Making A Basic Herbal Salve

Herbal oils are wonderful for healing skin rashes, scrapes and scratches. If you are looking for a convinient way to store and apply these herbal enfusions, try making a salve. Almost any container will work, and then you can just toss your favorite salve into the baby bag, sports bag, suit case or your purse. Everything from lip healing salves to baby bottom salves can be made at home for a fraction of the cost, and with ton's of herbal healing benefits!

Here's how:

1 cup herbal enfused oil
2oz Bees Wax (grated or pellets)
4 capsules Vitamin E (puncture capsule with a pin and squeeze into salve)

1. Before starting, put a teaspoon in the freezer (you will use this in a minute). Also, have all of your ingredients handy before starting.
2. Heat (but do not boil) your oil - Use a crock pot on the lowest setting, a double boiler or carefully microwave in 30 second intervals. Add a few bits of Bees Wax to the oil and wait until it melts, then you know that it is hot enough to begin adding the rest of the wax.
3. Gradually add beeswax to the oil, stirring, and heat it until all the wax is melted. To test to see if your salve is hard enough, dip the cold spoon into the salve and test the thickness. If your salve is too soft, add more beeswax.
4. After you reach your desired thickness you can add Vitamin E oil (which works as a natural preservative).
5. Pour your salve into containers and label. The salve should have a shelf life of approx 1 year.

NOTE: If you ever see any black fungus or discoloration on your salve, you should throw away the whole container.