When the rash around my daughter's mouth was diagnosed as Eczema, the doctor suggested speading her mouth with hydrocortizone cream and vaseline. But since the rash is so close to her mouth, and she's not even two years old, meaning she still puts things in her mouth, I just thought putting all that nastiness so close to her mouth where it could be injested was a really bad idea. So, I did a lot of research into natural solutions.

I had a little experience with essential oils and making salves, as I had made her a diaper ointment when she was younger. For this project I did a lot more research on herbs, essential oils and salve making. Because the rash is around her lips, I wanted to go with a chapstick, but now I would like it a little softer and spreadable with fingers because the eczema has spread more onto her cheeks. This is a recipe for the chapstick, which turned out perfectly.

This chapstick works so well!! It works so well for us, that if she has a major break out around her mouth, I can spead this on and it will be gone by the next day at the latest. That's spreading it one time, you do it more often and it will go faster. She is very sensitive to chlorine in the pool, so if I put this on her as soon as we get out, her cheeks don't even start to get red!! Disclaimer: This is a pretty bold statement, and while it does work for us, I do not guarantee that it will work in the same way for you. Please be aware of allergic reactions and other effects before making this balm.

I first knew that a basic balm had beeswax and oil, so I was more interested in the herbs that needed to go into it. Comfrey Root is the herb that intriques me the most. In the many books I read, there were a lot of anecdotal reports of miracle recoveries with Comfrey. It seems that if you mash the fresh leaves or root, the result is a mucus that supposedly, if you spread this on a broken bone, it will begin to heal with no cast needed. For this reason it can also be called knitbone. Apparently it works so well that most books carry a warning for Comfrey, that you must make sure that when you put it on an open wound, that it is perfectly clean, because otherwise, it can heal the wound with the dirt inside and cause and infection. So, I definitly wanted to include Comfrey root.

Calendula is the other herb that I used in its plant form. It was recommended because its very soothing, and is used in a lot of baby lotions and salves.

I chose essential oils that were known for their emollient properties. Some were specifically recommended for Eczema, some are just moisturizing and some are for soothing the itch. I used several drops each of carrot seed EO, myrhh EO and palma rosa EO. These are emollients. For soothing and healing and also for scent, I used lavender. These ingredients go really well together.

For the oil, I used mostly sweet almond oil because it is recommended as an emollient, it softens, soothes and moisturizes the skin. To make even amounts, I used olive oil. I used pure beeswax for the hardening agent.

First Part: Infusing the Oil
Materials Needed: powdered comfrey root, calendula flowers, sweet almond oil, 1 cup pyrex measuring cup, small baking dish, vinyl gloves, cheesecloth or muslin

Now, you can't just put comfrey and calendula into the mix, they have to be infused. There are various ways of infusing herbs, I think for oils, heat is best. That means heating at low temperatures for a long time. I used the oven. In a pyrex glass measuring cup put a handful of calendula, especially the flowers. Pour over the top about 1/4 cup of comfrey root. I don't really know how much is too much, but I think more is better. Cover this mixture with sweet almond oil. Make sure all of the herbs are covered with the oil. Put the measuring cup into a small baking dish and put in the oven at 300 degree for 3-4, or more hours.
Note: This will smell up your house something fierce. The herbs may burn, especially if they are above the level of the oil. This shouldn't harm the oil, but may smell even worse.

After the 3-4 hours, take out and allow to cool.

When the oil is cool, put the cheesecloth over the mouth of a small bowl and pour the mixture through the cheesecloth. Once the loose oil has run through, take the cheesecloth up and bunch it together and squeeze as much of the oil through into the bowl that you can. Use gloves, as you will get oil all over. Discard the cheesecloth and leftover herbs.

Second Part: Creating the Balm
Materials Needed: the rest of your EOs, beeswax and your infused oil.
Measure the oil and pour into a double boiler. (I haven't used a double boiler, as the safety concern here is not that you'll burn something, but that f the oil sprays out, it can catch fire. However, since I keep the stove on very very low for this process, and I am impatient for a double boiler to work, I just skip it. You should use stainless steel, enamel or cast iron to keep the integrity of the salve- but that could be an old wives tale.)

The ratio is exactly 1:3 if you want chapstick. If you want a salve, go closer to 1:4. So, that will be 1 part beeswax to 3 parts oil. Figure out from your measuring how much beeswax you need. If you grate the beeswax before pouring in, compress it into your measuring spoon/ cup to get as much in as possible. If you need to, you can add a little un-infused almond oil or olive oil to make even measurements. Allow the beeswax to melt.

Add your EOs, I used about 5 drops carrot seed (not too much, it's stinky), 10 drops lavender, and 5-10 drops of everything else.

Allow your chapstick to heat through, then pour into chapsticks or lip gloss containers. Let sit overnight to harden. Generally the top layer will harden a little more than the underneath stuff. Rub onto eczema patches liberally.

This is a completely safe, non-toxic salve and in our experience works really really well!!