Making a herbal oil

I have been busy this year making herbal oils. I love the gentle colour change and how the oil takes on the medicinal properties of the plants I use. The first one I ever made was Calendula officinalis (pot marigold) oil and it was incredible for dry and irritated skin.

Currently I’m infusing St John’s Wort, Hypericum perforatum. This is so simple and takes very little time. Pick the flowers on a sunny morning when the dew has gone from the flowers. Make sure they are from a spray free area. Place in a clean glass jar and pour organic olive oil over them. Shake to ensure the flowers are underneath the oil. Keep on a sunny windowsill. Shake the jar couple of times every day. I add more flowers to the oil and shake, topping up with oil if necessary. The shaking is essential to ensure that the flowers remain covered by oil or mould may occur. The flowers are yellow and have black pollen after they have been open for a few hours. This makes the oil a gorgeous red colour and that’s the colour you want from the flowers. Strain after approximately one month.

What can you use the infused oil for? This is used topically only and may help when your skin is irritated and has been used historically for wounds (possibly due to having antibacterial properties). It may be put into creams or ointments if you like. Caution: it may cause photosensitivity.

St John’s Wort flowering

A photo of the infusing oil taken in sunlight so you can see the beautiful red colour of it