Saving money making your own tincture, lotions, salves and extracts!

One of my favorite things to do is provide information for my clients,  about how to save money making their own healing remedies, with little effort, from targeted herbs and flowers from GOD’s garden to aid in a speedy recovery from adverse events we may encounter in life!

I teach my clients how to reduce their own exposure to everyday chemicals which can exacerbate hormone dysfunction, insulin resistance, brain fog, headaches, belly problems, insomnia  and unpleasant skin conditions.  I will always research the science on the herbs I may need to support a certain goal for myself and suggest everyone does the same.  Some plants are poisonous but many hiding in plain sight are edible and medicinal!  Everyone must explore the safety and efficacy from skilled herbal professionals in the area they are exploring.  God put these plants in nature to support the human body to heal itself when special circumstances or injuries evolve!  What we have been doing instead as a culture is proving to be causing more harm than good in many cases!

For combinations that will enhance a soothing healing experience for skin issues, outbreaks, scrapes, burns, stings and bites I will either infuse healthy oils for a cream or salve or I’ll use witch hazel infused for a cool spray on!  My solvent or base will also be a superior choice for the job, most likely organic EVOO, coconut oil, MCT oil, avocado, grape seed oil or witch hazel that has many healing properties within itself!  For herbal tinctures, I'll use vodka 40% for soft flowers and herbs and perhaps a 75%-95% alcohol for very hard, dry or resinous herbal concoctions. (They need to brew in a dark cool cupboard shaken every few days for 3-8 weeks at least!)  100% vegetable glycerin, raw honey or apple cider vinegar will also infuse the vital properties from the plant over several weeks.  For under the tongue tinctures I may infuse the herbal combo with 3/4 glycerine and 1/4 alcohol to thin it, strengthen the shelf life and boost the infusion process!  Each solvent will pull different elements from the plant being used and thus, also will vary in how long the product will last. Many times I will use vinegar for culinary herbs and flavorings for things I cook up on the stove for dinner! I love filling a little spice jar with fresh cut garlic, or rosemary and filling it with vinegar or vodka, to brew a few weeks and then it becomes a medicinal or culinary extract!  I can keep it in the fridge indefinitely for use though refrigeration is probably not necessary for an alcohol based tincture. But it's where I look when I am cooking up a pot of something for dinner!

This non toxic direction eliminates perhaps hundreds of gene flipping chemicals found in a day’s use of commercial body care products!  Yay! It depends on how sick we are, as to how motivated we are to seek out this direction for making chemical free creams, lotions, sunscreen, deodorant or even toothpaste!

While I am not interested in selling my proven concoctions, I'd much rather simply teach others to do for pennies something that has incredible non toxic benefits!  Looking to history proven methods, used for thousands of years is very fun! Usually, for the cost of a typical one ounce, store bought tincture or salve I can make enough for 6-8 ounces that can last all year long if I need it to! Sometimes we need a little immune system boost during the cold and flu season, help during high stress events or panic attacks, sometimes life worries are interfering with our good nights sleep!  

All these issues have corresponding combinations of herbs that can work synergistically together to support our body to balance out again!  Why modern medicine came along to silence the voice of botanists and herbalists who excel in providing science based remedies is incomprehensible to me!  The green leaves in the garden, the Bible says are for healing!  Herbs and plants have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-anxiety and anti-tumor compounds built right in the plant!  WOWSIES! This information has been obstructed from the general public view for several decades now and most unfortunate for the families who cannot afford the co payment or doctor visit fee and suffer on the sidelines because they cannot afford the help when life happens!  There is HOPE! There are things we can do to help our body heal itself from non acute issues, long before we need to pick up the phone to schedule an appointment somewhere!

Letting some wonderful morning, fresh picked, English rose petals, calendula or lavender flowers steep along with some skin healing herbs like chamomile, lemon balm, comfrey or St John's Wort can also boost the recovery process from a simple sunburn, bite, or unpleasant skin eruption we don't like!

Sometimes, I fill a jar with the combo desired with a skin thirsty oil and sit it in a semi-sunny spot outside several weeks (depending on the combination for 3-8 weeks) to infuse.  Sometimes I'm in a hurry and will place it in the oven on super low for 4-5 hours until I can smell the flowers infused in the oil!

The ancient folk method boasts of additional benefits from being charged with energy by the sun by day and the moon by night!  Or if you can't wait?  Use the oven method or double boiler method also on lowest setting.  Sometimes, I simmer the infusion on the stove covered, with a few cups of water to match the oil but creates the additional step of straining and placing in the fridge for the oil and water to separate and I must drain all water completely out of the concoction before bottling.

  WARNING: Water will spoil the oil infusion if left in the final product during storage!  No water on flowers or in mix during infusion unless you are doing the stove top simmering method and then separating the water out later.

Now my herbal oil is ready to make a simple salve which I may also add some lovely skin friendly essential oils to like lavender, frankincense, peppermint, clove, bergamont, or ylang II, etc.  Or I can take 2 TBSP of oil and mix in a tsp of baking soda and use as a deodorant. So many possibilites.  This method helps me stick to my rule that is; I never put ANYTHING on my skin that I could not eat!

For my 1 cup of infused oil I will add about 1/4 cup of beeswax and melt it 

together in a double boiler. (Usually a pyrex measuring cup in a pan of water) Then as it cools, I add some specific enhancing essential oils and pour it in little jars for use!  Easy peasy!  Smells delightful!  You can do this too.  These are very fun, totally nourishing, non toxic solutions to address some basic every day needs!

Nothing but the best ingredients ever AND I am saving $$$ doing it with minimal effort in the kitchen!


GreenMedInfo.com is a great place to research the science  and healing benefits about calendula plants, especially the anti-cancer benefits found in some herbs and on PUBMED you can also research chamomile!  Check it out! These are the kind of side effects I can live with!  There are many more to research!  Honestly the best place to investigate the medicinal properties found in plants from nature would be with the former USDA botanist, Dr James A DUKE and his data base full of 30 years of research!

I buy and learn about most organic herbs and flowers I cannot grow, at: MountainRoseHerbs.com