How to Make and Use Herb Infused Oils

Infusing oils is a very easy process though it does take time and patience for a well infused oil. 

There are so many different blends and types of oils one can make and they have a good amount of uses. Some may infuse oils for culinary purposes, which I have tried for fun myself.  Others will do so for medicinal and skin care reasons, which is mainly what I do.

I make a cayenne and peppermint infused oil for using in both my homemade muscle and joint rub and also in my special scalp and hair blend I use to help stimulate hair growth.  These are recipes I do plan on sharing here in the near future but first want to go over the oil infusions so you can get them started right away if you think that is something you would be interested in.

The other most common oil infusion I do is my calendula, pansy, and marshmallow blend (sometimes with rose petals) that I use in my homemade skin cream and lip balms. My lip balm recipe I will also share down the road but you can find my skin cream recipe here.  

Now one must understand how I do things when it comes to making infusions, extracts and tinctures. It is all about experimenting and finding what works best for us. It is very rare I follow a specific recipe other than what I create myself.  If you are new to making herbal infusions, extracts, and tinctures, I suggest getting your hands on a good recipe book such as Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health. She also goes into various methods for infusing oils, making tinctures, and much more.  Great book!

When infusing oils, dried herbs are best as you do not want moisture in your oil or you may get mold.  Also, as with extracts and tinctures, you will make a stronger infusion with dried herbs rather than fresh.  I recommend you choose an oil that can handle high heat for a long shelf life and the best stability.  Many people like to use olive oil for their infusions and this is a great choice, however olive oil does not have the stability avocado oil has. Chosen Foods Avocado oil is my preferred choice for making my infusions but organic grapeseed oil is another one I highly recommend.

To make the oil infusions, I fill a mason jar at least half of the way full of my dried herbs.  How full I fill the jar will depend on just how dense the dried herbs are. Rosemary, for example, does not take up as much space as calendula and pansy flowers.  Thus when making my calendula-marshmallow-pansy oil I like to fill my jar to the top with the herbs as you can see in the photo below.  Here I used equal parts of calendula, marshmallow leaves and flowers, and pansies.

 I then pour the oil over the herbs filling the jar to the top.  Following this, I stir the herbs with a chopstick to blend in the oil.  After allowing the mixture to set for several minutes, you will find that as the air bubbles work out and the herbs begin to absorb the oil, you will have more space to add more oil to the jar.

After topping off, put on a tight fitting lid and let your oil infuse for at least one to two months in a warm area of your home.  This can be on top of your fridge or close to some other heat source as long as it does not get too hot.  For me it is in the living room not far from our wood stove.

Once your oil is done, it should have a good strong color as a result of the herbs. The color is what I use as a gauge to tell me that the herbs have infused well into the oil.

At this point, you will then strain your herbs out of the oil.  I use a mesh strainer over a Pyrex measuring cup to do this.  Store your oil in a glass container such as a mason jar or a recycled glass bottle in a cool dark place.  This should be shelf stable for at least 6 months and when using an oil like avocado or grape seed, I would say at least a year or more. 

 In this photo from left to right is my cayenne and peppermint infused oil, hair and scalp oil blend, calendula, marshmallow, rose, and pansy infused oil, and the batch of calendula, marshmallow and pansy oil after about two weeks of infusing:

Many medicinal oils for the skin can be used directly as is or can be made into a salve by mixing with other ingredients such as bees wax, shea butter, and coconut oil. 

Other herbs that can be used for making medicinal oils for skin related issues would be plantain leaves, yarrow leaves and flowers, woolly lamb's ear, and comfrey.

In this video I demonstrate making a couple of different infused oils :

To those on the path to detoxifying their life and going natural and pharma free, I do hope you found this article helpful.

Thank you for your time Faithful Reader! 
~Heidi

NOTE: I am NOT a doctor nor pretend to be one. Nothing I say should be used to replace professional medical counseling! Also, PLEASE do your OWN research!

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