Comfrey, Symphytum Officinale pt. 2

in #homesteading7 years ago

Today I will be showing you how I make a soothing Comfrey Salve, that use for dry skin, rashes, minor scrapes, bug bites, and as a night cream for my face. The naturally occuring allantion is primarily responsible for the skin soothing benefits, but the vitamins and minerals brought up from deep in the earth are surely to thank as well! Allantoin is synthesised in labs and added to many mainstream skincare products, but I believe the synergistic effect of all the parts of the plant working together trumps one compound singled out.

This year I used most of the comfrey that I grew fresh in compost tea, and in infusions to help heal my jaw after a tooth extraction. I still dried and saved some leaves for a rainy day (like today!) which will now be put to good use.

Starting with the base ingredients. I tend to use a lot of shea butter in my recipies, as it is rich in vitamins A and E and really helps skin heal. It also doesn't break out my blemish prone skin like oil and wax based salves so I am comfortable using it on my face. 20171219_084531.jpg

I scoop about a cup of shea butter into a jar with a cup of loosely packed comfrey leaves, place this into a pot of hot water and melt them together over low heat.
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I'm adding some calendula petals from flowers that I grew to the salve today. I like to mix things up, and calendula is full of antioxidants, and is antibacterial as well as antiinflammatory.
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When all of the shea butter is melted, I will let the shea infuse with the comfrey and calendula for a few hours.
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After about four hours it is time to strain out the herbs.
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And there you have it! A super soothing salve for cuts, bruises, sprains, burns, itches, rashes, chapped skin... You name it. As the salve cools it will harden and become pale. A small smear goes a very long way.
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If you want to get a little fancier, and today I did because I'm gifting these jars of salve, add some essential oils. I'm adding lavender and roman chamomile for their relaxing and skin healing attributes. Perfect for a salve like this. I stir about five drops of each oil into each jar, the goal is to accent and enhance the healing powers of the herbs, not to over power.
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe, and the information on this miraculous plant comfrey.

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This is exactly the recipe I want to make once I have some calendula. I never planted it last year. But my comfrey did AWESOME this past year!

I hope the recipe works well for you! This was my first year growing calendula, I'm hoping to grow much more next year :) Such a beautiful flower.

Yes it is. I'll have to post when I am able to next summer about this one. I have read such wonderful healing aspects of calendula, comfrey and feverfew; which I have a nice plot started of for next year's harvest.

I need one!! Love this, looks very pretty too. I’ve tried doing different mixes but my skin or hair is fickle and doesn’t always love every herb. I still love the smells and textures.

Yes, my skin is picky too. Anything that isn't shea butter based and I'm covered in bumps. Coconut oil actually dries out my skin!

Mine too with coconut! I’ve tried mustard, I break out. Shea is too greasy. Cocoa is too strong. Amla is too itchy. Almond I break out. Hemp too greasy. Jojoba dries me out. Grape seed smells, apricot I break out. The list goes on 😣

I hope you find something that works for you :)

Me too!! Thanks again for sharing. Oil goes a long way.

Comfrey salve (bought from the health store) has been my go-to-first in the medicine cabinet for all manner of problems, but I do struggle with its sticky base so I would love to give this recipe a try.

Thank you so much for sharing. :)

I’ll have to try comfrey in general. I loved that these were grown fresh from the garden. If you try it can you let me know what you thought?

Omg another EPIC post Amy!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 Thank you!!!

Thank you for inspiring and motivating me to make posts! Its fun to think that people might be interested in what I have to say <3

I know that you said oils can irritate your skin, but do you ever do anything with coconut oil? Thanks for the

This post gets the #healthy-home seal of approval!

And thanks @goldendawne for resteeming it!!!

(@em3, me, wants to make this...I did dry and save some comfrey leaves....now I know why! Thank you!)

Thank you! I hope you make it and love it :)

You've got me thinking now. Maybe I could use coconut oil with a hot infusion. I usually just do cold and let it sit for weeks. Combining the calendula isn't something is have thought of. I only had one plant grow, so not enough for an infusion on its own, but possibly good for mixing with something else.

Yeah infusing with heat really helps out if you want to make it in a day without thinking ahead! It will totally work with coconut oil. I also only had one calendula grow this year, so needed to do a combo.

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