If you’re a rock climber, by now you’re well into your spring training regime (though if you live up here in Canada you probably aren’t heading out to the mountains quite yet—brr!). And, unless you’ve been pretty diligent in the climbing gym all winter long, you’re probably nursing some pretty sore hands as your callouses re-form. This palm balm is for those sore palms—though you don’t have to be a rock climber to enjoy it! It’s great for any small owies, whether it be from new spring shoes or a slightly skinned knee.
The core of this balm is lots of moisture from unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada) and olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada). Moisture keeps the skin supple so it doesn’t crack and re-open. There’s also added Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) to help your skin re-generate.
Next up, some herbal boosters. I used oils infused with calendula, comfrey, and plantain. Each of these herbs is known to boost healing, soothe unhappy skin, and relieve pain.
Lastly, some essential oils. Lavender and chamomile, for soothing; tea tree for an antibacterial boost; helichrysum to for healing; and cedarwood for circulation stimulation. The resulting scent blend is wonderfully soft, sweet, and soothing.
Palm Balm for Rock Climbers
20g | 0.7oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
20g | 0.7oz unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada)
8g | 0.28oz calendula infused oil
8g | 0.28oz comfrey root infused oil
8g | 0.28oz plantain infused oil
1g | 0.03oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)5 drops roman chamomile essential oil
2 drops helichrysum essential oil
6 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops cedarwood essential oil
4 drops tea tree essential oilMelt the beeswax, unrefined shea butter (USA / Canada), and herb-infused oils together in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in the essential oils. Pour into shallow tins and use on small scratches and wounds.
Sounds lovely. I like the combination of essential oils.
Anna
This balm really smells fantastic! Blended with the scents from the different herb infused oils it’s just awesome!
Sounds yummy, have to try it just like all your others. Thank you!
Enjoy it! I’m in love 🙂
This sounds wonderful….I am going to use it after working in the garden on my hands.
That’s a great use idea! I love using this for anything sore or worn 🙂
this sounds wonderful. I am going to try to make this as soon as I get all of the essential oils.
Do! I love it 🙂
I don’t think this is going to be good for gymnasts… we need our callouses.
Can you imagine how bad(and creepy) your hand can get after bars (high bars, parallel bars or asymmetrical bars) if you don’t have callouses enough?
Maybe only when you have an open cut or something like that.
If you’re curious enough, look for gymnast hand at google images. Not pretty 🙂
BTW how much balm we can make with this recipe? Cause you give the directions in grams… but the volume (amount) is ml. do you know what I mean?!
Take care
Gui
The idea with this balm isn’t to get rid of callouses—it’s to help them to form faster, without the painful in-between part! I’m trying people avoid the icky/painful/gross open blisters stage. I was actually a gymnast for a while as a kid, and my hands were like sandpaper! Ha!
I found this balm recipe made ~125mL—you may want to add more oil if it is too hard for you.
I am a gymnastics coach and my athletes LOVE this balm. I made small pots or them as gifts. After bars every practice (45 minutes to an hour each practice, 5 days a week) they wash their hands and apply this balm to any rips or blood blisters as part of their regular hand hygiene routine. Keeps hands healthy!
I am so thrilled to hear it! Thanks for DIYing with me, and happy making 🙂
I have never heard of Plantain infused oil. Where do you get this from?
You make it, it’s super fun & easy! Read more here.
Thank You! I will give it a try!
I row on a corporate league and I think this would also work great for my rough rowing hands!
I’m sure it would be great! Please report back if you ever get around to whipping some up 🙂
This sounds similar to something my Gramma would make when we were younger. Smelled wonderful and was good for everything from scrapes to sunburns and splinters.
Makes me want to try it very soon. Thanks!
OOh, I just love grandma-concoctions! Let me know how mine measures up to hers 🙂
Is there anything I can substitute for the beeswax
You can try some of the plant based waxes, like candelilla or carnauba. You’ll need to experiment with them, though, as they have different levels of “hardness” than beeswax, so you will likely need to vary the amount to get the same texture.
wow something i would like to try for my very dry skin
Enjoy it!
Please tell us where to get the tin
Thank you!!! Love everything you post!
The tins are from Saffire Blue 🙂 Thanks for reading!
where did you get your infused oils. If you infused them yourself could you please tell me how you did it? I am so very very new to this.
I infuse them myself—instructions here 🙂 Have fun!
Love your site! Great job on everything and I appreciate the time you spend to help others!
One quick question, what size aluminum canister is the one pictured in the photos above?
Thanks so much!
Thanks Jay! That’s a 2oz/60mL tin 🙂
Can you please clarify how long you can keep the infused oils around. (shelf life). And if one is getting older, if you use it in a balm, does that also create a balm that would expire in the amount of time that the oil would have expired in?
I’ve got some jars that are 2+ years old and have yet to show any signs of doing anything funny on me. I’ve also got products made from those oils, and they’re still trucking along nicely as well. I would recommend choosing a rather shelf stable oil, like olive oil, over something like flaxseed oil, which can go rancid faster due to its high levels of omega-3s. Just be sure to store the jars somewhere cool and dark after the initial sunny steeping period 🙂
Is there anything that can be used in place of the helichrysum essential oil? I have all the ingredients except helichrysum.
It’s such a small amount that you could probably just leave it out. I would recommend getting some, though—I do love it 🙂
Could someone please give me an idea of how much I could expect to pay to make this. I am a poor climber looking for something to heal my raw skin without softening it so i can retain my callouses for protection against the rock.
Thanks!
Hi Joel! You can check my suppliers (links in the big box above) for the costs of different ingredients. If you’re looking for a cheaper version you could ditch the essential oils and pick up the herbs at your local organic shop—they usually have them in the bulk section, and you wouldn’t need much—it would probably just be a few dollars. Steep those in some olive oil, and use that, along with some beeswax. A 1:4 or 1:5 oil to wax ratio will give you roughly the same texture without the shea butter 🙂 Or, if you splurge and get all the ingredients, you could probably make it back selling the extras to your climber friends!
Did you use Comfrey Leaf or Root for this recipe?
Comfrey leaf 🙂
Wait…the recipe says comfrey root…should it be leaf instead? I already bought the comfrey root and made up some oil…will that work?
Whoops, that’s weird. I’d definitely go with what the recipe says rather than the follow up comment. With the way comment replies work there’s a very decent chance I confused which recipe that comment was about. Sorry for the confusion!
Just wondering where you found comfrey leaf and plantain?
The comfrey is from Saffire Blue (link in the big box above) and the plantain was from my local natural grocery shop 🙂
Are the 5 oils at the end are for healing or just smell. Can I replace them other oils
They’re for healing, I’d keep them as is. They also smell fantastic 🙂
Hello! I really love all of your recipes and am I really huge fan. However in this recipe, I am nervous about the use of comfrey. I know it’s a very healing plant, but everything that I’ve read about it says that you should never apply it on broken skin or abrasions (or internally, but that’s not really relevant here) due to it’s pyrrolizidine alkaloid content, which is toxic. I guess I’m just wondering if there is another herb infused oil I can replace it with.
Chamomile would be a good choice to calm and soothe sore skin 🙂
Hi Marie, I was just wondering if you used plantain leaf, or the dried fruit itself? As always, Your blog is totally inspiring…I look forward to each new recipe you publish, and spend hours looking at your older recipes. Thank you for the service you provide!
Hey Kim! I’m using the leaves of the Plantago major, which is very different from the banana-like fruit it sounds like you may be thinking of 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Wow, yes glad I asked! I might have made a huge mess out of this recipe otherwise!
😉 Happy to help!
I love this balm but living in Wales where it’s pretty chilly, it stays very hard. How could I make it a bit softer please?
Use less wax 🙂
Hey Marie! Would it be ok if I used calendula infused oil only and no other two oils you suggested since I have homemade calendula infused oil (grown on our garden) and no comfrey and plantain infused oil? So I’d just put 3 x 8g? What do you think, will it work? Thank you. Manca
Hey! You can use just calendula oil to make up for the other infused oils, just keep in mind you will obviously lose the effects of the comfrey and plantain if they are not included 🙂
Is it possible to put this in a push tube? If not how would I change the recipe so the consistency would be great for that? Thank you in advance for your time!
Rae
Yup!
Can you substitute Plantain infused oil for something cause I can’t find it anywhere in Australia
Kawakawa infused oil from New Zealand would be a good option 🙂 Otherwise just look for an herb with similar properties—healing, anti-inflammatory, etc.
I would love to make this to gift to the climbing crew at my work. Approx how many tins does this recipe make? Do you happen to have a version for making a large batch at once with the measurements already converted?
Thanks!
Hey Freddi! The number of tins you can fill is entirely dependent on the size of the tin. This is ~65g batch, so that would be more than two 1oz tins, but I’m not certain how much more off the top of my head. I don’t have a larger version, but you can scale it yourself using the instructions here 🙂