Infusing your favorite oils is one of the easiest ways to add a little extra!
You can add a muscle-healing cooling effect to your massage oil, make an oil into a burn salve, or even add a rosemary flavor to your cooking oil. Whether you’re trying to add skin-healing benefits to your first aid kit or a little flavor to your cooking, there’s an easy way to do it!
While there are many methods to infusing oils, my personal favorite is the “set it and forget it” method of solar infusion. In this post, we will talk about how to make herb solar-infused oil and give you some ideas for what oils and herbs you can combine. Here we go!
How To Do Solar Infusion
As I mentioned earlier, solar infusion is as easy as “set it and forget it”. It’s basically adding dried herbs into a carrier oil and placing it on a sunny area (like your windowsill) for at least two weeks until the herbs’ medicinal or soothing properties are infused in the oil. Through this, you get the same benefits as that of essential oils but in a milder and safer formula.
Also, I should reiterate to only add thoroughly dried herbs to extend your recipe’s shelf life. Undried herbs are fast to spoil and form molds. To dry your herbs, leave them in a cool, dry place for 3-10 days.
Solar Infused Oil for First Aid
Best Oils
- Olive Oil
- Avocado Oil
- Grapeseed Oil
- Almond Oil
- Fractionated Coconut Oil
Best Herbs
Arnica
Arnica is an herb with tons of topical uses! Made into an infused oil, arnica can help soothe muscle pain, heal bruises, reduce swelling and inflammation, and treat insect bites and stings.
Calendula
Calendula, or pot marigold, is an easy-to-grow herb with tons of uses. Its skin-healing and antimicrobial properties make it perfect for creating a salve or infused oil for treating minor burns, cuts, and abrasions. It can also reduce scarring. Calendula is wonderfully nourishing on dry skin and can even treat acne!
Plantain
Plantain is a natural anti-inflammatory plant, which makes it fabulous for treating skin irritations, minor cuts and abrasions, insect bites, and bruises. It can also be used to relieve minor burns and diaper rash.
Rosemary
In addition to tasting great, rosemary is a natural pain reliever. It can help improve circulation, which aids in everything from digestion to wound healing to relieving sore muscles. Rosemary can help treat symptoms of arthritis as well with its anti-inflammatory properties.
St. John’s Wort
An infused oil using St. John’s Wort can be useful in treating wounds. It has also been shown to help treat mild to moderate depression, trouble sleeping, nervousness, and other mood-related troubles.
Ask a doctor before using St. John’s wort, as it can interfere with some medications. The infused oil is also quite phototoxic, which means it can increase your risk of sunburn.
Solar Infused Oil for Skincare & Massage
Best Oils
- Avocado Oil
- Jojoba Oil
- Grapeseed Oil
- Almond Oil
- Fractionated Coconut Oil
- Meadowfoam Seed Oil
- Camellia Seed Oil
Best Herbs
Rose
Roses are rich in vitamins and minerals that reduce signs of aging, improve complexion, balance the oils in your skin, and more! Infuse your favorite facial oil with rose petals or buds for next-level benefits.
Eucalyptus
Naturally antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral, eucalyptus is amazing at treating skin conditions like acne. The natural cooling effect it has on the skin is similar to peppermint and can help improve circulation, even out skin tone, and reduce signs of aging.
Lavender
Lavender is naturally antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and skin-healing, making it great for treating acne. It can also reduce signs of aging, soothe eczema, heal wounds, and treat sunburn.
Chamomile
Chamomile isn’t just a relaxing tea, although its sedative effect can be useful around bedtime! It can be used to treat everything from hay fever to hemorrhoids. In skincare, it is wonderful for acne-prone skin. It is rich in antioxidants, making it ideal for treating acne, acne scars, inflammation, and more. Got sunburn? Your chamomile-infused oil can also help soothe sunburned skin.
Mint
This is another herb that is wonderful for naturally treating and controlling acne. It also improves circulation, which improves complexion and reduces signs of aging. The cooling effect of mint can be very soothing on sunburn and inflamed skin.
Solar Infused Oil for Culinary
Best Oils
- Olive Oil
- Grapeseed Oil
- Avocado Oil
- Peanut Oil
- Canola Oil
Best Herbs
We love infusing oils for skincare and first-aid use. Once you get into the kitchen, the sky is truly the limit! Almost any herb you love adding to your food can be infused into the oil.
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Lavender
- Sage
- Garlic
- Bay Leaf
- Lemongrass
- Mint
- Thyme
- Marjoram
- Peppercorn (black pepper)
- Red pepper
- Chives
- Dill
- Oregano
- Tarragon
Will You Start in The Kitchen or the Kit?
There are so many possibilities with solar-infused oils! Now that you know how to make herb-infused oil, what will you try first? Are you going to create a basil-infused olive oil for pan-frying chicken or calendula-infused coconut oil for treating burns when pan-frying goes awry? We’d love to hear about it on social media with @fromsimplyearth and in the comments below!
To learn more about how to use essential oils, check out our Simply Earth Essential Oil Recipe Box. When you subscribe, we’ll ship you a monthly supply of four 100% pure essential oils, six natural recipes, and all the quality ingredients you’ll need to make your own wonderful products for just $44.99/month. All of these goodies have over $100 value, plus we’ll give you a FREE Big Bonus Box when you subscribe.
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