DIY Salve for Dry Skin

I made this as a Christmas present the other day and it turned out rather decent, so I thought I'd post the recipe.  The original recipe is found at Wellness Mama.

• 1/2 cup Almond or olive oil (I used olive oil)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup beeswax
• Optional: 1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil
• Optional: 2 tablespoon Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter (I used Shea Butter)
• Optional: Essential Oils, Vanilla Extract or other natural extracts to suit your preference (Since I was making it for two guy friends, I went with the essential oil combination of patchouli and Lime and I did maybe ten drops total.  Next time, I definitely would add more drops of each because the scent was very faint/barely noticeable). 

The instructions Wellness Mama gives for making the lotion/salve involve placing all the ingredients in a glass jar and heating in a saucepan of water.  However, I put all the ingredients in a jar (I didn't use Vitamin E oil) except for the essential oils, and heated them up in the microwave, on low heat, until everything was melted. I then let it sit for a few minutes to cool down before adding the essential oils.  I didn't add an exact 1/4 cup of coconut oil and maybe that's why my lotion came out as a salve, once cooled.  The picture Wellness Mama has with her recipe seems less solid and more of a lotion whereas what I ended up with, once the mixture cooled, was a more solid salve type product.  The end result seems quite moisturizing and nice.  The one complaint I have is that it seems to almost leave some sort of coating on your skin?  I'm assuming that's from the beeswax.  All in all though, it seems like good salve/lotion for dry skin.  Wellness Mama says to use within 6 months for best moisturizing benefits and states that it is also good for diaper rash, eczema, and preventing stretch marks.

After making this product, I tried out a tiny bit on my hands, before giving it away, and I must say, my usually dry hands are very soft and smooth today.  I'm guessing it's due to both the sugar scrub and the lotion/salve.  Winning.