batch, please consider adding it to extend the shelf life of your salve.
- If you prefer making a harder balm than I do, you could increase the beeswax to 15~20% but not more. As more than 20% generally will make the butter/balm/ointment/salve too hard to spread over the skin. By increasing the beeswax, you have to decrease the volume of liquid oil.
- If you don’t have sweet almond oil, you can add the same amount of fractionated coconut oil. Vice versa.
- If you don’t have avocado oil, you can replace it with extra virgin olive oil for the same nutritious value.
- The concentration of essential oil can be adjusted from 0.1% ~5% according to the needs. Please refer to this chart to understand more.
- Please beware that at step 3, because of beeswax the mixture will start to solidify very fast once cool down. Gently scrape it with the silicone spatula and pour it into your glass container.
- Beeswax can be replaced by other vegan waxes but the amount needs to be re-adjusted to get the perfect ointment-like texture.
Enjoy the healing effect of this lavender salve!
If you like my tutorial, please consider donating me a coffee! Cheers
Calleigh
Hi, I am Calleigh, MEng Chemical Engineering and a process engineer, and I'm here to show you how to DIY your skincare and household products with the correct formulation and using only natural ingredients. I believe that eating good food (Yes I have cooking recipes too!) and living in a chemical-free environment are the keys to having a healthy lifestyle. And that doesn't need to be expensive.
