How to Make a Salve

 To make a salve, you need an herbal oil.  See this post here on how to do that.  

Once your herbal oil has infused for six weeks, strain out the plant matter and measure out about one cup.  I realize this picture shows a tiny bit more than one cup but pretend it doesn't.   Set that aside.

Measure out one cup of strained herbal oil

Take an ounce of beeswax and melt it over the lowest possible heat setting.  I use a wooden spoon to move the wax around and make sure it doesn't burn.

One ounce of beeswax.  I love the smell. 

VERY low setting

All melted

Add the herbal oil to the wax.  When the room temperature oil hits the wax, it will momentarily "un-melt" the wax, but keep stirring until the mixture goes clear again.

See how it "un-melts" the wax?

Once it's clear again, pour into back into your measuring cup and add ten drops of lavender essential oil for preserving properties, antimicrobial properties, and, quite frankly, to make it smell less medicinal.  Then, pour into your containers and let it cool down.  When you use it, the heat from your body/fingers will soften it enough to spread across your skin.

I made BIG containers full of it here, but in the future, I think small is the way to go since so many people love it!  These are about 3 ounces each.

* I would show you what the cooled, finished product looks like, but I don't have any!  Everyone loves this stuff!  As a person prone to small burns and mosquito bites, this is a blessing salve to have around.