Juniper Berry Salve is a delicately fragrant salve made with wild juniper berries and needles – it moisturizes skin while providing skin support in several areas.**
One of my favorite things to forage are juniper berries. When I go to Albuquerque, there are quite a few Piñon Juniper trees and picking the berries is something I absolutely LOVE to do.
I am known for popping those berries in my mouth and eating them like they are candy – I’m not sure if anyone else finds pleasure in juniper berries as much as I do but safe to say, they are my favorite.
Not only are they good to chomp on, they are great for skincare.
Juniper Berry Oil contains natural antibacterial abilities, helping to fight skin irritations such as rashes or eczema. Because of its antiseptic abilities, it can help support problem free skin and well as promotion relaxation and soothe sore muscles.
While Juniper Essential Oil is an option, I love infusing juniper berries in oil as an herbal oil infusion. It’s not quite the same as an essential oil but it does hold some pretty amazing properties that will help in various ways.
If you are looking to turn your Juniper Berries into a skin-support salve, this DIY will guide you in that direction.
How to Make Juniper Berry Infused Oil
To make this infused oil, start with one cup of juniper berries and needles. You’ll want to allow your juniper berries and needles to dry.
You can do this by allowing them to sit out for a few days in the sun. Or, toss them on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate them for 4-5 hours at 125 degrees F.
Once dry, take the juniper berries and needles and crush them in a mortar and pestle, or add the to your high quality blender or food processor to crush them down. Crushing them down will allow the oil to reach more surface area during your herbal infusion.
Fill up your canning jar about halfway with your berries and needles. Then cover them with your favorite oil (I love using sunflower seed oil and castor oil).
Cap the jar and store it in a cool place for several weeks, shaking each day before you strain and use. Or, if you are looking to infuse your oil more quickly, set the jar in a pan or pot of water over low heat. Over the course of several hours, infuse the oil and then remove the pan from the heat.
Strain out the berries and needles and set the herbal infusion aside for the salve in the next step.
How to Make Juniper Berry Salve
If you don’t have juniper berries, then you can buy some online. Mountain Rose Herbs is a great place but you can also find some on Amazon.
To make juniper berry salve you will need:
- 5 oz juniper berry/needle infused oil
- 1.25 oz beeswax pellets
Add the infused oil to a heat safe cup (a canning jar works well). Cover and set into your pan of water – do not allow the water to get into the jar.
On low/medium heat, allow the wax to melt. Remove from the heat and pour into tins – this batch above will make (3) 2 oz tins. You can pick up tins from Amazon.
If you would like to make labels, Avery 2″ kraft labels work beautifully on these tins and can be designed and printed on your home computer.
Don’t want to make Juniper Berry Salve yourself? You can find it available here, for purchase.
Looking or more salves? Check out these must have salves you can also make at home!
[…] Check out these other skin-friendly salves you might want to try as well as this fragrant Juniper Salve! […]