Dandelion Oil Lotion Bars for Dry Skin and Sore Muscles

Benefits of Dandelion Oil Lotion Bars for Skin

I suspect that if you are here reading this post, that you already realize the value of dandelion. And you know that it is so much more than the nasty weed which it’s been labeled.

But did you know that:

dandelion oil can relieve sunburns
the oil can reduce skin inflammation
dandelion infused oil can treat and prevent dry skin
dandelion oil can relieve minor pain and can help ease the pain of sore muscles because it is rich in muscle relaxing magnesium

One easy way to get some of those benefits for your skin is to infuse the dandelion flowers into oil. And then use that oil to make dandelion oil lotion bars.

Be Sure You’ve Properly Identified Dandelion

Dandelion, or Taraxacum officinale, is a perennial plant. The above ground growth dies back in the fall, but the root system stays very much alive. It continues to grow for many seasons.

The Dandelion Flower

What appears as one flower is really a composite of hundreds of tiny individual florets. Each one of these individual flowers looks like a petal. The yellow flower heads are generally about an inch in diameter. If you are observant, you’ll notice that they close at night.

The stem, actually a flowering stalk called a scape, has no leaves and is hollow. Each of the individual flowers form a seed and combined they make up the puffy white seed head that children are so fond of blowing.

Dandelion Leaves

The leaves of the dandelion plant form a basal rosette – they all come up from the ground at a central point. The base of the leaves is often tinged red and generally grow about 6 – 8” long. The margin, or edges of the leaves, have a jagged edge with pointy lobes and smaller teeth.

The Root

Dandelion has a deep taproot which exudes a white, milky substance called latex.

Be sure to know how the dandelions you are harvesting were grown. I think it would be safe to say that no flower has been sprayed with more toxic chemicals than dandelion.

How to Make Dandelion Infused Oil

By steeping dried dandelion flowers in oil, many of its chemical properties can be extracted and preserved for future use in dandelion oil lotion bars, healing salves, balms, and even herbal soaps.

Time and warmth are needed to allow the volatile oils in the dandelion flowers to become infused in the oil.

Fresh flowers contain water which can potentially cause mold so drying the dandelion before infusing is a must.

Harvest your whole flowers including the sepal, which are the green petals below the flower, and dehydrate in a dehydrator for a few hours, or lay them to dry on a dish towel in a single layer for several days.

Olive oil is a good choice for making infusions since it itself is nourishing and does not easily go rancid. You may also use sweet almond oil, or avocado oil.

To make dandelion infused oil, loosely fill a 1 cup canning jar about 3/4 full with dried dandelion flowers. Fill the jar with olive oil, or the oil of your choice. Place a lid on the jar and allow to infuse for 6 weeks in a dark area.

After infusing, remove the flowers by straining and compost them. Reserve the oil to make homemade Dandelion Oil Lotion Bars for Dry Skin and Sore Muscles.

If you need some quick methods of making your infusions, see my post Five Ways to Make an Herb Infused Oil.

Graphic courtesy of the good folks at https://stroller-envy.com/.