How to make a skin healing Self Heal oil infusion

✦ Making a Self Heal oil infusion 🌿✨️ ✦

Do you have tons of this beautiful plant, often overlooked as just a "weed" growing around you? Want to utilize the skin healing properties in a way that is accessible and affordable?

Then let's make an oil infusion together! It's easy!

Start by collecting some aerial parts of Self Heal (prunella vulgaris) and harvest ethically, with the intention to use it as medicine for you or your community. Plants really do understand when you speak with them, so feel free to whisper those sweet nothings as you harvest! 🥲

Then begin placing any small flowers and healthy looking leaves in your clear and dry jar, before cutting up any larger plants and placing them in as well. I like to remove any bugs and leaves with brown spots that may taint the infusion and give them back to the land.

When your jar is almost full of your fresh plant matter, just pour some organic, cold pressed Olive Oil (can also use almond or grapeseed if you have it!) until all of the plant matter is covered, leaving about an inch of air at the top.

Screw on your lid, give it a good shake, and label your vessel with the plant and extraction method used as well as the date. It should look like this: "Self Heal (prunella vulgaris) olive oil infusion 7/14/22" ✦

You're all done! For now. Place in a cool spot in your home or apothecary to slow infuse for 6-8 weeks before straining and bottling, once again labeling it.

If you're in a hurry for your infusion, you can also do the double boiler heat extraction method by placing your oil and plant matter in a pot to simmer on your stove for a few hours. You don't want it to boil and ruin your oil or herbs so it's best done on very low heat for anywhere from 5-24 hours if you have a crock pot or something similar. Continue stirring every once in a while and when it looks nice and deep in color, you can take it off the heat and pour into your jar just like you would the cold extraction method.

This skin healing powerhouse is great for minor cuts, bites, scratches, inflammation, and even muscle aches and is known to be helpful to stop bleeding! It's a great addition to your hiking first aid kit, or you can use some fresh leaves as a poltice if you find some on a walk.

Happy #PlantMedicine making! ✨️ What's your favorite way to use this amazing herbal ally?


*when using fresh plant matter in an oil infusion, I add vitamin e oil and/or a touch of alcohol to preserve the infusion, as it has a shorter shelf life than using dried plant matter would.

*disclaimer: not intended to cure, treat, or diagnose any disease & please don't harvest any plant you're not certain of the identification*