Dandelions, often dismissed as pesky weeds, have been used for centuries in traditional medicine for their potential health benefits.
Research even suggests, whether consumed as food, extracts, or supplements, they offer a natural and holistic approach to supporting cardiovascular health.1 But that’s not all—dandelions dotting your lawn could be the secret to glowing, healthy skin.
Here are simple steps of transforming these humble flowers into a luxurious skincare treat.
Step 1: Make the Dandelion Infused Oil
First, let’s make dandelion oil. Your backyard might be full of dandelions right now so you can use them to make lots of oil for other projects later on.
You can even use them to make salves, soaps, and lotions. Dandelion oil will keep for about a year if you store it in a cool, dark place.
5 Steps to Get Started
- Pick Your Flowers: Pick dandelions from a place where no chemicals have been sprayed and pets don’t go potty. Dandelions can have bugs on them, so let them sit outside for a bit before bringing them inside.
- Let Them Dry: Dandelions have a lot of water in them, so they need to dry completely to prevent mold. Spread them on a clean dish towel or paper towels for a few days. Don’t rinse them, because this will make them harder to dry.
- Fill a Jar: Fill a glass jar halfway with the dried dandelions and petals, then fill the rest with oil. Sunflower oil is good for damaged skin, but you can also use other oils like olive oil, almond oil, or avocado oil.
- Wait: Put the jar in a warm spot, like a sunny windowsill, for about four weeks. If you want to make it faster, you can put the jar in a pan of warm water for a few hours. But be careful not to overheat the oil.
- Strain the Oil: After a few weeks, or after a few hours if you used warm water, pour the oil through a strainer to get rid of the dandelion pieces. Now your dandelion oil is ready to use.
Step 2: Make the Dandelion Lotion Bars
Now that you’ve made dandelion oil, let’s make some lotion bars. It’s like melting chocolate – super easy!
You’ll need:
- 1 part beeswax pastilles (these are like little beads of beeswax)
- 1 part shea butter (or mango butter if you prefer)
- 1 part dandelion oil (the one you just made)
- A few drops of lavender essential oil (this is optional, you can leave it out)
You can use any amount you want, as long as you use equal parts of beeswax, shea butter, and dandelion oil. If you use ¼ cup of each, you’ll get about two dozen little lotion bars.
Here’s what to do:
- Melt the Ingredients: Put the beeswax, shea butter, and dandelion oil in a canning jar or another container that can handle heat. Put the container in a pan with a little bit of water (like a double boiler). Heat it slowly until everything melts together. Watch it carefully so it doesn’t get too hot.
- Add Lavender Oil (Optional): If you want to use lavender oil, add a few drops now and stir it in. You can also use a different oil if you prefer, or skip this step entirely.
- Pour into Molds: You can use candy molds, silicone molds, or even canning lids! Put a canning lid on a piece of waxed paper and pour the melted mixture into it.
- Let it Cool: Let the lotion bars cool and harden completely. If they’re too hard or too soft, just melt them again and add more oil to make them softer, or more beeswax to make them harder.
- Enjoy! Once the lotion bars are cool, pop them out of the molds and they’re ready to use. Rub them on your skin for a nice, smooth feeling.
There you have it! Your own batch of homemade dandelion lotion bars, ready to nourish and revitalize your skin.
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Nancy has been a plant person from an early age. That interest blossomed into a bachelor’s in biology from Elmira College and a master’s degree in horticulture and communications from the University of Kentucky. Nancy worked in plant taxonomy at the University of Florida and the L. H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, and wrote and edited gardening books at Rodale Press in Emmaus, PA. Her interests are plant identification, gardening, hiking, and reading.