Repurpose your empty mint tin, and fill it with an earthy smelling herbal climbing salve!
Climbing salve can be soothing to put on your inflamed calloused, even open hands after a good session. But don’t limit this salve just to climbing– it is also useful for after gardening, intense guitar playing, or on cracked feet that have been everywhere. It is thick with no filler ingredients, each ingredient has a purpose in healing or soothing your hands. A small amount can go a long way!
This makes an awesome gift for climbers, and once you buy the ingredients, you can make tons of batches tweaking them to your exactly preferences, and many of the ingredients here can be used for other useful outdoor apothecary products.
This project takes approximately 5 – 10 minutes to put together.
Ingredients:
I don’t have any affiliate relationship with these links- I just highly recommend purchasing from Bulk Apothecary as they have amazingly fast shipping and unbeatable prices and a terrific selection.
Common person name:
- 0.65 oz – Yellow Beeswax Pellets
- 1/2 teaspoon – Jojoba Oil
- 0.35 oz – Cocoa Butter
- 1/4 teaspoon – Rose Hip Oil
- 5 drops – Tea Tree Oil
- 10 drops – Lavender Essential Oil
- 10 drops – Lemon Essential Oil
Tools:
- Double Boiler– (If you don’t have or want this- simply put a stainless steel bowl over a small pot- making sure the bowl is big enough to not fall in but small enough to stay put while mixing.)
- Tin (used mint containers are perfect.)
- Popsicle Stick or Spoon (Something to stir with.)
- Measuring Spoons
- Kitchen Scale
Instructions
- Set up your double boiler: Fill your pot half full of water, place your double boiler or stainless steel bowl on top, and whole contraption on a burner. Turn it on medium high heat.
- Immediately add the beeswax pellets. Wait for them to melt.
- Add remaining ingredients one at a time.
- Stir until all is combined.
- Pour into tin and let cool.
Notes:
- Beeswax is the base of this, and it is harder to melt once it is mixed in with other ingredients. Often times if you add everything in, everything will melt but the beeswax unless you push the beeswax to the edge of the boiler, or get the whole mixture even hotter.
- It will likely set against your boiler as you are pouring it out. The easiest thing to do is to let it cool and scrape it out once fully cooled.
- Do you really need to measure the ingredients? NO. You can definitely approximate. Also once it is made you can always scrape it out, re-melt it and add something else if you don’t like your ratios. The main thing is you need more beeswax and cocoa butter than the other ingredients since they are the base. These are the ratios I have experimented with and like, but I know that there are several other combinations that could be great!
- Since it is thick, you will likely have to scrape it out with a finger nail in order to get it out and apply it.
About the Ingredients, a very brief overview of what they do:
Beeswax also known as Cera Alba:
This stuff penetrates the skin and really locks in moisture. Almost like putting a sealant on top of your skin so that the rest of the ingredients are forced to really soak in. It is used as the base of this salve and gives it the thick texture making it more salve like than lotiony.
Cocoa Butter also known as Theobroma Oil
Cocoa Butter is extracted from the Cacao bean, so if you’re wondering why your salve smells slightly chocolatey- this is why. It is super emollient which also adds to the moisturization in the salve. At room temperature it is solid yet soft, also adding to the thickness and feel of the salve.
JoJoba Oil also known as Simmondsia Chinensis Oil
This stuff is loaded with vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. Similar to beeswax, it traps moisture in when applied to your skin. It also can cleanse skin and fight bacteria with its natural iodine content and support your wounds healing.
Rose Hip Oil
Full of natural A, C, and F, and other fatty acids. The vitamin C in it is an antioxidant, and vitamin C can help with moisturization, wound healing and supporting collagen production.
Tea Tree Oil aka Melaluca Oil
This helps with inflammation. Perfect for hands that have been worked, mayhaps you are feeling the tightness of them after a climb., tea tree can help soothe. Also as an antibacterial it can help to naturally fight certain bacterial strains from creeping into those flappers. It’s also been reported to boost wound healing.
Lavender Essential Oil aka Lavendula Angustifolia Oil
Lavender is known to be an anti inflammatory, and has been reported to speed up wound healing as it may help collagen production in your body.
Lemon Essential Oil aka Citrus Limonum Oil
Another natural antibacterial and inflammation fighter similar to tea tree oil. The lemon smell is also a nice additive to the scent of the salve. Also it has antimicrobial properties and can help with disinfection.