Shea Butter Salve

by Kinnakeet
(Central New York)

I make a rich healing hand salve using a combination of the following: raw shea butter; beeswax; jojoba, grapeseed, avocado, rose hip and argan oils; lavender, bergamot, chamomile and rose absolute essential oils.

I combine the shea butter and wax using a double boiler, adding the other oils when the wax has liquified, then scraping the results into a glass measuring cup before adding the essential oils and pouring the results into containers. Wal-Mart has very good reusable pots that are perfect for this salve in their travel/sample size bins.

Proportions are generally 2:1 shea butter to beeswax, with all other ingredients in diminishing amounts depending on one's needs. No two of my batches are quite alike and that's okay with me--if you want to replicate your results I recommend writing everything down.

Label the finished salve and include the date it was poured. These make great gifts and are perfect to put in pocket or purse for touching up dry fingertips or soothing scrapes, insect bites or small cuts or bruises. Using so much shea butter makes the salve extra-healing but also a tiny bit oily, and it does have a scent which not everyone enjoys. This makes the use of essential oils imperative. The salve does absorb but a little goes a very long way with this mix.