Healing Burns

There are many wonderful carrier oils that can nourish the skin and speed the healing of a burn on your skin. Baobab oil, Shea butter and Tamanu oil are three of my current favorites.

Baobab: The oil is made from the fruit of the Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) by cold pressing the seed of the fruit. Baobab oil is highly penetrating, deeply nourishing and softens dry skin. It is known to restore and remoisturize the epidermis. Baobab oil has a high content of essential fatty acids.

Shea: Shea butter is extracted from the the Karite tree (Butyrospermum parkii), most often found in the tropical regions of West Africa. Shea is known to be an excellent moisturizer.  It is used as a lip balm, salve base, in body butters and in many skin care preparations. Used for sun-damaged skin and for long-term health of the skin.


Tamanu : The oil is made from the Calophyllum inophyllum tree. The harvested fruits are crushed to extract the nuts. The nuts are then sun-dried for eight weeks. During this time, the nuts turn brown and lose a third of their original weight. Inside their oil content becomes very high. Tamanu Oil does not exist in the fruit when it falls from the tree but forms during the drying period. Once dried, the oil is extracted from the nuts by cold pressing. Tamanu oil’s ability to heal damaged skin is well researched. The oil is notable for treating scars, stretch marks (fades stretch marks with great results), minor wounds, skin irritations, rashes, bedsores and many other skin concerns.

Burn Soothing Salve Recipe: In a double boiler melt a 1/2 oz of beeswax and then add 2 oz of Shea butter on a low heat and take of the heat as soon as the two are fully melted.  Mix in 1 oz of Tamanu oil, 1 oz of Baobab oil, and 30 drops of Lavender  essential oil (Lavandula angustifolia). Stir, pour into three 2 oz glass jars, cover and allow to cool. Apply this butter to the burn.

I have never enjoyed the waxy feel of over-the-counter lip balm.  When people talk about their lip balm addictions or my girl friends reach into their purses several times a day for gloss, I am the one scratching my head and simply not getting it.  To me, chapstick feels like rubbing a warm candle on my mouth and gloss feels like wearing a thin layer of glue.

At five months pregnant, I am starting to experience a lot of overall dryness.  Yesterday, after two sunburns and some chapping, I was ready to cave in and try some lip balm.  Luckily, Andrea had recently given me a tube of her homemade lip balm.

At about 10 pm last night, I put on a thin coat.  I immediately rubbed my lips together to test the consistency.  Instead of a thick, sticky feeling, Andrea’s balm felt gentle and buttery without feeling greasy.  The balm’d texture also felt penetrating instead of feeling like a waterproof barrier.

Okay, I thought, I am sold.

I headed off to bed, and like the pregnant woman I am woke up several times in the night to head to the restroom.  Each time I got up, my lips still felt moisturized and protected.  And when my alarm went off in the morning and I stumbled out of bed, I realized with surprise that my lips still felt exactly the way they had when I had first applied the balm.

This was no short of miraculous, in my experience.

While you can’t purchase Andrea’s luscious lip balm at Aromatics International or on any store shelf, you can make it yourself.  Her recipe calls for Orange essential oil, which mixes nicely with the nutty/appetizing aroma of Shea Butter.  The overall scent is tasty but not overpowering or sweet.  (In other words, you won’t be compelled it lick it right off.)

Ready for some serious bliss for your lips?  Here is Andrea’s recipe for soothing, healing lip balm.

Ingredients:

10 drops Orange Essential Oil
1/2 oz. Organic Beeswax Pellets
1 oz. Certified Organic Jojoba Oil
1 oz. Organic Shea Butter

Directions:

Melt 1/2 oz. Beeswax and 1 oz. Jojoba in a double boiler. When melted take off the stove, add the Shea butter and the Orange essential oil. Stir until melted and pour immediately into lip balm tins or lip balm tubes.

For a double boiler, try a Pyrex measuring cup rested in a soup pot filled half way with water. Will make about 4 one oz. tins.

Don’t forget, Aromatics International’s recipe area has over 25 essential oil recipes.  Do you have any favorite aromatherapy recipes?  Share them in the comments!