Calendula Cream Recipe: Overcome Dry Skin with This Easy Remedy
Say goodbye to dry, irritated skin with this Calendula Cream recipe. It features nourishing calendula blossoms in an oil-based cream.
When you have rough, dry skin, a basic lotion won’t cut it. You need something that provides deep moisture and helps heal any cracked, flaking, or irritated areas.
While you can find all sorts of moisturizing creams on the market, it’s even better when you can make your own with herbs and other simple ingredients.
That’s why I love this Calendula Cream recipe. It pairs the skin-loving herb calendula with nourishing, moisturizing oils for an effective dry skin natural remedy. Once you try it, you’ll never want to use plain lotion again!
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From Sticky Fingertips to Smooth Skin
My children have helped me pick calendula for nearly 15 years. Even as tiny tots, they could pluck off the sunshiny flower heads and place them in the basket near us. I tried to ignore the half-opened flowers that sometimes got thrown in, too.
It didn’t take long before they learned that calendula flowers aren’t just pretty; they’re sticky. After a while, their little fingers would become tacky, thanks to calendula’s resin. I had to smile when I saw their puzzled faces trying to figure out what was covering their fingertips!
As they got older, they learned that the sticky resin holds the secret to calendula’s skin-soothing properties. They’ve watched me turn these bright blossoms into all sorts of topical remedies, like salves, lip balms, creams, and more.
Now they know that one of the best treatments for dry skin is a homemade calendula remedy. They’ve experienced how the sticky flowers that make their fingertips tacky can be just the thing for dry skin!
Lotion, Cream, Butter, or Salve?
Before we dive into the recipe and other things you need to know about making a great calendula cream recipe, let’s cover some terms.
You’ll find calendula made into all sorts of skincare recipes, like gels, oils, lotions, salves, butters, and more. So what’s the difference between them all?
One of the deciding factors is whether the product has water in it. Another aspect is how thick the end product is.
- Gels are water-based and often thickened with gums. They usually don’t have any oil in them.
- Lotions are thin, easily-absorbed emulsions of water-based ingredients, oil-based ingredients, and wax.
- Creams are sometimes thicker versions of lotions, often made with fewer water-based ingredients and more solid oil-based ingredients like butters. Othertimes, creams are made without water and include mostly oil, some butter, and enough wax to hold together.
- Body butters are thicker than creams and contain no water. They’re usually made with skin-loving butters, some oil, and a little bit of wax.
- Salves are oil and wax-based remedies that are typically applied to small areas of skin for medicinal benefits, like this Simple Plantain Salve.
This Calendula Cream is a water-free cream preparation. Since water can lead to microbial growth in a skincare product, any product containing water needs a preservative of some kind. Calendula’s resins are also highly oil-soluble, not water-soluble, so I like to stick with oil-based remedies when herbcrafting with calendula.
By keeping water out of this Calendula Cream Recipe, you end up with a shelf-stable, nourishing skin treatment that doesn’t require any preservatives. You can also turn this cream recipe into a salve by skipping the shea butter and simply thickening the herbal oil with beeswax.
When Dry Skin Isn’t Just Thirsty
I love calendula for dry skin. But sometimes dry skin needs more than simple hydration.
Eczema, psoriasis, contact dermatitis, and similar skin inflammations can leave you with other uncomfortable symptoms besides dry skin. Your skin might be red, itchy, cracking, weeping, scaly, or even peeling. When that happens, you can also end up with secondary bacterial and fungal infections since the skin is broken.
In these situations, you need a remedy that calms inflammation, helps the skin to heal, and even offers some gentle antimicrobial actions.
Calendula does all three.
In fact, when I make eczema salves for friends and family members, I almost always use a calendula salve for the base. It works extremely well.
- It’s not so strongly antimicrobial that it further irritates inflamed skin.
- Since it speeds healing, it helps seal up any cracked skin.
- And its moisturizing properties soften any scaly or peeling spots.
Pairing this Calendula Cream formula with carefully chosen essential oils can help you get even more healing properties from your remedy. I’ve got guidance for you below!
Finding the Best Calendula for Your Skin Remedies
If you want to make a great Calendula Cream, you first need to start with quality calendula. If your starting herbal material is faded and old, you’ll end up with a weak skin treatment. But if your calendula blossoms are bright and vibrant, you’re much more likely to end up with a powerhouse product.
First, make sure you’re working with Calendula officinalis calendula and not garden marigold. Sometimes people confuse the two. You can learn more about the differences between these two plants in my article on how to use calendula.
Ideally, the best calendula is the one you grew and dried yourself. It’s impossible to beat the freshness, vibrancy, and potency of homegrown calendula!
If you don’t have any homegrown calendula, buying from reputable herbal suppliers is still a good option. I recommend Mountain Rose Herbs or Starwest Botanicals for herbs you can’t or don’t grow yourself.
You also want to use the whole flowerhead when making herbal remedies with calendula. Some recipes and tutorials only call for the petals. But by leaving out the base of the flower, called an involucre, you miss out on the most concentrated resins that make calendula so soothing.
Calendula Cream Recipe
By infusing resin-rich calendula flower heads into oil, then thickening with shea butter and beeswax, you can create a skin-soothing cream that’s perfect for dry skin.
You don’t need any special skills to make this Calendula Cream. It’s a simple process that you can try even if you’re new to herbal remedies.
Once you’re done, you’ll have a great skin treatment to have on hand anywhere you might find your skin getting dry. I keep a container of this by my kitchen sink so I can use it on my damp hands after I wash dishes. It’s also great to keep tucked in a purse, vehicle, or work desk!
First Step: Prep Your Herb
For this project, you’ll first grind whole calendula flowerheads in a coffee or spice grinder. I like this coffee grinder because I can remove the grinding bowl to wash it and remove any herbal or coffee residue.
You probably won’t be able to get the calendula perfectly powdered. That’s fine. You simply want the flower heads ground into much smaller pieces so more of the herb’s surface area comes into contact with the oil.
Once your flower heads are ground, you can take an optional step to make your oil as potent as possible.
By adding a small bit of 80-100 proof vodka to the ground calendula, you can start to break down the herb’s cellular structure so that it extracts into oil more quickly. This is called using an intermediary solvent. You can learn how to do that in my article on how to make herbal oils.
It All Starts with the Oil
Your Calendula Cream starts with an herbal oil. No, you’re not making an essential oil at home. You’re infusing the herb into a fixed oil, like olive oil, so the healing properties of calendula get transferred to the oil.
To do this, you’ll put your ground calendula in a small jar and cover with a carrier oil. If you use the intermediary solvent, you’ll add the oil after your calendula and vodka soak for 8-24 hours.
For this recipe, I use olive oil since it’s heavier than other oils and deeply hydrating. But you can use jojoba, coconut, avocado, sweet almond, or any oil you have on hand. There isn’t a best carrier oil for a calendula cream or salve.
You then gently warm your oil for 1-3 days. I do this in an uncovered crockpot with just enough water to come up the sides of the jar, but there are other methods. It’s best to avoid directly heating the oil and herb in a saucepan, though. The calendula will probably get too hot and end up deep-frying.
Deep-frying is great for homemade donuts. Not so great for making skincare.
Finally, you’ll strain out the calendula pieces. For small batch recipes like this, you can pour them through a cloth-lined sieve or strainer and into a small glass measuring cup. I like to use close-weave cheesecloth since it doesn’t shed lint into the finished oil.
Once the oil stops dripping out, gather up the sides of the cloth and squeeze it to get out all of the oil. “Like it owes you money,” as my friend Steve says.
You can also press the cloth-wrapped herb in a potato ricer to get even more out.
Thicken It Up
Once you have your calendula-infused oil, you’ve done most of the work needed to create your Calendula Cream! Now you just need to thicken it with some a skin-loving butter and some beeswax.
I typically use shea butter for this recipe. It’s one of the more economical skin butters on the market, especially now with cocoa prices skyrocketing. But you can also play with other options. Just as there’s no perfect carrier oil for calendula salve, there’s no perfect butter for Calendula Cream.
There is one downside to shea butter, though. Once you melt it, it needs to cool quickly or it can eventually become grainy. Grainy shea butter is perfectly usable. It just doesn’t go on as smoothly at first.
I prefer beeswax for all of my skincare needs. If you’re vegan and prefer avoiding bee products, you can use an alternative like carnauba wax.
While you can melt the shea butter and beeswax into your calendula oil in a pot over super low heat, I prefer using a gentler method. Lay a cotton cloth or canning ring at the bottom of a small saucepan. Place your heat-safe measuring cup of oil, butter, and wax inside, then add enough water to come up the sides of the cup. Bring the water to a simmer and stir the mixture until everything melts completely.
The Essential, Optional Final Touch
Once your Calendula Cream ingredients have melted completely, you can pour it into a 4-ounce salve tin and let it cool. But I like adding some essential oils as an optional finishing touch.
Essential oils can provide additional healing properties, like reducing inflammation and helping new skin cells regenerate more quickly. They also add lovely scents.
You can use any skin-safe essential oil in this Calendula Cream. Some ideas to get you started include
- Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, L. vera) is the classic do-it-all essential oil with a pleasant scent
- Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) smells medicinal, but it’s a great fit if you’re dealing with irritated skin that might be infected
- Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum) is pricey, but extremely soothing and healing for the skin
- Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens) has a rose-like scent and supports skin health
- Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) offers a cheerful fragrance and isn’t phototoxic like most other citrus oils
I added geranium and sweet orange to a recent batch of this Calendula Cream and I absolutely loved it!
Since you’ll likely apply this cream over cracked, irritated skin, I like to keep the essential oil dilution rate low. In fact, it’s only 1% in the recipe below. But that’s enough to provide additional healing benefits and fragrance, while being gentle enough to reapply often.
You can find my top essential oil brand recommendations on my Kristen’s Picks page.
What About Whipping?
Some body butter and cream recipes call for the final mixture to be whipped before you transfer it to a storage container.
Whipping gives the product a lighter texture and can make it easier to spread over your skin. Some people might think it looks nicer, too.
But I always skip this step for a few reasons.
- It’s an extra step that doesn’t make the product more effective.
- I don’t want to get another tool dirty without a good reason because dishes multiply when you aren’t looking.
- Incorporating air into the product can shorten the shelf life, even if only slightly.
However, if you loved whipped skincare, you can certainly try whipping this Calendula Cream once it starts to solidify. I haven’t done it yet, but it should fluff up nicely.
Simple Tips for Better Storage
Once you’ve finished your Calendula Cream, it’s time to transfer it to a salve tin or jar. I typically use metal salve tins, but you can use plastic or even glass if you prefer.
Once your dry skin remedy is in its container, place it somewhere where it can cool quickly and completely. It doesn’t have to be the refrigerator, but you certainly can! Just keep it away from any extra heat sources so the shea butter is less likely to get grainy in storage.
Make sure you label your product, too. When possible, I like to label the bottom of a container just in case a lid gets misplaced. Include the remedy’s name, the ingredients, and the date you made it.
Keep your Calendula Cream away from heat sources so it stays solid. If it’s in a clear container, keep it away from sunlight, too. That can shorten the cream’s shelf life.
Get the Best Results from Your Calendula Cream
Once you start using your homemade Calendula Cream, you’re going to wonder how you managed dry skin without it! To get the best results, I recommend following a few of these tips.
- Always use clean hands to scoop out the cream so you don’t accidentally introduce dirt or microbes.
- Apply on damp skin for best results, like after washing your hands, taking a shower, or soaking in an Epsom salt bath. You can certainly use it on dry skin, too.
- Don’t have any homemade lip balm handy? Use this instead!
- If you have very dry skin, apply a thick layer of the Calendula Cream after washing. Then, cover your skin with cotton clothing, like putting gloves on after applying the cream to your hands.
- You can even use a light layer of this on your face before bed if your skin is especially dry or needs some TLC.
- Nursing moms can use this formula to soothe sore, cracked nipples. Leave out the essential oil so you don’t have to worry about wiping it off before feeding your baby.
- You can also use this as a diaper rash cream. Reduce the essential oils to 8 drops for a baby-safe dilution rate, or leave them out entirely.
Printable Recipe Card: Calendula Cream Recipe
Calendula Cream Recipe
Say goodbye to dry, irritated skin with this Calendula Cream recipe. It features nourishing calendula blossoms in an oil-based cream.
Materials
- 1/2 cup packed, dry calendula flower heads
- 1-2 teaspoons vodka, optional
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons shea butter
- 1 tablespoon beeswax pellets
- 25 drops skin-safe essential oil, optional (see Notes)
Tools
Instructions
- Grind the calendula flowers in a coffee grinder until they are broken into small pieces. They don't need to be completely powdered. Put the ground calendula in a half-pint glass jar.
- If using the intermediary solvent method, add enough vodka to dampen the calendula slightly. Cover with a lid and allow to soak for 8-24 hours.
- Add olive oil to the calendula in the jar. Gently stir to combine. Cover with a lid.
- Place a cotton cloth at the bottom of a small slow cooker. Place the calendula oil jar on the cloth, then add enough water to come up the sides of the jar without touching the lid. Set the cooker on low and allow the oil to infuse for 1-3 days with the cooker lid off. Add more water as needed.
- Remove the jar from the cooker and dry. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes while you line a metal mesh sieve with a lint-free cotton cloth or a double layer of close-weave cheesecloth. Place over a 1-2 cup heat-safe glass measuring cup.
- Strain the oil through the cloth-lined sieve and into the measuring cup. Wrap up the calendula in the straining cloth and squeeze to remove as much oil as possible. Compost or discard the calendula.
- Add the shea butter and beeswax to the calendula-infused oil. Place the measuring cup on a cloth or canning ring placed at the bottom of a small saucepan.
- Add enough water to the pan so it comes up the sides of the measuring cup to the level of the oil mixture. Set the pan on medium-low heat so the water simmers but doesn't boil. Stir the mixture until the shea butter and beeswax melt completely.
- Remove the measuring cup and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add essential oils, if using.
- Pour into your salve tin and allow to cool completely before adding a lid. Label clearly with product name, ingredients, and date made. Use as needed on any dry, cracked, or irritated skin.
Notes
You can use any of these skin-safe essential oils in this cream, depending on your goals. Some ideas to try include
- Lavender (Lavandula vera, L. angustifolia), all-purpose
- Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), antimicrobial
- Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum, H. angustifolium), gentle, soothing, moisturizing
- Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), rose-like scent
- Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), cheerful scent
You can also combine essential oils, keeping the total amount at 25 drops. For example, I love using 15 drops geranium with 10 drops sweet orange in this formula.
Aromatics International is an excellent source for top-quality essential oils in the United States.
Sure, it might be easier to go to the store and buy a bottle of regular lotion to help with dry skin.
But it’s not nearly as effective, fun, or fulfilling as making this Calendula Cream recipe in your own kitchen.
Dry skin doesn’t stand a chance against these sticky flowers!
Your Turn:
Do you have a favorite dry skin remedy that includes calendula?