Reply To: Medicine Making | External Preparations
I made a cotton wood bud oil early this spring and made some into a salve – my mom loves it! I have some additional infused oil leftover I would like to try adding cayenne to increase circulation and pain relieving qualities prior to making it into a salve. Can I add regular cayenne pepper from the spice section of the grocery store? Do I leave it in the infused oil when I mix it with the beeswax to make more salve, or should I let it infuse and then settle (if it does indeed settle) and pour off the infused oil from the top before making it into a salve?
I was thinking of trying to make a plaster for my husbands achilles rupture and/or my dad’s back pain – would comfrey oil with or without cayenne (if wanting it heating) or Valerian (to ease spasms) work for a plaster or is it best used fresh as in the example of the poultice?
One more question – when using rose to make oil infusions, do you use just the petals or do you include the entire flower up to the stem? Are there benefits to using fresh versus dried?
Thank you 🙂