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–+ servings
Cod Sore Salve in a jar

Homemade Cold Sore Salve

Naturopath Lauren Glucina
A home remedy for cold sores with lemon balm, St John's wort, tea tree, clove, peppermint and coconut.
This recipe starts by making a herbal infused oil to use as a base for the salve - it takes two hours to prepare this. You can purchase a herbal infused oil if you'd like to speed the process up.
4.78 from 9 votes
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Cook Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes
Course Personal care
Cuisine Herbal
Servings 100 ml

Ingredients
  

Herb Infused Oil:

  • 1 cup coconut oil
  • 15 g St John’s wort dried herb
  • 15 g Lemon Balm dried herb

Salve:

  • 60 ml of the above herbal oil
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped/grated organic beeswax about 15g (deeply moisturising, soothing, creates a protective layer over the skin)
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated cacao butter a rich moisturizer, rich source of fatty acids to aid in emulsification, gives firmness
  • 10 drops Melissa essential oil common name, lemon balm

Optional:

  • 2 drops clove essential oil pain relief
  • 4 drops peppermint essential oil anti-viral, cooling, pleasant scent
  • 2 drops tea tree essential oil anti-viral

Instructions
 

Herb Infused oil:

  • Melt coconut oil in a double boiler/in a glass bowl over water that has only JUST reached a simmer, add herbs and mix well, leave for two hours, checking regularly to ensure there is enough water in the pan still as it simmers away. If after two hours the oil has taken on the colour and scent of the herbs, perfect, if not, leave for another couple of hours.
  • The longer you can leave your herbs to extract, the better. Just ensure the temperature is low.
  • Strain through cheesecloth/nut milk bag, wring out the herbs to get every little magical last drop of goodness out. Compost the herbs when done and save the strained oil for the salve.

Salve:

  • In a double boiler, combine the herbal oil with the beeswax and cacao butter and let the water simmer till everything has melted and combined, stir frequently.
  • At this point, you may want to test the consistency of the salve. Spoon a little into a container and set in the freezer for a few minutes. If it is too soft, add more beeswax, if it is too firm, add more oil.
  • Remove from heat, let cool a little, add the essential oils (they are heat sensitive so adding them to a hot mixture will see the volatile oils evaporate and escape), pour into little lip containers or small pots, set in the fridge. Make sure you label and date them so you remember what they are and when you made them!
Keyword Cold Sore Salve
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