Infused Oils

Infusing oils is a great way to incorporate the medicinal properties of herbs into your soaps and skin care products. It’s easy to do yourself at home, and if you grow your own herbs you can make infused oils with plants dried straight from your garden!

There are many different herbs you can infuse that are beneficial for our bodies. These are some of my favourites.

1. Rosemary helps relieve an itchy scalp and dandruff. It is also thought to encourage hair growth. This is stimulating and invigorating herb.
2. Calendula (marigold) is healing and used commonly for sunburns, itchiness, rashes, inflammation, and slow healing wounds.
3. Lavender is calming, healing, and anti fungal, it promotes the growth of new cells, and is useful for skin inflammation.

The best oils to use in an infusion are olive, sweet almond, or jojoba as these have a long shelf life. They’re also a staple in many soap makers recipes.

There are a couple of different ways you can infuse your oil, (my favourite is the fastest way as I have no patience to wait 6 weeks for the herbs to infuse in the sun!)

What you’ll need

• Dried herbs
• Oil (Olive, Sweet Almond, or Jojoba)
• Vitamin E oil (optional)

The ratio of oil to herbs is approximately 10:1. So if you have 250ml of oil you would use 25g of herbs. Depending on the herb this can be alot, so I tend to just eyeball the amounts. As long as the herbs are completely covered by the oil then you should get a nice infusion.

Do not wash the herb or use any water in any way, don’t use a wet jar or wet spoon for mixing either. Water can cause your herbs to grow mildew!

Method 1: The Slow Way – Solar Infusion

In a clean, sterilised glass jar add your dried herbs and cover completely with the oil of your choice. Gently stir the mixture making sure that all the herbs are well covered with oil. Screw on the lid.

The herbs are infused into the oil by heat, so place your jar in a warm spot but out of direct sunlight.

Leave the oil steeping for 4-6 weeks. Check on it every few days and give it a gentle roll back and forth. This helps to release the herbal properties and keeps everything well covered.

After six weeks the oil will be ready to strain. To strain, pour the oil from your jar into a jug, through strainer that has been lined with a cheesecloth (or if you’re like me and don’t have any cheesecloth, use a coffee filter). You don’t want to only use a regular strainer as you’ll get small bits of herb in your oil.  Squeeze the cheesecloth/filter to get every last drop! Pour the oil into prepared bottles or jars and add a couple drops of vitamin E oil to help preserve your infusion. Keep this oil in a cool, dark place. Most infused oils generally last for a year or longer depending on which oil you used.

Method 2: The “If You’ve Got All Day” Way – Stove Top Infusion

Fill your jar with the herbs and oil as described in method one. Place the herb filled jar in a sauce pan that has been filled about ¼ full of water, simmer for 4-8 hours. Remove jar from saucepan and allow to cool. Strain, bottle and keep in a cool dark place.

Method 3: The Quick Way – Double Boiler Infusion

Place the herbs and oil in a double boiler and bring to a slow simmer. Slowly heat for 30-60 minutes. For a stronger infusion, keep the heat nice and low for a longer simmer time to help release medicinal properties. Strain, bottle, and store following the instructions above.

Make sure you label your finished infusions with the date, type of oil and herb used. Now you can use the oil in your soaps and skin care products to make them a little more special!

Sweet Almond Oil Infused with Lavender

250ml of Sweet Almond Oil
25 grams of Dried Lavender Buds

Step 1:  Measure out the oil and lavender into a heat safe glass jug.

Step 2:  Put the lavender into the oil and stir well until combined. Place your jug into the double boiler on a low heat and leave to infuse for 30-60 minutes, stirring every so often.

Step 3:  Place a sieve over a clean jug and pour the oil and lavender into a cheesecloth, or in this instance, a coffee filter. If you pour directly into the sieve you will get small bits of lavender in your oil which you don’t want. Wait for the oil to filter through then squeeze the filter to make sure you get all the oil out of the lavender. Add a drop or two of Vitamin E and stir.

You can use the oily lavender buds in another project if you don’t want to discard them, but you must use them the same day to avoid contamination.

Step 4:  Fill your clean, sterilised jar and screw the lid on tight. Label, and store in a cool dry place ready to be used in your soaps and body treats. Enjoy!