calandula creem

[The Grock in the Frock]

saw carol kline on G.W making this hand creem once.Anyone know how to make it?

[Colin_M]

So is this good on lettuce, or mainly strawberries?

[retropants]

yes, but it is generally not as simple as the tv chefs/gardeners/ethnobotanists make out. They just use oil/water/beeswax and store their concoction in the fridge. This is not really a safe thing to do. Bacteria will grow in any aqueous emulsion after a few days without a preservative. Refridgerating will lengthen the shelf life, but no longer than a couple of weeks.
You would need to make and infusion of dried (very important the flowers are dried) calendula petals in olive oil or similar and leave on a sunny windowcill for a few weeks, shaking daily. Then this infusion is strained and mixed with the other ingrdients after heating (& holding for 20 minutes if we are doing this properly).

I make all sorts of B&B products and use a proper vegetable emulsifier & a preservative. Beeswax as an emulsifier won't be very stable and may separate, especially in this hot weather.

You could make a balm instead, which uses no water and therefore needs no preservative. For this you would need to use your strained infusion, some beeswax and cocoa butter. (I would also add some vitamin E to lengthen the shelf life of the oils) These are all melted together and poured in a jar to set. Balms are inherently greasier than creams because they are completely oil based.

HTH? you can pm me for more info if you like!

Sorry, rant over!!!

[Nature's Babe]

Retropants, deep bows, clever clogs! LOL