Cumberland Gal: Rosebud Salve Recipe

One of our native roses.. Rosa setigera.. the prairie rose

Rosebud Salve Recipe

Dana Koogler

Saturday Sept. 12, 2020

Above is a photo of a tin of old timey Smith's Rosebud Salve.

It is still around today to purchase in either tins or tubes. I have been learning about and making salves and home remedies for about a year now.

I remember this from my childhood. It was very pleasant looking and smelling as well as being real soothing. I found a recipe to make it.

The original recipe is somewhat different. It contained cottonseed oil, petrolatum, a proprietary aromatic oil blend... the trade secret.. and possibly a little coloring. Rose petals have compounds in them that are known to be good for soothing the skin.

Petrolatum is essentially vaseline petroleum jelly. I like and use vaseline, but while it is protective it is not terribly good at healing. I read up and decided to go with a slightly different recipe to get the same or better results.

I used sweet almond oil and will have to make some more because I have a granddaughter who has a serious nut allergy. I think next time I'll try sticking as close as possible to the original blend.

Cottonseed oil gives a longer shelf life and should be safe and readily available. It won't bother Tessa's nut allergy.

Ingredients:

1 dozen chapstick tubes -- available at Hobby Lobby for around $4

Small plastic tubs --1 dozen for $1 at Dollar Tree

labels

small tub of pink mica powder--Hobby Lobby $3

pot you don't mind messing up

Sweet almond oil -- Hobby Lobby $6

Castor oil -Hobby Lobby $6

Rose absolute essential oil-- Cynthia's Herb shop downtown Maryville $10

bees wax pastilles or coconut oil/beeswax blend-- both available at Hobby Lobby $4

lavender essential oil $4 Food City

**You may use a sliver of dark pink lipstick in place of the mica powder if you have it.**

Directions:

Place 1/4 cup sweet almond oil, 1/2 teaspoon castor oil, and either

1/2 Tablespoon beeswax pastilles or 1 Tablespoon beeswax/coconut oil blend

in a pot over low heat and stir frequently til melted together.

Remove from heat and stir in either 1/4 teaspoon dark pink mica powder or a sliver of dark pink lipstick and stir thoroughly to blend.

Allow to cool slightly before adding 20 drops rose absolute and 5 drops lavender essential oil.

Stir well.

Pour into a spouted container and fill a dozen chapstick tubes very carefully.

You can also fill a couple small plastic tubs with the remainder.

I got a dozen tubes of lip balm and two tubs of salve.

Allow to cool for a couple hours.

above: a dozen tubes of lip balm in chapstick tubes

above: I label and date my home remedy products.

Above: finished product. it is still not completely set. You can see the bubbles settling out of it in the circles on the surface. It is very pretty and works great. It soothes chapped lips. Has a very light tint. Make up artists love this stuff.