Oil infusions

When I make lotion, lip balm, or skin salves, I like to infuse the oils with herbs. I use one of two ways of infusion. They are called cold and hot. Today, I will post about cold infusions with dried herbs.

I will be (finally) making some more lotion very soon. I have put this off WAY too long, so my oil has actually infused for an extended amount of time.

First, I put the dried herbs I want to use into a jar. There are exact measurements out there, I just eyeball it. This time, I used calendula petals and lavender flowers. Both of these herbs have great qualities for skin. I put some dried herbs in a jar and covered it with oil.

The oils I will be using for my lotion are sweet almond oil and grapeseed oil. They're not as greasy as other oils. They're also more delicate than other oils, which is why I'm choosing the cold infusion method.

Okay, on to the second step. Stir the mixture around and poke out any air bubbles around the petals and flowers. Put the lid on the jar and place it in a very sunny window. Even though this is called cold infusion, it actually gets hot sometimes. (I guess some don't put the jar in a sunny window, but rather a dark place.)

Shake it every day, at least for the first week or more. Leave it there to let the oil keep extracting the herbs' qualities for 3 weeks or more.

Last, strain out the herbs with a fine strainer or cheesecloth. That is what it takes to make calendula and lavender infused sweet almond and grapeseed oil.