This lady cramp salve is for those days when your uterus is staging an in-body uprising. If you are not the proud owner of a uterus, perhaps you’d like to bake a cake or something instead of making this salve—of you could make a batch for your favourite uterus owner. They’ll appreciate it.
I’ve based this lady cramp salve on my anti-cramp oil, which is magical stuff. Truly. The only problem with it is that it’s a bit drooly, so I set out to solve that here.
Beyond the addition of some beeswax to make this a salve instead of an oil, I’ve also added some bright red chili oil to amp up the heat. It’s a toasty addition that I really like, and I think you will, too.
I used one of these handy-dandy push-up tubes from Saffire Blue to make this super easy to apply, but any 1oz/30mL tube/tin will do the trick.
The final lady cramp salve is a tube of spicy scented warming goodness. You’re welcome 🙂
Lady Cramp Salve
7g | 0.25oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
19g | 0.67oz safflower oil (or other fast absorbing liquid oil)40 drops clary sage essential oil
30 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)
20 drops cassia essential oil
20 drops chili seed essential oil
6 drops lavender essential oil
6 drops juniper essential oil
4 drops German chamomile essential oilMeasure the beeswax and liquid oil out into a glass measuring cup and melt in a double boiler.
Once everything has melted together, remove the cup from the heat, dry it off, and quickly count out the drops of essential oils into the melted oils, stir to combine, and pour the mixture into your 1oz tube/tin to set up.
To use, apply the salve to any crampy bits and wait 5–10 minutes for the warming, soothing goodness to kick in.
I love your recipes. You have some of the best in my opinion. How do you come up with them? did you take a class on this type of thing or do you know where to take a class on making skincare type things like what you blog about?
Hi Lovely! Thank you so much for your kind words 🙂 I am mostly self-taught (I have a degree in graphic design, though that’s not terribly applicable here). I’ve learned through experimentation, research, observation, and then more experimentation. It’s time consuming, but very rewarding 🙂
Where do you get Chili Seed Oil????
Mine is from New Directions Aromatics.
I think you may be reading my mind. I’ve certainly just been facing such a rebellion this week, though it’s finally better today. I used ginger and red raspberry leaf tea to get through the worst of it. I’ve also heard that palmarosa essential oil is an aromatherapy remedy for the emotional distress during that time of the month, so I may try that next month. But I’ll definitely look into making a batch of this, too!
Happy to help quell the rebellion, Elizabeth! 🙂 Good luck.
OK, this might be the recipe that finally pushes me to hit “buy” on my shopping cart full of essential oils. The uterine uprisings are epic around here.
Good luck battling the uprising!
Hi! First of all, I would like to say thank you for sharing EVERYTHING! I stumbled upon your page last year when I was looking for a DIY version of Saje’s peppermint halo.
I’m so happy you have this anti-cramp recipe and may make both versions (oil at home and balm for traveling), but I hope you could answer a couple of questions:
1. which provides faster results – the oil or the balm?
2. can I just add 10 drops of the chili seed oil to the oil version for heat?
3. is there a difference between roman chamomile (used in the oil version) and the German chamomile (used in the balm version)?
Thank you kindly,
Dexie
Hi Dexie! I find the oil provides faster relief, but that is more due to the higher concentrations of essential oils in the oil version—if you matched the concentration in the balm it’ll perform much the same way.
Feel free to add some chili seed essential oil to the oil version for the heat 🙂
German chamomile is Matricaria chamomilla L and Roman chamomile is Anthemis nobilis L—they’re totally different plants. You can read lots about both of them here 🙂
Thanks for reading & DIYing with me!
I definitely don’t have a uterus anymore, but my daughters would appreciate this A LOT!!! There is only 1 product I don’t have, and I’m pretty sure it’s very important for this recipe! That would be the red chili pepper ess oil. I do have a small bottle of capsicum oil, would that work instead? If so, would I use the same amount listed? Thanks, this sounds amazing!!
Hi LuAnn! Is the capsicum oil red and hot? If so, go for it!
Just a quick note: don’t use it during pregnancy!
Clary sage oil is to be avoided during pregnancy. And yes, you could feel cramps also while pregnant, although not everyone does, of course.
From my general understanding most recommendations generally suggest against using any essential oils during pregnancy, but I’ll always defer to a doctor on such matters 🙂
I think I’ll make a batch of this for my daughter. She seems to suffer more than I did! Thanks Marie!
I hope it helps her! Thanks for DIYing with me 🙂
Hi Marie, I am wondering what % of essentual oils you use in this and other recipes. There are contraindications for a lot of essential oils and recommended amounts (%) for various products, i.e. leave-on vs. wash off, face, body, etc.
I just want to make sure the amounts are within the safe recommended range before I try the recipes!
Thank you for your fun and amazing blog 🙂
Hi Brenda! I wrote an FAQ on this 🙂
Is there a good sub for the German chamomile for this recipe? What properties am I looking for in a replacement? Chamomile has quite a few different properties according to the essential oil substitution article.
Hi Dawn! I’d choose the properties you feel you most need for your monthly uprising 🙂 I’d go for calming, personally 😉
where can you purchase the chili seed essential oil? the two sites i checked didn’t have it. thanks so much!!
I got mine from New Directions—link in the big box above the comments 🙂
As a student of aromatherapy, I am concerned about safety limits here based on what I’ve learned. 3% is the max recommended concentration for essential oils applied to the body (much less for the face, elderly or babies).
This recipe has close to 3ml of essential oils in a 30 ml carrier which is more than double the safe recommended limit.
This blend looks very nice but to keep it at a safe dose I would use only 9 drops not 3ml in a 30 ml final product.
I wrote an FAQ on this 🙂
My German chamomile is blue and the final product looks greens but your looks red . Why
My chili seed essential oil is SUPER red/orange, and dyes everything it goes into a deep orange—my chamomile never stood a chance! Is your chili seed oil less orange?
Mine was orange to maybe not orange enough. Or maybe the blue drops just came out to fast and I got more than I should. It works either way green or red just loved your color
When a product gets its colour from natural ingredients like clays, botanicals, and essential oils there’s always room for variation as the batch of EO or botanical can vary between suppliers, years, etc., so that’s probably what happened here 🙂 I know different people have quite different experiences with my clay lipstick recipes for the same reason.
How do you keep track of 40 drops?? I have pried out the dropper things from my EOs to expedite soaping with larger quantities. If I double this for gifting, I can’t imagine counting our 80 drops!
I haven’t found it to be particularly difficult :/ You could try the 20 drops = 1 gram conversion and weigh it, but I doubt that conversion is hugely accurate here as that rule of thumb is for water, which is denser than essential oils. Perhaps weigh out 20 drops and then do the rest by weight?
I guess this is a job for disposable pipettes! Also, shooing the kids to another room might help. Or maybe making it a counting exercise. : )
Good call! I am using so many disposable pipettes for all the recipe development for the book, they’re fantastic 🙂
how often can you apply this safely?
I’ve applied this every 2–4 hours without any ill effects, but as always you should be diligent in monitoring for any adverse reactions.
I specifically only buy my essential oils from Young Living. But they don’t sell Cassia essential oil. Can I just use cinnamon essential oil instead? I’m finding that Cassia is a “chinese cinnamon”.
I wouldn’t recommend it—I’ve found cassia to be more warming while cinnamon it itchy, which isn’t a sensation I enjoy when I’m uncomfortable.
Do you have a link where I can buy a quality and pure chilli seed and cassia essential oil? I buy from Young Living but they don’t sell those.
Hi Bekah! I get almost all my essential oils from New Directions Aromatics, and I’ve been really happy with them.
Honestly,in my experience, the MLM companies are never worth it. There are so many layers of salespeople between you and the product that they are grossly overpriced. There’s also no evidence their products are any better, with some potential evidence to the contrary. I’m also super suspicious about how they advocate eating their products—yikes! A drop of lemon EO is like eating a pound of lemons, and there’s a reason people don’t go around eating full pounds of lemons (unless they’re in lemon meringue pie, in which case, carry on!). There is no safety oversight in the manufacture of essential oils that aren’t specifically food grade, so telling people to self-medicate with such potent, unregulated substances seems like a TERRIBLE idea to me.
I’ve got a massive list of places to shop here. I’d recommend choosing a supplier that sells ingredients for making body products rather than one that tells you to eat essential oils to solve all your problems 🙂 Just my two cents, though!
I can’t find chia seed essential oil, I only find chia seed carrier oil. Checked out link you provided but they only have carrier oil
I don’t think there is such a thing as chia seed essential oil. Why are you looking for it? You are the only person talking about chia seeds on this page so I’m afraid I’m very lost.
Well said! I made this for my daughters for Christmas. Love your Emu pain roller and tiger balm recipes. They work like a charm.
I’m so glad! Thanks for DIYing with me 🙂
Hi, I’m loving this for my aching sore shoulder! My husband too & now other family members want some. How do I not double or triple this recipe but 10X without counting 900 drops of an EO? I’m going o try your emu oil roll on recipe next as it gets hotter here in San Diego! Thank you for sharing so much! Blessings
Hey Lee! For that kind of scaling I’d recommend doing it by weight; get yourself an accurate scale (down to 0.01g would be good—they’re cheap on Amazon), weigh out how much each drop count of EO is, and then multiply that up and make the big batch using your scale instead 🙂 Happy DIYing and thanks for reading!
Your recipe calls for juniper, but I’m only finding Juniper Berry. Which Juniper exactly should I be using?
Juniper berry is the thing you want 🙂
I made this today and not sure I put enough beeswax because it didn’t seem like I made enough. Whats the teaspoon or tablespoon amount?
Hey Rosanna! This should make ~30g/1oz. Did you measure everything by weight? Attempting to convert to volume will really throw everything off.
In general, I have no idea about teaspoons or tablespoons when it comes to recipes I developed by weight—just like I have no idea how many tablespoons I am, even though I know how much I weigh. There’s really no reliable way to convert without melting it down and measuring it. You can read more about that here 🙂
Hi, do i need to keep this salve in the fridge once made or just a cool dark place? and would it last longer with safflower oil or grapeseed oil? or does it not matter much? super clueless over here. I’m just afraid to make this for a friend and then it go bad before they have the chance to use it all.
Hey Joanna! I really recommend checking out all the FAQ articles on shelf life 🙂 There’s quite a few and I think you’ll find them really useful. Both safflower oil and grapeseed oil tend to ship with an estimated 2 year shelf life, so using one over the other should not impact the shelf life. Also, this batch is fairly small, so if somebody is using it on a regular basis they should use it in far less than a year 🙂
Thank you, thank you and thank you for this blend of essential oils! I have lymphocytic colitis and in the four years since my dx, neither the doctors nor I have been able to ease the severe abdominal pain during a flare-up. I kept revisiting this post for about a week and finally decided “why not”? The last flare-up was into it’s third week and I was desperate! I added your EO blend to 1 ounce of a naked salve I had on hand. It had been really a blessing, taking the pain level from a 9-10 level to a very manageable 3-5 and lasting for as long as 3 to 4 hours. I have been reading about copaiba essential oil and am considering adding it to my next jar, but I am so happy with your blend as it is written. Thank you again for giving me a quality of life I haven’t had in four years.
Hey Denise! Your comment has me utterly thrilled—thank you SO much for sharing! I’m so sorry you are in pain, but I am so glad my humble little creation is able to help 🙂 Thank you so, SO much! 😀
Hi Marie, this looks great! I have such horrible cramps I often cancel all plans on the days when they are worst, so this would be a lifesaver. I don’t have chilli seed EO, and the shipping on my cart will increase (rather drastically) if I add more weight, could I substitute with more cassia EO? Thanks
Best of luck! I really hope it helps 🙂 I’d be wary of increasing cassia as it is a pretty hot oil; perhaps just leave out the chilli oil and see how it goes?