calendula and neem hand salve

[Birdie Wife]

I suffer occasionally with excema on the back of my hands and wrists, and it's flared up recently. So I looked up some recipes and tweaked them according to what I had, made a hand salve and tried it out last night. It's not really a long enough period to make a proper assessment, but I can say that overnight the itchiness has disappeared and the bit of raw, broken skin I had has started to heal very nicely. So if you're interested, here is my recipe:

For 100g of salve, melt together:

34g shea butter
33g beeswax
14g calendula oil (I used what I had in the cupboard, which is sunflower oil infused with calendula)
14g sweet almond oil
5g neem oil

Pot up into metal tins . Use sparingly and massage well into affected skin. I found it best to do this at night to allow the oils to sink in properly. I would hazard a guess at a shelf life f about 3 months based on the shelf lifd of the shea butter which I think is the ingredient with the shortest shelf life.

 

[Genny]

Have you already had your shea butter for a while? Most places I've seen list the shelf life of shea at 18 months -2 yrs.

Sounds like a lovely recipe though.

 

[Birdie Wife]

Yeah, I've had a about a year. I was saving it for lip balms but forgot about it at the back of the cupboard and just bought more

It's a nice simple recipe, my favourite kind and it only smells a bit of neem. Mind you, I reckon anything that smells that bad has got to be doing some good...

I showed my friends in choir this morning, one lady there wants to try some for her dry cracked hands. My mum wants some too. And there's a lady where I work who has psoriasis. Good job I made extra

 

[mel z]

I love the recipe (except for the neem, can't get past that smell after making soap with it once) and happy it worked for you. If I can find something that works as well as the neem, I'll give it a go.

 

[DeeAnna]

Neem is antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic, so you could look for other carrier oils or essential oils that would have these properties.

According to my notes, tamanu oil is antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory. It has an odor, but it's definitely not as nose-wrinkling and pungent as neem.

A blend of tea tree and lavender EOs is an antiseptic, antibacterial, and anti-fungal combination that has been effective in clinical studies. Some folks don't like the odor of tea tree, so lavender alone would be an option too -- it is a mild antiseptic and analgesic.

Or just omit the neem and make up the difference with more calendula oil. I made a lotion this winter with calendula-infused sunflower and jojoba. I think it was very helpful with my itchy winter-time dry skin (I don't have eczema, however). I made a similar lotion without the calendula-infused oil and noticed more itchiness, so my anecdotal experience is that calendula is helpful for itchiness.

 

[mel z]

Ooh, thanks for the heads up on tamanu oil. Never tried that one. Putting it on the need to order next list now.

I don't mind the smell of tea tree and am not allergic to it (don't know why not), or the lavender, yipee! (Can't use cedarwood and the like though.) I have some caledula steeping in OO already, so good to go on that one too.