I have made quite a number of wound and skin salves over the years, and one of my favorites has to be purple dead nettle. It is an incredibly effective healer, but it works a little slower than salves that include comfrey, I’ve personally had some issues with comfrey healing the top layer of my skin faster than the lower levels and ending up with itchy and inflamed tissue. That’s not going to be for everyone, but for gifting or general purposes I’ve found purple dead nettle to be well suited to a wide range of skin types and constitutions.
One of the best things about this recipe is the purple dead nettle is widely available in many backyards and nearby parks in much of the northern hemisphere. Purple dead nettle (Lamium purpureum) is often confused with henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), henbit also has medicinal properties but not what we’re using in this recipe.
This is purple dead nettle above!
Below is henbit (that one is not my picture)
They do look really similar, and are both in the mint family (so they both have square stems) but the easiest way to distinguish the two is leaf shape. Purple dead nettle has a heart or triangular shape whereas henbit has spoked or tooth like leaves.
I usually do my annual collecting in early April, I typically use fresh purple dead nettle but drying it would work as well, although if you’re into energetics at all, you might prefer the fresh plant material. The risk with using fresh plant material is that there is a greater risk for molding or otherwise going bad. I am notoriously negligent at straining my herbed oils and tinctures in a timely fashion, so I just go by the smell test. This year 2021, my purple dead nettle oil did have a distinct funky smell by October, so sadly I had to toss it. Fortunately I had remembered to strain my 2020 oil in time so I used that year for this batch demonstrated here.
Generally speaking you want to keep the plant material in the oil (I use a high quality extra virgin olive oil) for four to six weeks, but as stated above I frequently leave mine for longer, with mixed results. Unlike many things this is one you actually want to leave in a window with some sunlight, skip the southern facing window but something with some sun will help the oil infuse. Shake the jar from time to time.
After four to six weeks strain the oil into a clean quart jar and cap. I always use new lid when I’m making oils or tinctures, unless you’re using jars with glass tops or rubber gaskets to the removable lids can be quite absorbent and you don’t want to be risking cross contamination. Now that your oil is infused you can use it right away, or store for later use. At this point you definitely don’t want it in the light, store some cool and dark.
Here’s my herb cabinet!
If you’re ready to make the salve, find the recipe below!
Purple Dead Nettle Salve
- Purple dead nettle (half a quart if dried, three quarters of a quart if fresh)
- Enough olive oil, sunflower oil, or apricot kernel oil to cover the plant material
- 112 grams (approximately 1C) Beeswax pastilles or block shredded
- 112 grams (approximately 1C) Raw cocoa butter (food grade)
- Lavender essential oil
- Vitamin E oil (optional)
- Dried lavender flowers
- 10x 2oz balm tins
- Double boiler or glass bowl placed over simmer pot of water*
Combine the beeswax and raw cocoa butter into the double boiler, monitor closely, stirring with a popsicle stick.
Once melted add in the herb infused carrier oil, this will cool down the beeswax and cocoa butter so let it return to liquid form, but but very careful that it doesn’t overheat, excessive heat can disrupt some of the plant benefits in the carrier oil.
Once mixed add 5-10 drops of lavender essential oil and if using 20 drops of vitamin E oil. I like to add some dried lavender flowers for scent and visual interest, but it’s definitely not required.
Pour the hot mixture into the balm tins or jars you’re using, let cool, label, and enjoy!
