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.
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.
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.
When all of the shea butter is melted, I will let the shea infuse with the comfrey and calendula for a few hours.
After about four hours it is time to strain out the herbs.
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.
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.
I hope you enjoyed the recipe, and the information on this miraculous plant comfrey.