How to Make Homemade Calendula Salve for Healthy Skin
Last Updated on September 2, 2023
Here we are again: exploring the utility, beauty, and healing powers of calendula! It is no secret that this medicinal herb is one of my favorite companion flowers to grow in the garden. With its strong anti-inflammatory properties and ability to soothe dozens of skin ailments, calendula is also a choice ingredient for personal wellness and natural beauty recipes. From salads and teas to oils or salves, we love to use calendula in any way we can!
Read along to learn how to make homemade calendula salve. If you’ve never made salve before, don’t worry! It is incredibly easy to do, and requires very few ingredients, steps, and supplies. The final result is beautiful, creamy, golden yellow calendula salve that will nourish, moisturize, and heal your skin. You can use calendula salve to treat dry skin, burns, rashes, eczema and more. Homemade calendula salve also makes for a very sweet DIY gift for holidays, special occasions, or just because!
New to calendula? Check out this article to explore how to grow, harvest, and dry calendula at home. It is a very low-fuss plant that can even be grown in containers and in a wide range of climates.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
What is Calendula Salve?
Calendula salve is a nourishing topical balm made from dried calendula flowers, oil, and wax that is used to heal skin conditions or provide general moisture moisture. Calendula salve recipes can be customized with a variety of different oils, natural waxes, butters, essential oils, vitamin E oil, and more. Lavender essential oil and chamomile essential oil are two of our favorite EO additions.
In general, a salve is simply the term for a healing solution that you put on your skin, in the same family as creams, ointments, or balms. Of those, salves contain the most wax and therefore are the most thick and firm, but still softer than a lotion bar. Salves are shelf-stable, semi-solid at room temperature, and long-lasting on your skin.
Beeswax is a popular natural wax to use in calendula salve recipes because it is readily available, easy to work with (especially when purchased in pastilles), and creates perfectly smooth results. Not keen on beeswax? See the ingredient list below for recommended vegan substitutions, along with carrier oil options.
Healing Properties of Calendula
Calendula officinalis has been used by herbalists, homesteaders, and natural healers for centuries. It can be used both internally or externally to support the immune system, heal skin and infections. Calendula works its magic by promoting cell repair and growth, coupled with its natural antiseptic, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. Above all, it is gentle in its work. Unlike some natural remedies, you don’t need to worry about “overdoing it” with calendula.
What part of calendula is the most medicinal?
The potent medicinal oils within calendula blooms are most concentrated on the sticky green base of the flower head – botanically known as the sepal and receptacle. Resin is also present (but lesser so) on the petals themselves, which is why we choose to use whole dried flowers rather than plucked petals alone when making calendula-infused oil.
What can calendula salve be used for?
If you pay attention to labels, you’ll probably notice calendula as a key ingredient in many natural skin care products, and for a good reason! Topically, calendula salve can ease, heal, or otherwise treat a huge array of skin conditions. According to the Chestnut School of Herbs, this includes: rashes, sunburn, swelling, eczema, acne, stings, wounds, burns, scrapes, chicken pox, cold sores, and even genital herpes sores.
In her book “Medicinal Herbs, A Beginner’s Guide”, Rosemary Gladstar suggests using calendula salve or oil on babies to safely soothe cradle cap, diaper rash, or other skin irritations. (Be sure to check the safety of your chosen base oil for babies too!)
I personally love to use homemade calendula salve on my dry cracked cuticles after a day of digging in the dirt, or on scars, scrapes, chapped lips, and dry feet. It is a favorite daily hand moisturizer. I also find calendula salve or oil to be very soothing after shaving, to prevent or treat razor burn. Last but not least, calendula salve can also lessen the appearance of varicose veins and soften scars.
Calendula Oil
This homemade calendula salve recipe requires ready-to-use calendula oil. You can either make your own calendula-infused oil, or buy organic calendula oil here. Once you have calendula oil, it is very simple to turn it into calendula salve.
If you’re interested in making homemade calendula oil check out this tutorial – and then come back when you’re ready. It is really easy and affordable to do! All you do is steep 100% dry calendula blooms (either homegrown or purchased dried flowers) in a chosen carrier oil to extract the medicinal resins, and then strain it. We prefer to use a long, slow infusion method (3 to 4 weeks) rather than heating calendula flowers in oil for a quick extraction. Preserving the beneficial properties of the blooms by reducing exposure to heat makes it well worth the wait, in my humble opinion!
What is the best carrier oil for calendula?
Jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, and olive oil are all popular carrier oil options to make calendula infused oil and salve – though there are many other options out there! Our calendula oil article explores the pros and cons of a dozen different carrier oils. After all, various oils have unique textures (e.g. some are more or less “greasy”), different comedogenic ratings, and healing properties of their own. For this particular batch of calendula salve, we used organic jojoba oil as a carrier oil. Jojoba oil is very similar to natural skin sebum and therefore soaks in quite nicely.
Supplies & Ingredients Needed to Make Calendula Salve
- 1 cup of calendula oil, or 8 ounces
- 3 to 4 tablespoons* of beeswax pastilles, or about 1 ounce if you’re using shaved, block, or other forms of beeswax. *If you opt to also add shea butter, use only 3 level tbsp of beeswax pastilles. However if you skip the shea butter, use 4 tbsp beeswax. (Vegan options: replace with soy wax or candelilla wax. I recommend organic soy wax, since conventional soy is notoriously pesticide-intensive.)
- Optional: 2 tbsp of shea butter. I personally like to add shea, but it isn’t required! Shea butter is highly moisturizing and rich in vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants.
- Optional: essential oils of choice. Calendula has a mild earthy smell, but it is not extremely aromatic or floral on its own. Therefore, I like to add a few drops of certified organic lavender essential oil to my calendula salve for added soothing aromatherapy. Tea tree, chamomile, peppermint, rosemary, or eucalyptus essential oils are also great choices for calendula salve! You only need a few drops of essential oils, as a little goes a long way.
- A double-boiler, or make-shift double boiler – such as a pot within a pot, or a glass pyrex bowl or stainless steel bowl perched on top of a saucepan with water below. The use of a double-boiler is important, to avoid overheating the calendula oil and thus reduce much of its healing potency!
- Small glass jars or salve tins, for storage. We used these 2-ounce amber glass jars for this particular batch, though we sometimes used larger 4-ounce jars too.
Makes: Just over 1 cup of finished salve (about 10 ounces).
Feel free to scale up or down as needed, depending on how much calendula oil you have. The general rule of thumb for salve is to use about 1 part of beeswax and butter to approximately 4-7 parts oil. A higher beeswax-to-oil ratio will result in a more firm salve, while going lighter on the beeswax will create a softer salve or balm.
Homemade Calendula Salve Instructions
Are you ready? Because this is ridiculously easy.
- Have your salve tins, glass jars, or other calendula salve storage containers of choice ready and waiting.
- In the top portion of a double-boiler (or makeshift double-boiler), add 1 cup of calendula oil and 3 to 4 level tablespoons of beeswax (sliding scale notes above). Also add the optional 2 tablespoons shea butter and a few drops of essential oils now, if you choose to use them.
- In the bottom portion of your double-boiler, add enough water so that the top bowl or pot is in contact and resting in the water below.
- Heat the double-boiler over a medium-low heat on the stovetop. Remember, we want to avoid excessively heating the calendula oil more than what is necessary to melt the beeswax!
- Monitor and routinely stir the mixture until the beeswax (and shea butter) completely melts. Stir to ensure everything is thoroughly combined, and then remove from the heat immediately thereafter.
- While it is still hot, carefully pour the now-liquid calendula salve into your chosen containers. If it starts to solidify while you’re still filling containers, simply put it back on medium-low heat until it liquifies again.
- Set the full calendula salve containers aside (lids off) and allow them to fully cool.
- Enjoy healthy, moisturized skin! Use either clean fingers or a salve spoon to collect a small amount of salve, and apply to your skin as needed. A little goes a long way!
Storage & Shelf Life of Calendula Salve
Store your salve containers in a cool, dark place. I always keep one out and about for regular use, then stash the rest away in a cabinet. Homemade calendula salve can “stay good” for several years! However, its medicinal potency may decrease with extended time and age.
And that is how you make homemade calendula salve!
What a simple and beautiful process, right? I hope you found this tutorial to be interesting, useful, and inspiring – to go make your own healing calendula salve! Feel free to ask questions in the comments below and spread the love by sharing this article. Please stop by for a review once you whip up a batch of your own!
You may also love:
- How to Make Rosehip Infused Oil, and 12 Ways to Use It
- How to Make Homemade Lavender Salve
- Homemade Lip Balm Recipe
- Soothing Homemade Chickweed Salve Recipe for Itching, Burns or Rashes
- How to Make Homemade Cannabis Salve
- 10 Best Vegetarian and Vegan Supplements for Improved Health
How to Make Homemade Calendula Salve
Equipment
- A double-boiler, or make-shift double boiler (such as a glass pyrex bowl or stainless steel bowl perched on top of a saucepan with water below)
- Glass storage jars or salve tins
Ingredients
- 1 cup Calendula oil
- 3-4* tbsp Beeswax pastilles, or approximately 1 once if you're using shaved, block, or other forms of beeswax. *If you opt to also add shea butter, use only 3 level tbsp of beeswax pastilles. However if you skip the shea butter, use 4 tbsp beeswax. (vegan option: replace with the same amount of organic soy wax or candelilla wax)
- 2 tbsp Shea butter (optional)
- 4-5 drops Essential oils of choice (optional)
Instructions
- Have your chosen salve tins or small glass storage jars ready and waiting.
- Add water to the bottom pan of your double-boiler. Now add 1 cup calendula oil, 3-4 tbsp of beeswax (see sliding scale notes above), optional shea butter and essential oils to the top section of the double-boiler.
- Heat the mixture on the stovetop over medium-love heat – only until the beeswax melts, and stirring frequently.
- As soon as everything melts and is thoroughly combined, remove from heat.
- While it is still hot, carefully pour the liquid salve into your chosen containers. (If it starts to solidify while you’re still filling containers, simply put it back on medium-low heat until it liquifies again.)
- Set the full calendula salve containers aside (lids off) and allow them to fully cool.
- The calendula salve will harden as it cools, and then it is ready to use. Use either clean fingers or a salve spoon to collect a small amount of salve, and apply to your skin as needed. A little goes a long way!
- Store your salve containers in a cool, dark location. Homemade calendula salve can “stay good” for several years. However, its medicinal potency may decrease with extended time and age.
Deanna Talerico
Deanna Talerico (aka DeannaCat) is a garden educator and writer with over 15 years experience in organic gardening. She is a retired Senior Environmental Health Specialist, and holds a M.A. in Environmental Studies and B.S. in Sustainability and Natural Resources.
95 Comments
Jojo
Love this. My one question once you have infused your calendula with a carrier oil and have squeezed out all the oil from the flowers what can you do with the left over flower mass. I have used safflower oil
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Jojo, you can use the flowers in bath salts or compost them, most of the beneficial resins have been extracted into the oil by this time.
Cambrie
Hi Deanna & Aaron,
I grew several calendula plants for the first time this year and have been happily harvesting, drying and infusing the blooms to prep for your salve recipe. But I seem to have a problem with thrips on my calendula blossoms. I have been using compressed air to blow them off each cut bloom, one by one, before putting them in the dehydrator but it takes so much time. Is there a better way to deter the insects? Thank you for all your great articles, I visit your site religiously!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Cambrie, we’re glad to hear you have been having a productive calendula season and we appreciate your support! The best thing you can do before they start flowering is to spray them with an emulsified neem oil foliar which will work as pest prevention before they start to flower. You could also use hoops and row covers to keep the thrips off of your plants all together. If neither of those are an option, all you can do is keep harvesting your calendula and try and keep the plants as healthy as you can, you can water them with compost tea or a kelp meal tea if you want to give them a boost. Hope that helps and enjoy the salve!
Andy
A solution to keep thrips off your flowers is Castile soap spray! Organic way to kill soft-bodied pests while keeping your plants thriving! I use two teaspoons of liquid Castile soap per gallon in my sprayer and have never had any issues!
Katherine
Thank you for this beautiful recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
All the ingredients are so easily sourced.
I absolutely love making herbal infrusions from herbs in my garden.
I make organic soaps by using the infusion method regularly.
My kids grew up on my salves and natural remedies. No nasties 🙂
Aletha
I love the recipe and since I don’t have plants I bought Natures Answer calendula flower extract 1000 mg
Is there a recipe to use the extract. I buy a lot of calendula ointment and thought it would be great to make my own,
Please send me a recipe if you have one
Thank you…… Aletha
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Aletha, you can absolutely use the extract in the salve. However, since it contains alcohol you are going to want to make sure that it burns off in the salve making process. Extract is also more potent than flower infused oil but you can probably use the entire 1 oz. bottle for 8 ounces of oil. To do this, add the ingredients as listed in the article along with your 1 oz. bottle of extract. You are going to want to whisk the ingredients occasionally as bubbles will form which is the alcohol burning off, be sure to not have a lid on which will allow for the evaporated alcohol or water to drip back into the liquid ingredients. Keep up with the occasional stirring until everything has melted and turned to liquid and the bubbles have stopped forming. From there you are ready to pour your ingredients into containers. Hope that helps and good luck!
Alberta
Hopeful. Started my flower/oil infusion today. Doing the long/cold method with calendula and lavender flowers. Using a 1 pint canning jar, approx. 1/4 to 1/3 cup calendula petals and approx. 3 Tbsp. lavender flowers. Added a couple droppers full of tea tree oil, rosemary oil and vitamin E oil and filed the jar the rest of the way up with safflower oil. Making a boo boo/burn salve. Thank you much for the inspiration!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
All of your ingredients sound great Alberta! Essential oils can volatilize fairly easily when exposed to heat while making the salve. When we make our salve we typically heat our oil, beeswax, and shea butter until it is all liquid before removing the pot from the heat. At this point is when we add our essential oils and vitamin E before pouring the ingredients into salve tins. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
Dyah Lee
Thank you for providing the inspiration, links and recipe. I’m growing calendula for the first time and look forward to trying the oil and salve recipes. They are such beautiful flowers, love to see them in my garden, too.
Schylar Sue Starr Ivey
This is a very cool recipe, and extremely easy,as it seems. I’m planning to use this once my early marigolds have bloomed! And a question, Do you think we could use cocounut oil for this instead of beeswax? My mom just happens to need some, and ithink it would be great to use with this.. And I don’t think she would be very fast about getting beeswax. She always forgetsthis sorta stuff orsays its too exopensive or whatever..
P.S. Im only in middle school soi live with my mum and dad
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hello Schylar, it’s great to see a young person such as yourself interested in growing plants and making your own products. The process of making calendula oil is typically done through an infusion process where one fills a glass jar full of dried calendula flowers and pours a carrier oil over the top of the flowers until they are all fully covered in the oil. Once this is done, you let the jar sit in a warm and sunny location for 3-6 weeks until it is fully infused before straining out the flowers, leaving only the oil behind. This is the preferred method of extraction and it is actually quite easy. You could even use olive oil as the carrier oil which is likely to be in your kitchen. Adding coconut oil to the salve recipe would not be enough to solidify the mixture as beeswax does, the salve would need to be made up almost entirely of coconut oil. But that can lead to another issue as coconut oil is mostly solid at room temperature and would not work well for this infusion method. You could always just stick to making calendula oil itself which is still very healing for the skin. Thanks for your interest and feel free to ask any other questions you may have. Good luck!
LeAnn Garcia
Hi Deanna,
I’ve used your cannabis recipes, love them!
Wondering if I can infuse calendula & cannabis together is coconut oil to use as a carrier oil for salve.
Can I infuse lavender with cannabis?
You have a great website!
Thank you,
LeAnn
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hello LeAnn, yes you can combine cannabis and calendula or lavender with your carrier oil of choice. Be sure to not heat the oil to too high of a temperature if you are combining the calendula flowers or lavender flowers with the cannabis as to not degrade their beneficial compounds. If you make calendula oil on its own the way we describe in this article, you can add that to your finished cannabis oil before adding the beeswax and shea butter. Hope that helps and good luck! Let us know how it works out for you.
Linda
Have you ever used powdered calendula (mixed in a heated carrier oil) to make any healing salves? I’m curious as how using powdered would work. What do you think please. Thank you.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hello Linda, we don’t have any experience with powdered calendula but it should work just fine. The final product may not come out as fine due to the powder being in the ingredients but it should still be a healing and nourishing salve. Just be sure that when you are heating your carrier oil and powdered calendula to keep it on a lower heat setting as to preserve all of the healing and medicinal benefits of the flower. Hope that helps, good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Shannon Macgillivray
Hi Deanna, I made your Calendula Salve as gifts for my family this Christmas. I followed your tutorial for infusing the oils (slow extraction method) with dried flower heads from my garden. I used sweet almond oil, beeswax and shea butter (all organic) in my mixture. I found the salve a bit greasy once it cooled, but a friend suggested i whip it — oh my goodness! The whipping made all the difference. It became rich and creamy, and the most beautiful buttery yellow. It has been a huge hit! I gave a jar to a friend of mine who is a highly respected esthetician, and she loves it so much that she is going to try making a small batch for her family. Thank you for sharing your lovely recipe. xo
DeannaCat
Hi Shannon! Thank you very much for the feedback. We are so happy to hear you and your friends/family have been able to enjoy the efforts of your labor too! And thank you for the tip re: whipping – that isn’t something we’ve tried!
Jennifer Gron
How firm does your recipe set in the end? I was thinking of making this and putting in chapstick containers to give for ease of use but wondered if it is too soft for that kind of container.
DeannaCat
Hi Jennifer, our salve would probably be considered a bit too “soft” for a chapstick container. Possibly in the colder months of the year it would hold up okay. Also, this recipe calls for about 25% beeswax, you could always increase the beeswax to 35-40% by volume and it will be a harder salve. May be something you have to experiment with, good luck!
Nicole Novak
The first time I made calendula salve I was in a hot hurry to make salve with your recipe for calendula oil but didn’t want to wait for 3 weeks of infusion so I did a hot extraction. The salve was nice but very dark. At the same time I did have plenty more dried flowers to make it with your recipe and made an infusion with sweet almond oil and another with a mixture of sweet almond and olive oil. The resulting salves were so much better looking and felt better too. Lesson learned!!