Calendula is a wonderful healing herb — an excellent aid for skin ailments of all kind and the perfect herb for salve-making! I am constantly amazed at the speed with which it heals rashes and wounds. I also love that it is gentle enough to be used by the whole family.
Make up a batch of this healing salve in about 15 minutes with just a few simple ingredients. You'll have a go-to remedy for all rashes (including diaper rash), cuts, scrapes, bruises, burns, bites, blisters, and dry skin.
Pour it into a pretty jar, top it with a label and ribbon, and it also makes a thoughtful gift!
Calendula Oil
Ingredients
- dried calendula flowers
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Andrea's method...
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Fill a jar with dried flowers. (I used dried flowers over fresh to reduce the risk of spoilage.)
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Pour olive oil over the flowers until the jar is almost full.
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Put the lid on and store for 3 to 6 weeks, shaking the jar periodically. (The longer it sits, the more potent your oil will be.)
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Strain the oil and use.
Quicker method...
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Combine the above ingredients in the top of a double boiler and heat over a very low simmer for several hours, stirring occasionally.
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Strain the oil and use.
Calendula Salve
Ingredients
- 1 cup calendula oil can be purchased, or see recipe above to make your own
- 1/4 cup beeswax pastilles pellets or grated
- 5 drops lavender essential oil
- 1 pinch ground turmeric optional, but it gives a nice yellow color to the salve
Instructions
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Pour the oil into a pot and warm over very low heat.
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Add the beeswax and stir until melted.
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Remove from heat and stir in the essential oil and turmeric.
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Pour into jars or containers.
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Store in a cool, dark place.
Make Your Own Salves and Herbal Blends
These recipes will work well with any herb, not just calendula. If you have several herbal oils it is easy to make your own varieties. Different types of salves in decorative jars and packaged together make a beautiful gift!
Have you made your own calendula salve or any other herbal salves? What are your favorite herbs to use?
This post was featured in 20 Homemade Herbal Gifts.
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I’ve also done an oil in 3 days in a crockpot. Just put flowers and oil in jar. Cap the jar and sit it on a dishrag in the crockpot. Pour hot water around the jar as high as you can, and turn to lowest setting. Stir once a day with a butterknife, and add hot water as needed as it evaporates. Then strain and do the beeswax thing! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I need to make some!
Great tip, Jeanne! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the recipe. Where do you buy your jars?
Cheryl, I found the jars at our local dollar store. They are meant for spices but work well for salve, too.
Andrea how easy is calendula to grow? We have a tricky climate and I don’t think I’ve ever tried it.
Calendula is an annual and can be grown from seed in northern climates very easily … I grow it in northern Canada, and it likely would do fine in warmer parts of Alaska.
Jenny – I just read “you might mistake Calendula Flowers for any other marigold” so I’m thinking that if you can grow marigolds you can grow calendula. I did have a couple plants last season which did quite well in MN despite being neglected.
Hi Jenny, I have found it very easy to grow. Like Marilyn, I grow it from seed in a cold climate. I only had room for a few plants this year, but I just dried the blooms as they came out, and since it blooms from mid-summer to the first snow, I was able to collect a surprising amount!
Can you use coconut oil instead of olive oil for the calendula oil? I have an excess of very high quality coconut oil and I would love to use it if possible.
Hi Briana,
You can make an herbal-infused oil with any oil, and I have seen several recipes using calendula with half olive oil and half coconut oil using the quick method. Coconut oil would only work in the traditional method if you live in a climate where coconut oil is a liquid at room temperature. (It is always solid here!) If your coconut oil is a solid at room temperature and you use it to make calendula oil, you may not need to add any beeswax into the recipe, as the role of the beeswax here is to thicken the salve. Plus, you will have all the added benefits of the coconut oil itself! I would love to know if you try it and how it works out!
Thank you for the recipe. While I love the idea of making this salve at the cost of $80 I think ill stick with aloe and Bag Balm until the prices of the ingredients needed drop and makes it more affordable.
If that were the price, Debbie, I wouldn’t be making my own either! Calendula is easy to grow in the garden (I only grow a few plants and then dry the blossoms as they come out until I have enough), and apiaries often sell beeswax. I bought a huge chunk at our local farmer’s market for $3. I have made several batches with it and still have more than half left over. Even with the essential oil I would be surprised if making a batch of salve cost me $5. Online ordering is convenient but it might be more economical to find the ingredients locally. Aloe is great for skin, too! I often use it as an ointment as well, it’s just not as handy for gift giving. 🙂
Does it matter what type of calendula you use? I am placing an order for my garden seeds for this spring and when I searched calendula about 11 different varieties came up.
Sarah, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you on this! What you are looking for is Calendula officinalis.
If we’re looking for the benefits of calendula, why not just use the calendula oil?
I don’t see the beeswax and eo adding any real benefit.
Beeswax helps retain moisture to the skin. Plus, it makes it more of a salve and not liquid. Lavender is GREAT for burns. I wouldn’t leave it out.
Great recipe, I can’t wait to try it. My calendula is starting to bloom now, I need to start picking and drying the flowers. I have a salve I use that I just LOVE made by Harmonic Arts, but I really want to make my own. Beeswax is amazing and I didn’t realize it actually has great healing properties which is why it is used in recipes like this, not just to thicken it, but because it is so great for our skin. I need to track down jars and some local beeswax and some olive oil that won’t get used in the kitchen before I get my hands on it. I thought about using coconut oil, but I think I’ll just stick with this recipe and then experiment.
I hope you love it! Coconut oil makes a nice salve, too, but the consistency will be different than with the olive oil. If you want to check consistency when you are making a new salve, you can drop a few drops onto a plate and pop it into the freezer for a minute or two. This will give you an idea of what the consistency will be when it sets.
Can you use it on pets?
Hi Courtney, I am not an expert, but since there are commercially available salves for pets with almost the same ingredients, I would think you could. You may want to leave out the essential oil, though. It’s not included in the pet salves I read about and I am not sure about the safety of essential oils with pets.
Lavender is very good for dogs. I use it all the time on my 3 Chihuahuas and they love it. t’s safe if they lick it by accident too.
Lavender is one of the best Essential Oils for dogs. I use it all the time on my 3 Chihuahuas.
What is the shelf life of the calendula salve ?
Hi Camila,
Unopened calendula salve should last 6 months to a year. 🙂
Once opened and used I would say a few months.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team