Dandelion Oil
I decided that I wanted to do something with skin care. So I heard about how Dandelions actually have anti-aging properties when used in skin care, as well as loads of other benefits. So first I had to dry them (which was in the previous blog post: Drying Flowers ) And now that our flowers are dry and we have enough of them, its time to create an infused oil with the carrier oil of your choice. And to do this, we have some options. We can do a quick infusion, or we can do a slow infusion. Personally, I like doing the slow infusion because it just works better for me and my schedule/
“Quick” Infusion:
I say quick but only because Its done in less than 2 weeks time. This infusion is done in a slow cooker, and I haven’t actually tried it yet, but I do plan on it if I ever need a quick infusion. Fill your pint jar up with the dried dandelions and cover up with your choice of carrier oil. Place a hand towel in the bottom of your slow cooker, and the dandelions on top of the towel. Add water to the slow cooker to cover the flowers and oil. Turn the slow cooker onto the Warm setting and let infuse for 4 hours. DO NOT PUT THE SLOW COOKER LID ON! It can cause condensation which can get moisture into our infusion and we don’t want that.
quick infusion rundown:
- Fill jar with flowers and oil.
- Place hand towel in slow cooker
- Put sealed jar of flowers and oil in slow cooker
- cover with water and cook on warm 4 hours with LID OFF
- Turn off slow cooker after 4 hours and let cool before handling
Long Method:
The long method is easy, but you also have to wait two weeks, which I can totally relate, having to wait can be irritating. Once you pour the oil and seal up your jar, you want to put it somewhere dry for two weeks, giving it a bit of a shake every day to every other day. After two weeks, you strain it and it is ready for use!
Long Infusion Rundown:
- Add dried flowers and carrier oil to jar
- Put in a dry place
- Shake every day to mix flowers and oil
- Strain after 2 weeks
For my infusion, I chose to use Grapeseed oil as my base carrier oil. I read about the benefits to Grapeseed oil when used for skincare, and I liked that they were similar to the benefits to the Dandelion. Some of the notable benefits that helped me choose:
Combats Breakouts: If your like me, with acne prone skin, grapeseed oil is great for you to use. Its high in Omega-6 Fatty acids, which help reduce the amount of water your skin looses, which can help with acne.
Lessens Redness: The omega-6 Fatty acid that Grapeseed oil has, is called Linoleic acid, which is also great to combat inflammatory which can reduce redness in the skin.
Even out Skin tone: Now with this one, your likely not going to notice unless your using grapeseed oil consistently. But if you have an uneven skin tone, using grapeseed oil on the skin may be of great use. It contains an antioxidant called proanthocyanin.
In Conclusion:
At the time of this post, my oil has only been infusing for 48 hours. So not ready yet, but I still need to gather the rest of my materials for making the salve or lotion. I’ll be shaking the jar once a day until the two weeks is up, which I’ll be straining and hopefully creating the salve at that point. Until then, I found this process to be easy, and simple and I look forward to doing it with other flowers and herbs this summer.
