Time to make more hand-cream

Hand-cream makes sense for men and women alike. It protects the integrity of the skin by moisturising and helping keep the skin elastic and flexible. The better the condition the skin, the less likely you are to get cracked and broken skin, especially around the nails and with less opportunity for infections. Good skin condition also helps small cuts and injuries to heal quicker.

With the building work, constant gardening, joinery projects and Luis' mosaic work, our hands take a battering so a good dollop of a hydrating cream helps tremendously. Made with calendula infused oil, lavender infused oil, almond oil and natural un-purified beeswax, our cream is healing and nutritive.

The recipe can be found here and is an adaptation of one or two recipes we have read about and tried. This particular cream keeps well and is relatively quick to make. It is so much better than commercial creams that are full of preservatives, colourings and refined oils and waxes.

Luis made two generous pots today which will see us through the busy Spring we have planned.

Making infused oil for hand cream

If you follow Tales from Toriello you will probably know that we have started to make our own soaps and hand-cream. One of the most important ingredients we use is oil infused with aromatic and healing herbs and plants which we grow in our garden. We make our own using almond oil or olive oil, calendula, lavender and comfrey.

We are due to make more hand/skin cream in the near future (original post here). This time we are making calendula with almond oil and comfrey with olive oil. The petals of the calendula and the dry comfrey leaves are added to the oil and left to infuse in a sunny position for about 3 weeks.

This time we might go for a double infusion by replacing the petals and leaves with a second batch and infuse once more in the same oil.

The cream (lavender and calendula) is really useful and healing. It is great for dry skin such as dry hands after gardening or for elbows and heels etc. It can be applied before dirty jobs such as gardening or mechanics, helping to protect the skin; making hand and nail washing easier. Recently we got some great feedback from a friend who has been applying the cream to inflamed eczema. For the first time in many months, the skin is hydrated, less inflamed and much less itchy.

Comfrey

From personal experience, last month I accidentally rested the palm of my hand on the hot ceramic hob. After cooling the burn I dressed my hand with the cream and a bandage, and kept renewing this every six hours. It didn't blister and healed completely after growing new skin under the burn. It hurt like hell though for two days...

Lavender - still to flower

This time we will make calendula and comfrey both of which are renowned for their healing and restorative properties.