I got a cold last month, and I’ve got another one right now. Ick. Gross. I hate colds. For me, my #1 symptom is a stuffy nose, and the sniffling drives me mad. During the day I have plenty of defences (tissues, nasal rinses, and decongestants), but overnight, well, I’m asleep (or at least I’m trying to be). That’s where this oil comes in.
In it’s simplest form it’s just three ingredients, though you can bump it up to five if you like (I eventually did).
I used coconut oil and cupuacu butter (USA / Canada) for my oils, but I’d recommend swapping the cupuacu butter (USA / Canada) for more coconut oil—it doesn’t make enough of a difference to warrant the second oil. You can also just use a liquid oil, like grapeseed or safflower.
Then it’s the essential oils. The camphor and menthol will do the trick, but you can add a bit of peppermint to boost the cooling sensation on your chest if you like.
I no longer recommend making this recipe—it’s quite old and no longer lives up to my quality standards.
Decongestion Salve (Homemade Vick’s)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cupuacu butter (USA / Canada) (or other, heavier butter)15 drops camphor essential oil
30 drops menthol essential oil
5 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada) (optional)Mash the coconut oil and cupuacu butter (USA / Canada) together with you finger. Add the essential oils, 10 or so drops at a time, mashing between additions. Store in a bottle, not a tin, unless you like to court spillage disasters!
Apply to your chest and neck before bedtime when congested.
I just wanted to let you know how much I LOVE your website. It has become one of my favorites. Love the variety and all the options to the chemical health and beauty products that are on the market. Keep up the good work!
Happy Easter,
Nancy
Thanks, Nancy! I’m so glad my hobby is helpful 🙂 I love coming up with new ideas and getting them online and sharing them with you!
my husband is allergic to nuts, so am wondering what other kinds of oils can be used, can I use shea butter?
what other oils can be used?
thanks in advance
brenda
Brenda—I’d recommend using any liquid oil (shea butter will make this very greasy). Grapeseed and Safflower are both great choices as they absorb quite quickly.
I just started following your website last week and I am totally in love. I’ve pinned half your posts on my Pinterest boards! I can’t wait to make this!
Yay! I love hearing that 🙂 Keep reading, I’ve got tons of great posts coming up!
I bought Menthol Crystals a few months ago and I have forgotten why I bought them I think it was to make some similar to this, how would I incorporate them into this recipe? And I have some Palm oil would that be a good alternative? (it’s the refined butter not the pure red).
Menthol crystals are oil soluble, so you should be able to just dissolve them into the carrier oil (you may have to heat everything a little to get them to dissolve). I’d start with half the amount of crystals (I believe they are more concentrated than the EO) and work your way up. Yes, you can use palm oil instead of coconut oil, but I’d really recommend you never, ever buy palm oil.
Marie- I keep forgetting to write to you that you should try this on your *feet*! I was taught to do this when I worked at an Indian casino by other cashiers. Your feet has the most sweat glands. The salve gets into your system nicely and eases congestion while you work, while at school, etc. I do the same before bed if needed instead of having a gooey chest. Of course, I wear socks on my feet after applying the salve. Do wear white cotton socks. Colored socks… laughing… A plus is your feet are lovely on their bottoms.
I have heard about this trick a few times but haven’t had a chance to try it yet (thankfully!). I hear it’s also super awesome for coughs 😀 Remind me next time I’m sick, k? 😉
Really works on your feet especially with a cough!had terrible pneumonia for 3 weeks helped me sleep,found you on pinterest,your homemade stuff sounds interesting,going to try!
I’m so glad to have helped! I hope your pneumonia has since improved 🙂 Thank you so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Hi Marie, I made this and put into a bottle as you recommended. But noticed that salve gets solidified and there is no other way to remove it for use it turn it back to liquid unless put the bottle near warm stove or raise the temperature way up at home. I was wondering if maybe adding 2tbs or so of beeswax would make it a little creamy which would stay like that in normal temperature and which would be possible to keep in a jar. Or any other suggestions? :)Thanks.
Hey Regina! Honestly, I have no idea how much 2 tbsp of beeswax is, and I’m rather ashamed that this recipe uses teaspoons and tablespoons. It’s clearly a very old one! Everything should be in weight. I’ve got a guide here to help you figure out how much wax you’d want to add 🙂
Hi there, Just found your website tonight doing a search for something else. LOVE that you are Canadian as well! I say that because I can “use” you for reference when it comes to buying supplies in Canada ;). I find it “funny” that I’ve been searching for an oils company that I can use here in Canada and that is trustworthy (I’m with Young Living right now, but too pricey and reading a lot of stuff about them that I’m not liking and want to get away from that), and I previously bought stuff from NDA, but never gave their oils a second look, mainly because of what I was told about by YL. But in my search for an alternative I decided to give them a second look. Well I was kinda still on the fence with them until I read your blog/posts and saw that you use their oils, it was almost as if it was a confirmation to me to go with them for their oils. Got a question about this recipe though. NDA doesn’t sell the Menthol anymore (just checked), and I looked at their menthol crystals and it’s way too expensive for me. So what would be a good alternative for the Menthol in this recipe? Thanks so much!
Welcome! NDA EOs have been wonderful for me, and their prices blow MLMs out of the water 🙂 I’ve got an FAQ on using peppermint as an alternative for menthol here.