Achilles’ Heel Yarrow Salve

This yarrow salve was designed for calloused and dry feet, but it works just as well for hands, too!

I created it after reading a folklore book one day, which had a tidbit saying that yarrow (Achillea millefolium) has ties to Achilles’ spear, and promptly ran with the idea.

In traditional herbalism, yarrow is used for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s also helpful for treating cracked and damaged skin, making it perfect to use on your heels and hands.

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You will need:

• Glass jar or container you’re willing to sacrifice to being used to melt beeswax forevermore
• Small pot
• A scale
• Salve tins
• 6 oz (170 g) sunflower oil, infused with dried herbs
  (The herbs in question being: yarrow flowers, plus one or more of the following herbs: calendula flowers, dandelion flowers, comfrey root, and/or marshmallow root)
• 1 oz (28 g) beeswax
• 0.50 oz (14 g) cocoa butter (use unscented/refined if you don’t want the scent)
• 0.20 oz (6 g) castor oil, or more infused oil
• 0.20 oz (6 g) macadamia nut oil, or more infused oil
• 0.20 oz (6 g) cucumber seed oil, or more infused oil
• 0.20 oz (6 g) borage oil, or more infused oil
• 0.20 oz (6 g) tamanu oil, or more infused oil

The Infusion

We can’t make an herbal salve without including the herbs, but since we do not want random gritty and oddly textured plant debris in our salve, into the oil they go!

To make an herbal infusion in oil, heap a glass mason jar about half of the way full with dried herbs. Fill it the rest of the way with oil. Place the jar in a small pot that has a few inches of water in it, and set it on a burner set to low heat. Keep checking it to make sure all the water doesn’t evaporate out, but otherwise, just leave it be to infuse for several hours.

Once a few hours have passed, take off the heat and strain oil into a new jar. You now have a jar of herbal oil! Now let’s make something with it.

The Salve

Weigh out 6 ounces (170 g) of the infused sunflower oil, plus the beeswax and cocoa butter into a glass mason jar or other heat-safe container. Place jar into a small pot that has a few inches of water in it, and place pot on a burner set to medium-low heat to melt. Gently stirring the mix once it warms can speed up melting.

Once everything’s completely melted, remove jar from heat. Measure out and add your other oils- castor, macadamia nut, cucumber seed, borage, and tamanu- and mix them in.

(If you don’t have all of these oils, just use more infused oil in their place.)

Once everything’s combined, carefully pour the contents of your jar into salve tins.

Leave the salve undisturbed, in the tins to set up. Once salves are cool, screw on the lids and label them. Stick ’em on a shelf somewhere out of direct sunlight, and you’re done!