Manuka Essential Oil Salve Recipe: A Magic Beauty Balm for Natural Skin Care

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March 24, 2020 By Rebecca D. Dillon 5 Comments

Stuck at home searching for ideas for a spa day at home? This manuka essential oil salve recipe is the perfect, natural skin care project! Unlike all those clay mask and bath bomb recipes, this all purpose salve can be used in a number of different ways! Not only does this magic beauty balm replenish and hydrate dry hands, skin and lips, it also promotes healing. So it’s perfect for relief of dry hands and chapped lips. Or throw some mica into the mix for a custom tinted lip balm or a highlighting, makeup primer for glowing skin!

Keep reading to learn how to formulate my manuka essential oil salve recipe to enjoy in unlimited ways. It’s perfect for hydrating skin and promoting skin health, as well as giving your makeup looks that extra wow factor. So, it’s the perfect clean beauty solution for happy skin.

What Can I Make for a Spa Day At Home?

The world kind of feels like it’s going crazy at the moment. And, as one meme put it, this year is being written by Stephen King. Yesterday our Governor ordered all non-essential businesses to close. Thankfully, one person asked the right question. Will VA ABC stores stay open? For now, at least, that answer is yes. In times of chaos, it seems, self medicating is king. What this means, however, is that a LOT of people are now stuck at home during the day. I’m also predicting that day drinking will become less of a social stigma as society tries to navigate the continual changes.

Plus, there’s the boredom to consider. As someone who works from home, I’m well versed in entertaining myself. However, if you’re used to daily interaction with people and a fixed schedule, being cooped up at home can be both unsettling and boring AF.

According to current trends on Pinterest, a LOT (and I mean a LOT!) of you are seeking an escape through self care. Specifically through a spa day at home. While I have tons of holistic skin care recipes for a spa day at home, including face masks, bath bombs, coffee scrubs, sugar scrubs, salt scrubs, bath salts and milk baths, I wanted to share a brand new skin care recipe with you all instead.

This manuka essential oil salve recipe is like a magic beauty balm for skin. It has so many applications, and it’s perfect if your skin is dry from repeated hand washing throughout the day. However, you can use it on your skin to relieve more than just your dry hands! It can also be used hydrate dry skin elsewhere on your body, tackle cracked heels and chapped lips, and even soothe cold sores while reducing the severity of symptoms. In addition, my manuka essential oil salve can also be used to add healthy looking color and shine to lips. Or try it as a highlighting face primer for skin. I especially love this essential oil salve as a makeup melting DIY cleansing balm! It’s an absolute dream for my maturing skin AND it helped clear up my hormonal acne.

Use this essential oil salve as a magic beauty balm as your final step to hydrate and nourish skin as a last step after enjoying skin care treatments during your spa day home. Then incorporate it into your everyday skin care routine for natural beauty, as part of your daily self care routine. Also be sure to check out more recipes ideas for a spa day at home after the recipe!

How to Make an Essential Oil Salve for Natural Skin Care

Making my manuka essential oil salve is quick and easy. This beauty DIY is a lot like making homemade lip balms. However, you don’t need to fuss with trying to pour this into tiny lip balm tubes. For smaller applications, you can use three 1 oz. metal tins, or a 3 oz. low profile jar for larger applications, such as all over body care.

Benefits of Manuka Essential Oil

You may be most familiar with manuka honey, rather than manuka essential oil. However, like manuka honey, the essential oil is offers many of the same benefits. It also makes a wonderful substitution for tea tree oil, which is endemic to Australia.

Like tea tree oil, manuka essential oil comes from a plant in the Myrtle family. This small flowering shrub, however, is indigenous to New Zealand. Whereas tea tree is harvested in Australia. Both essential oils are possess antifungal and antibacterial properties.

However, there are some major differences between tea tree oil and manuka essential oil. Unlike tea tree oil, manuka essential oils is a non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing essential oil. Its benefits also extend beyond those of tea tree oil. Manuka essential oil is 20-30 times more active than tea tree oil against gram positive bacteria. It is also several times more effective against strains of fungi and viruses.

Manuka essential oil is generally safe for all ages to use. Therefore, it’s a better choice over tea tree oil in skin care applications for which you desire antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. Manuka essential oil helps soothe symptoms of itching skin and dandruff, rashes, eczema and other common skin diseases. It also promotes healing of minor abrasions and eases muscle and joint pain. In addition, manuka also helps to relieve symptoms of congestion or respiratory distress, when utilized in aromatherapy. As such, you’ll find that manuka essential oil makes a wonderful addition to many bath and beauty recipes, including those for skin care and hair care products.

Benefits of Bergamot Essential Oil

In addition to manuka essential oil, I also use bergamot essential oil in this all purpose salve recipe. Like manuka essential oil, bergamot essential oil also has anti-inflammatory properties as well as antibacterial and antifungal effects. So it’s great at soothing dry, itchy skin and eczema. And, it can also help with acne and promote healing of minor wounds or abrasions.

It is important to note, however, that bergamot essential oil does increase photosensitivity. Therefore, I don’t recommend using this essential oil salve on your face or exposed areas of the body if you’ll be spending time outdoors in the sun. If you’re a sun lover, you’ll want to substitute bergamot essential oil with patchouli essential oil or even chamomile. Alternately, you can also use a bergapten-free version of bergamot oil.

Benefits of Lavender Essential Oil

Just like bergamot and manuka essential oils, lavender also has antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties when used in natural skin care applications. It’s also great at fighting acne and can help promote healing from acne breakouts and minor wounds. In addition, lavender essential oil also works great at soothing dry skin and eczema. So it’s a wonderful choice for any essential oil salve.

Manuka Essential Oil for Stress and Relaxation

Not only do all of these essential oils help to improve skin appearance, fight acne and promote healing, they are also perfect for times of stress. You can easily create an aromatherapy essential oil blend to reduce stress and promote relaxation for your essential oil diffuser. Simply combine 5 drops manuka essential oil, 5 drops bergamot essential oil and 1 drop lavender essential oil in an amber glass bottle. Then swirl to combine. Add a few drops to your diffuser to help ease away stressors and promote calm.

Alternately, you can also add this essential oil blend to a 10 mL rollerball bottle. Then fill the remainder of the bottle with fractionated coconut oil for aromatherapy on the go.

(Like the essential oil diffuser pictured above? Sign up for the Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box and receive a coupon for $40 off to use on the purchase of this diffuser when you use coupon code: SOAPDELIFREE Or use it to score free essential oils. You check out reviews and essential oil recipes from past boxes here.)

Excited to make my manuka essential oil salve? Awesome! You will LOVE it! Just be sure to check out the notes after the recipe to learn about simple substitutions or additions you can make to this all purpose salve to best meet your skin care needs.

Manuka Essential Oil Salve Recipe

Ingredients:

.5 oz. hemp seed oil
.5 oz. sweet almond oil
.5 oz. deodorized cocoa butter wafers
.5 oz. cosmetic beeswax
.25 oz. refined coconut oil
dollop vitamin E oil, optional
10 drops manuka essential oil
10 drops bergamot essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil
lip safe dark gold mica, optional

Directions:

Using a digital kitchen scale, weigh out the cocoa butter wafers, coconut oil and beeswax. Combine the ingredients in a double boiler and heat over medium high heat until halfway melted.

Reduce the heat to medium. Then weigh out and stir in the hemp seed oil.

Once all the ingredients have fully melted, remove from heat.

Now add a dollop of vitamin E oil. Stir to combine.

Follow with the drops of essential oil, then mix well.

If desired, add a pinch of mica (to color your essential oil salve, if desired) or more if you’d like to use your magic beauty balm as a tinted lip balm or highlighting face primer. Mix well to combine.

Now pour the manuka essential oil salve into the container(s) of your choice.

If you are using mica powder, I recommend using three 1 oz. tins. Be sure to stir the essential oil salve mixture well after each pour. Otherwise, for an all over magic beauty balm with no color, or a cleansing balm, you can use a 3 oz. low profile jar.

Allow the manuka essential oil salve to cool completely. Then cover with the lid and label as desired.

To use your all purpose salve, simply apply to skin or lips as desired, and massage in. I do recommend a less is more approach when using this product as a face primer or facial moisturizer.

More Ways to Use Your Manuka Essential Oil Salve: Swaps & Substitutions

Natural Cold Sore Relief

Because the essential oils used in my essential oil salve are analgesic and antiviral, it’s the perfect remedy for soothing cold sore and reducing pain. It can even lead to faster healing times. By adding neem oil, you can up the ante in the fight against this frustrating skin issue. To upgrade this essential oil salve to use as a cold sore lip balm, simply substitute .1 oz. of the sweet almond oil with neem oil. (Learn more about the skin care benefits of neem oil here.)

Dry or Cracked Skin Relief

If you hands, heels, elbows or lips are incredibly dry or cracked, you can add lanolin to my manuke essential oil salve recipe to further protect and hydrate skin. Simply add .25 oz. of lanolin, by weight, to the double boiler when heating the wax, butter and oils. Alternately, you replace up to .25 oz. of one of the carrier oils with liquid lanolin. (Learn more about the skin care benefits of lanolin here.)

Facial Moisturizer or Highlighting Makeup Primer

As coconut oil rates high on the non-comedogenic scale, I recommend substituting the coconut oil with fractionated coconut oil, which has a lower rating of 2 and is less likely to clog pores. Additionally, if you have dry or maturing skin, consider swapping all or part of the sweet almond oil with rosehip seed oil. Also be sure to check out my anti-aging serum recipe for maturing skin as well as my recipe for making a DIY hyaluronic acid serum.

Yield: Approximately 2.25 oz.

Essential Oil Salve Recipe

This multipurpose essential oil salve with manuka essential oil hydrates skin and lips and naturally promotes healing. Add mica powder to the recipe for a tinted lip balm or highlighting makeup primer, for the perfect all over magic beauty balm.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

.5 oz. hemp seed oil
.5 oz. sweet almond oil
.5 oz. deodorized cocoa butter wafers
.5 oz. cosmetic beeswax
.25 oz. refined coconut oil
dollop vitamin E oil, optional
10 drops manuka essential oil
10 drops bergamot essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil
lip safe dark gold mica, optional

Tools

Digital Kitchen Scale
Double Boiler
Utensils for Mixing
3 - 1 oz. Metal Tins

Instructions

Using a digital scale to weigh out the beeswax, cocoa butter and coconut oil.
Heat the ingredients in a double boiler over medium high heat until halfway melted.
Reduce the heat to medium.
Weigh out and stir in the hemp seed oil.
Remove the ingredients from heat once full melted.
Stir in the vitamin E oil and essential oils. Mix well.
Add mica powder to suit, and stir to combine.
Then pour the essential oil salve evenly into three 1 oz. lip balm tins.
Allow to cool completely, before placing the lids on the tins.

Essential oil salve recipe with manuka essential oil for natural skin care. A magic beauty balm for clean beauty, this manuka essential oil salve recipe is the perfect, natural skin care project! This DIY essential oil salve has a number of different skin care and beauty applications. This all purpose salve recipe with essential oil helps to replenish and hydrate dry hands, skin and lips, as well as promote healing. So it's perfect for relief of dry hands and chapped lips throughout the year.

If you like my manuka essential oil salve recipe, then make sure you pin this recipe to Pinterest for later. Then be sure to check out more ways to enjoy a spa day at home below.

More Beauty Recipe Ideas for a Spa Day at Home

If you’d like more ideas for your spa day at home, then be sure to check out these other natural skin care and beauty recipes.

Or explore more holistic beauty and skin care recipes for a spa day at home here. You can also follow me on Blog Lovin‘, facebook, twitter and instagram for more beauty recipes and ideas for a spa day at home. As well as sign up to receive an email whenever I share a new post!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: bath and body, beauty balm, beauty diy, beauty recipes, chapped lips, dry skin, dry skin balm, dry skin recipe, essential oil recipes, essential oils, healing salve, herbal salve recipe, lip balm, lip balm recipe, makeup, manuka essential oil, natural beauty, natural skin care, primer, salve recipe, skin nourishing salve

Whipped Body Butter Recipe: Natural Winter Skin Care for Dry Skin Relief

January 6, 2020 By Rebecca D. Dillon 4 Comments

Don’t let dry skin leave your skin a raw, itchy mess this winter. Nourish it naturally instead with this hydrating whipped body butter recipe! This recipe for whipped body butter is the perfect addition to your winter skin care routine for natural, dry skin relief. It’s also the perfect skin care recipe for your self care routine, and the second in a my series of self care recipes. Keep reading to learn how to make this rich, skin conditioning whipped body butter recipe scented with an all-natural lemon creme fragrance oil.

Tips for Hydrating Dry Skin this Winter

I’ve always had sensitive, and often eczema prone skin — ever since I was a child. Now that my skin is also in that delightful “maturing” stage, I have to use a moisturizer throughout the winter months. Otherwise I’m likely to scratch my skin raw. Of course, there are other steps I take as well, help my skin stay hydrated throughout the colder months.

Choose a rich body butter with natural ingredients, over lotions comprised primarily of water, to hydrate skin and help lock in moisture. (My whipped body butter recipe is an excellent choice!)
Avoid products with ingredients that can dry skin out further. These include perfumes, clays, charcoal, salicylic acid and certain essential oils, such as tea tree oil.
Drink more water to hydrate skin from the inside out. While it’s common advice to drink the equivalent of a half gallon of water a day, this isn’t necessarily true for everyone. The new rule of thumb is drink when you feel thirsty. So if winter leaves you feeling parched, reach for an extra bottle of water. Urine should be light yellow or clear if you’re staying properly hydrated.
Some websites recommend using petroleum jelly, or mineral oil, to lock in moisture. The problem with this is that it’s usually created from a petroleum by product. (Ew.) Plus, it doesn’t allow skin to breathe. If you really need a solid skin protectant, try natural skin care products with beeswax or lanolin instead. (My winter hand salve recipe is an easy recipe for winter skin care that uses one or both of these natural ingredients.)
Skip the hot showers and try warm baths instead. Not only is the cooler water is more gentle and skin, but you can add any number of skin soothing or moisturizing skin care products to your bath water. A long soak in an oatmeal or homemade milk bath is great at soothing dry, itchy skin. While bath melts naturally condition and help hydrate dry skin so if feels soft and nourished. (Be sure to try my natural aloe vera bath melts recipe for dry skin relief!)
Opt for a natural handcrafted soap formulated specifically for winter skin care. This Brazilian triple butter soap recipe for dry skin and eczema is my favorite for natural, winter skin care. It won’t strip skin of beneficial oils, and it’s unscented so it’s perfect for even the most sensitive skin.
Both gas and electric heat can strip moisture from the air. Using a humidifier in your home can reintroduce the moisture lost from these utilities when set at 60%.

Formulating The Best DIY Whipped Body Butter for Dry Skin Relief

Unlike other recipes for whipped body butter, my homemade whipped body butter recipe omits coconut oil, which can cause breakouts, and opts for a carrier oil more favorable to dry skin if you have issues with acne. Sweet almond oil is not only excellent for dry skin relief, it is also suitable for all skin types including maturing skin, sensitive skin, normal skin and even oily skin.

However, if you have a nut allergy, avocado oil or olive oil are both deeply nourishing oils for dry skin. Alternately, if you prefer a less greasy whipped body butter that absorbs more quickly, try a “dry” carrier oil, which has quicker absorption rates, such as rosehip seed oil — my favorite for mature skin! — avocado oil, camelina oil, grapeseed, safflower and sunflower oil.

(To learn more about carrier oils and their benefits in skin care, check out the book, Carrier Oils: A beginner’s guide to using over 40 carrier oils in bath and beauty recipes. You can read it for free with kindle unlimited.)

Additionally, unlike those simple 3-ingredient whipped body butter recipes, my whipped body recipe is emulsified. Formulated with the addition of a vegetable based emulsifying wax, my recipe for whipped body butter absorbs more quickly than traditional recipes. It also has a higher melting point. Not only is this helpful if need a rich moisturizer during warmer months, it also means your whipped butters hold their shape better than their predecessors. A plus if you’re making natural skin care recipes to sell online or at craft fairs.

Like an emulsified sugar scrub recipe, this does not mean my recipe for homemade whipped body butters contains water. It does not. Therefore, you skip the preservative for a winter skin care recipe that’s easy to execute.

Finally, while synthetic fragrances can irritate sensitive skin, there are natural fragrances you can try if fragrance is your thing. In keeping with the natural skin care theme for my whipped body butter recipe, I chose an all natural Lemon Creme fragrance oil from Nature’s Oil. Made using only natural ingredients, this fragrance is sweet, creamy! Think warm caramelized sugar and rich vanilla custard combined with fresh lemon zest.

Alternately you can also use your favorite essential oil blend for your skin type at .5% of the recipe weight. You can find an anti-aging essential oil blend, that’s also great for dry skin, via my natural exfoliating body polish recipe. (Psst. This is another fab recipes for both self care and winter skin care.)