How to Make Self Heal Salve with Prunella Vulgaris
Self heal, sometimes called all-heal or heal-all, is a Lamiaceae family plant. It is related to many of our favorite aromatic plants, including peppermint, lavender, and culinary herbs like oregano and thyme, but unlike these other plants, it has no notable scent.
You may be able to find self heal growing in your lawn, in the grass at an unsprayed park, or along the ground near the forest's edge. It likes to grow at the base of mature conifer trees there. If you find it growing in a place where the grass is kept short or in a wild area where you do not get much summer rain, this pretty little plant will be just a few inches tall, but if growing in good soil and allowed to grow as it pleases, it can grow to about 18-24" tall. Because it is a mint family plant, you will usually find it in patches as it spreads happily about. You will rarely find self heal growing alone as a single plant. If you pinch the center stems, you can encourage the plant to grow lush and bushy the same way you would pinch a basil plant (also a mint relative) to encourage more growth.
Self heal leaves and flower heads can be gathered throughout the summer. During its peak season, I can harvest at least once a week if I keep pinching back new center stems. As the season progresses, each harvest grows larger because the pinching causes the plant to make two new flower heads in the place of each flower head I harvest.
Self heal is a valuable vulnerary herb, which means that it can help to soothe and restore the skin when it is irritated, inflamed, or compromised. It can also be used the same way we use plantain (Plantago spp.) as a poultice to help draw splinters out of the skin.
When I find self heal growing wild, I often find it growing with other skin-friendly herbs like oxeye and shasta daisies, mullein, and St. John's wort. Because of this, I like to make a seasonal skin-healing salve with these four flowers in the summertime. They combine very well together in topical applications. Self heal also combines well with cultivated calendula, chamomile, lavender and rose in topical use products for the skin.
If you don't have access to mullein flowers, daisies, or St. John's wort, you can also make a self heal salve like the one in the recipe below. I like to keep a plain self heal salve in my herbal first aid kit. You wouldd be surprised how often we use it throughout the year!
Ingredients
6 ounces of sunflower seed oil double- or triple-infused with self heal leaves and flowers (learn how to infuse herbs into oil here)
1 ounce of beeswax (use 1.5 to 2 ounces if you want a harder salve - this article has more info about salve consistency)
24 drops of calendula flower CO2 extract
24 drops of Helichrysum italicum essential oil
42 drops of Lavandula angustifolia essential oil
How to Make the Salve
After you have harvested and dried your self heal, you can infuse it into your carrier oil of choice. I have listed sunflower seed oil as the carrier oil ingredient here because I like the way it feels on my skin. It is lightweight and does not leave my skin feeling greasy the way some of the heavier oils do. I prefer to double or triple infuse my herbal oils when I make them because the end result is much stronger and more effective than a single-infused oil or salve. (Learn all about how to make herb-infused oils here.)
Once your infused oil is ready, prepare a double boiler and begin to melt your beeswax over low heat. After it looks like a liquid instead of a solid, turn off the heat and slowly stir in your self heal-infused oil. Continue to stir until well combined, then add your calendula CO2 extract and your essential oils. Stir to mix. Pour the salve into sanitized tins or jars and leave them alone until they have set up into a solid. Once set, you can add labels to your containers and store the salve in a cool, dry place.
To use your salve, massage it into the skin when you are dealing with skin irritation, inflammation, or minor wounds.
Have you ever worked with self heal or found it growing in your lawn? I would love to hear about your experience with it. Please feel free to leave a comment below to share your thoughts.
Much love,
Erin
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.
