Body Care Recipe: Lung & Chest Rub

If deep respiratory problems from a chest cold, asthma, or bronchitis have ever dampened your spirits, then this blend of herbs will open up your lungs and clear you out. As cold and flu season approaches, it is beneficial to prepare with a little cold & flu kit to have on hand at home. The staple items that I keep on hand in my kit are Ursa Major Lung & Throat Elixir, Clear Head Steam, Chest Lung Hero Smoke Blend, Respiratory Relief Tea blend, THS's own Fire Elixir Cider and an anti-bacterial tincture of Oregon Grape, Usnea, Echinacea, Poke, and Myrrh. Have fun creating this simple Lung & Chest Rub. It will make approximately 30 oz, so grab a few extra containers and give some to all your friends! Here’s how you get started: Gather ingredients

• Beeswax (1-2 Bars)
• Olive Oil (oil of choice) (approx. 30oz always better to have more on hand)
• Coltsfoot Leaf-.25oz
• Eucalyptus Leaf-.50 oz
• Menthol Crystals-.50oz
• Containers of your choice (enough to hold 30 oz)
• Rosemary Essential Oil

To Infuse the herbs with your oil base:

1. Place herb blend (Coltsfoot & Eucalyptus) into oven safe glass container.
2. Put base oil blend on top of bulk herbs. Make sure that you cover everything with about an inch of oil on top of herbs.
3. Let sit in oven on lowest setting (around 200 or 225 degrees), uncover and let infusion happen for about 2 hours. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. If your oven seems to hot then crack the door.
4. After 2 hours, remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Take cheesecloth and strain all the herbs from the oil. Don’t leave any herbs in the oil or it will spoil your batch.

Blending your infused oil to make salve:

1. Take your oil infusion and put in top pan of a double boiler.
2. Add your wax (I typically use beeswax or soy wax) or butters such as cocoa butter.
3. Melt all together. One of my favorite tricks for getting the appropriate consistency is the spoon trick. Take your melted blend and put a small amount on a spoon. Place in the fridge for about 5 min. Pull it out and see how the salve feels. If it’s to hard then add a little more oil, if it’s to soft add a little more wax.
4. Once everything is melted together and you have tested your consistency for your salve, add the menthol crystals.
5. Line up all your containers for the completed salves. Drop 10 drops of Rosemary essential oil in each 2oz container. (depending on the size of your container you will want to add or subtract more essential oil)
6. Take base oil and wax blend and pour into your containers. Let sit over night. Don’t move them for 24 hours if possible to let them completely harden.
7. Label and use away!

To learn more about our upcoming class Make Your Own Immunity Wellness Kit with Claire Porter, check out our events page here. *Due to the devastating wild fires that are sweeping through our local Columbia River Gorge, this month we have decided to donate $1 for every Respiratory Relief Tea and Tincture sold. The money will be donated to help support rebuilding and revitalizing the gorge once the wild fires have ceased. To set up an herbal consultation with me email: info@theherbshoppepharmacy.com