Its really easy to make a herbal/root tincture that you can use in your “home pharmacy”.

You will need two things:

• Herb/root of your choice

• Plain/not seasoned alkohol (vodka etc) Not above 40% because that can draw out unwanted substances (Allegedly).

I always prefer to use dried herbs/roots but you can also use fresh herbs, dried herbs are more potent than fresh ones. If possible, use organic or self picked herbs/roots and also organic alkohol, free from pesticides and things like that.

Fill a jar 1/3 with your herbs/roots and fill up the rest with alkohol.

Let it stand in a window for about two weeks, strain and pour in a dark glass flask. Store it dark.

Because its alkohol, it will last for years and years.

I did a Valerian Root tincture and a Arnica Montana tincture.

Valerian Root is used for insomnia, anxiety, worry and stress, it makes you calm. Start with a few drops in your beverage when needed and adjust after that. Do not use valerian tincture for long periods of time or too much, it can cause other effects than the wanted ones. A lot of cats love dried valerian root, its like catnip to them. Valerian root has a very distinct smell and when dried it smells even more,

Arnica Montana expands your blood vessels and increases your blood flow, which will help ease sprains, swellings and bruises if you dab (with a cottoned or something) some tincture as soon as the damage is done. My mother has always had Arnica tincture in her cabinet and used it on me and my siblings when we hurt ourselves, we rarely had bruises. Arnica is only for external use and not on open wounds.

I also make herbal oil out go Arnica every year, with that I make my Arnica Salve, calming sore muscles and joints. Here is another blogpost where I explain the making of the herbal infusions. Herbal infusion.

As always, read more about the herbs and the effects to know if it is for you and your needs!

Im sure that they knew much more about herbs and plants back in the days, now we have a different relationship with the world around us and have forgotten a lot of that knowledge, im sure if we start to listen again we can find more information on how the plants can help us.

Arnica Montana

Valeriana Officials

Read about the different kinds of medicinal herbs and decide what kind of properties you are after. Some herbs you can use the whole plant and the roots, some just flowers and leaves, some only the flowers. 

Its also Important WHEN you pick the herbs, it’s best to pick Flowers when they are new or are about to bloom, it’s also best to pick them in the morning when they contain most of their good properties, if you pick them mid-day a lot of their healthy oils will have evaporated in the sun and will be restored in the evening or overnight. Also, if you pick in the morning let the morning dew dry away a bit before picking or else it will be harder to dry them because they contain more water. Also, don’t pick while or after it has rained, then they are also filled with more fluids.

Roots are best collected in spring or fall; they contain more of the active substances then and Leaves are best to pick before the plant are blooming..

But hey, don’t be sad if you are “too late” or something, they still have their active substances even though they already have bloomed, just slightly less. The guidelines are just for making the most out of every herb.

This is how you do it: 

•  ·      You can either pick wild herbs (not close to a road or a farm that sprays pesticides and such), have them in your own garden or buy organic from a store that sells dried herbs. Be sure to pick the right ones! There are a lot of herbs that look alike, some are harmless but some are not.

• Pick the flowers you want to use and dry them dark and airy; light and sun makes the herbs lose some of their good qualities.

• Store the herbs as whole as possible (don’t crush them into the jar, just pack them loosely) and as airtight and dark as possible, glass jars are the best containers. You can absolutely use the herbs for several years but as time goes, they lose some of their good properties, best is to pick new ones every year, but to have the herbs for a couple of years is ok.

• When you want to make your herbal oil, you put the herbs in a jar, put them in loosely, they shouldn’t be packed.

  If you have dried herbs you can put about 1/3 of herbs and then oil 2/3.

  You can also make an herbal oil with fresh herbs but then you will need more flowers than if they are dried and the oil will have water in it which makes the oil less shelf stable. Fill the jar with herbs and cover everything with oil, see that the oil gets above the herbs.

• Label the jar with date, kind of oil, what herbs and other information you think will be important to remember.

• Place the jar in a sunny window for at least 6 weeks, you can shake the jar now and then to mix it a bit

• After 6 weeks or more, strain the oils and remove the herbs, make sure it’s a strainer that don’t let any herb parts come along, they can mold and destroy the oil, this is important if you use fresh herbs. Not as important if you used completely dried herbs. But it is still nice to have a clean oil without plant parts in it.

• Store in an airtight container, like a glass flask, in a cool, dry and dark place. 

To think about:

• I would not recommend other vegetable oils other than pure organic cold pressed (virgin) olive oil. Most other oils on the market (rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil…) are highly processed industrial products that is not good for anyone. If you are interested to hear more about this you can listen to why here and here.

• Examples of herbs that I use to make herbal oils with; Calendula, Arnica, Chamomile, Wild Pansy, Lavender, Lemon balm and so on.

• How to think regarding the sunlights impact on the nutrients while standing in the window. The standard metod of doing these herbal infused oil is to expose the jar to sunlight, it is said that the properties from the herbs are then transfering over to the oil. From what we understand it is the slight heat from the sun one needs. At the same time it is said that every herb or food should be kept in dark bottles away from sunligt in order for the properties to stay intact. This is a dilemma and it needs more research.

• I am not a professional and this is what I have learned during my reading and researching. I may have gotten something wrong and its always best to form ones own opinion by reading and researching. Everything with herbs and plants are highly individual, what works for someone doesn’t work for someone else, one gets this effect and another get that affect from the same herb. We have lost a lot of knowledge about the plant world and its thoughts during these years of disconnection to nature, hopefully we will someday regain it.

Hope this text will help you to make your own herbal oil, its fun and lovely to think about how much good this oil can do for you and your skin.

/Tova

This recipe is beyond easy to make and to find the ingredients wouldn’t be(e) too hard either.

Here is what you need:

20 grams of pure Lanolin (Wool-wax, Wool-fat, Wool-grease)

70 grams of organic virgin olive oil (the best you can find)

10 grams of organic pure bee’s wax (not reused)

• Put everything in a pot

• Melt carefully on low temperature.

• When melted, take of the heat and pour into jars. This recipe will be around 100 ml of salve.

To think about:

• You can make salve with the plain olive oil, but you can also use Herbal infused oil. Read more about how to make an infused oil here.

• If the mixture reaches too high temperatures some of the healthy properties in the ingredients will be lost. The lanolin has a melting point at 40 degrees and the bees wax at about 60 degrees, just remove it from the heat from time to time and stir, see if it melts, put it back for a little while and then remove again and so on. You can also use a hot water bath to melt everything, it’s easier not to get the mixture to warm this way.

• If you want to add essential oils 1-2 ml per 100 ml of salve is a ratio one could start with, experiment how much you want and what you like. Some oils are stronger and some are milder, just be careful because it easily becomes too much. Add the essential oil after everything is melted and have begun to cool down, if the mixture is too hot the oils will evaporate. Only use high quality pure essential oils, organic is preferable. The cheaper ones, often meant to use with aroma lamps or diffusers, are most likely adulterated.

• Pour into jars while the mixture is still runny for a nice and smooth look in the jar

• Bee’s wax can be tricky because often its reused, they melt it down and often add paraffin to make the batch bigger and earn more money. Make sure its organic non-reused bees wax that you have.

• I would not recommend other vegetable oils other than pure organic cold pressed (virgin) olive oil. Most other oils on the market (rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil…) are highly processed industrial products that is not good for anyone. If you are interested to hear more about this you can listen to why here and here.

• This site here has a lot of good information about beeswax and liquid oil ratios, and also a lot of other information. I don’t agree what she says about most other vegetable oil, as I said above, I would strongly suggest to avoid all industrial seed oils.

• Some can be allergic to Lanolin, you can test some on your skin before making the salve If you get any reactions. There may be, as one of our commenter said, that the sheep wasn’t “organic” and that its the chemicals they use on the wool that you are sensitive about.

I really hope that you will try it out, there is nothing like knowing exactly what you are putting unto and into your body!

/Tova

Watch the video tutorial here