In honour of Robbie Burn’s day, I’m sharing this recipe for a Scottish Rose Salve today (“O my Luve is like a red, red rose”). It was inspired by a recipe request from Jade, who wrote “I love this [rosebud] lip salve. I’ve been using it for 9 years and it’s a staple. However, it used to be $5 a tin and now it’s $8… I guess I’m not looking for a complete dupe because if there is a way to have the salve still give my lips the awesome shine without all that petrolatum that would be ideal.” As a fellow rose lover, how could I resist?
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The base of the salve is a simple blend of liquid oils thickened with beeswax. I chose castor oil (USA / Canada) for its shine, and sweet almond oil (USA / Canada) because it’s a wonderful low-scent lip balm oil. To that I added a single gram of fragrant rose wax (made from real roses, but far more affordable than rose essential oil) for a subtle, real rose scent. Yum.
For a hint of pink I’ve added some carmine. The powdered stuff is water soluble, but so finely ground that it distributes really well into oils without any grit. If you’ve only got the oil dispersed dye, that’ll work brilliantly as well. If you don’t like carmine or don’t have it you can use a wee bit of red iron oxide, but be aware the colour will be more of a reddish brown than the pretty popping pink I got. FD&C Red #7 is also a good pigment alternative to carmine in terms of a colour match, though it’s obviously not natural.
I’ve rounded things out with a bit of bergapatene-free bergamot essential oil (the variety that won’t give you sunburns) and some sweet, vanilla-y benzoin for a well rounded scent that’s not overwhelmingly floral or one-dimensional.
The packaging for the original that Jade loves is wonderfully old school with some fantastic Victorian charm and style, so I thought this would be a great place to use a vintage jar I found at a garage based antique shop here in Calgary. It came with a smudge of a very yellow, very greasy salve in it, but I was happily able to get it clean while saving the original label. Isn’t it cute?
The final salve is silky smooth, slightly pink, lightly glossy, and downright lovely. It’s a bit softer than a straight-up lip balm, but works well in lip balm tubes as well as tins.
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Scottish Rose Salve
12g | 0.42oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
12g | 0.42oz castor oil (USA / Canada)
36g | 1.27oz sweet almond oil (USA / Canada)
1g | 0.03oz rose wax (Need a substitute?)
6 drops Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)1/64 tsp carmine or 5 drops liquid carmine dye (I use these spoons to measure tiny amounts like nips)
6 blobs benzoin essential oil
6 drops bergapatene-free bergamot essential oilWeigh out the beeswax, castor oil (USA / Canada), sweet almond oil (USA / Canada), rose wax, and Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) into a small heat resistant glass measuring cup. Place that cup into a saucepan of gently simmering water to melt everything together.
Once the oils have melted, remove them from the heat and stir in the carmine, benzoin, and bergamot essential oil. Pour the mixture into wee tins (lip balm tubes work, too), let it set up, and enjoy your Scottish Rose Salve!
Makes 61g (2.15oz)
If you don’t want to use carmine you can use a bit of red iron oxide instead, but the colour will be more of a browny red than pink. You can also leave out the colour completely.
Beautiful! I love the pictures! Do you think, beetroot powder could work in that recipe as well? I don’t have any carmine handy.
Please don’t use beetroot powder, it won’t work at all because it’s water soluble.
Alkanet is an herb that works great to add rose color also! I infuse my oil with the herb before hand and have it ready to use.
So true! I do find that my alkanet is more purpley than carmine, but it’s still super pretty 🙂
Where did you get the container you put the salve in? It’s cute.
I thought this would be a great place to use a vintage jar I found at a garage based antique shop here in Calgary. It came with a smudge of a very yellow, very greasy salve in it, but I was happily able to get it clean while saving the original label.
Would infusing the castor and almond oil with rose petals give the same effect? I love the scent of roses but the essential oils and absolutes are so expensive. Dried rose petals are available in most hispanic markets. Love the idea of this salve.
Doubtful—I’ve never found dried roses impart much scent to an oil, and you can’t use fresh or you’ll introduce water to the mix, which is a recipe for spoilage. Cost is the reason I’ve used rose wax in the recipe for scent rather than EO or absolute. The wax is quite affordable 🙂
I love this recipe but could I sub out the colour for something natural like Alkanet or Rattanjot. Then it would be perfect.
Alkanet root works really well if you let it infuse in the oil for a while. I’ve made a tinted lipbalm using oil that was infused with alkanet root for maybe two weeks, and the oil turned bright red. It kept getting darker the longer I left it, and looked almost black in the jar, but once poured out to use in the lipbalm it was cherry/blood red. It works best if for your oils, you only use the alkanet infusion. On the lips, it only gives a slight tint.
I’m also got a recipe here for a bit of guidance 🙂
I haven’t worked with rattanjot, but I know alkanet would work. The colour obviously won’t be quite the same, but it’ll be pretty 🙂
Hi there, I love your blog! I was just wondering if you have ever gotten any of your products tested for stability etc? If so I was wondering if you could recommend a lab.
Thanks, Sara! I’m afraid I haven’t, so I can’t offer any recommendations.
I hope this is ok, but it’s in response to product testing, this is my friend, she does product testing~ and is very reasonable http://www.sagescript.com/
Thanks!
What about using a combination of coconut oil, beeswax and paraffin as the base. Color is less important. More importantly is this salve be a healthy alternative to petroleum based products which are toxic to humans. What is the purpose of this salve? Why not make a lip moisturizer?
Did you know that paraffin is a petroleum product? That’s why not 😛 And you certainly can use it as a lip moisturizer (I have been and the original recipe requester did, too!); my calling it a salve does not preclude it’s usefulness there 😛
this just looks lovely, I’ll have to give it a go soon~ Thanks! Love the blog!
Thanks, Sindy!
Do you have a recipe or know of a link that shows how to make your own “rose wax” or other floral wax?
I’m sorry, I don’t.
YES. Thank you Marie!
Will definitely try this recipe. Am having a problem with my lip balms that they seem to get like gritty after a while. Any idea why this could be? Like the oils clump? Maybe the shea butter?
I think you’ll find this FAQ useful 🙂
This looks amazing but what do you use this for or on? Would you call it a lip balm or does this go on cuts like a healing salve or is this just for moisturizing? Just wanting to find out what inspired you to make this salve for. Can’t wait to try this. Thanks again, Caryn
I’ve been using it on my lips and hands for simple hydration; there’s really no right or wrong way to use it (other than eating… not recommended haha!).
Where did you find the rose wax
Thanks Angelina
Mine’s from Saffire Blue. Have you visited my Where to Buy Ingredients page?
I ordered a selection of floral waxes, which should arrive tomorrow. I’m afraid I might swoon and faint from sheer bliss when I smell them! Thanks for sharing your beautiful blog with us. 🙂
Oooh, what fun! Enjoy 🙂 And let me know if you find any new favourites!
Just made a batch of this! LOVE the color and fragrant and the softness gliding over my lips. My daughter walks in and said, “Hey, they sale that at Sephora for $8-10 a small jar! How you do that!”
Hehehhehehe! Humblebee&Me showed me how!
HUZZAH! I LOVE reactions like your daughter’s, haha. I gave a pot of cream blush I developed for the book to a coworker as a present and she says she wears it more than her NARS stuff now. BAM!
I made this yesterday, but replaced castor oil with lanolin oil (that stuff is amazing). Except, instead of using liquid lanolin, I decided to break open my tube of solid lanolin. The balm came out beautifully and is SUPER moisturizing — except becasue I used solid lanolin, the end product is quite hard. Need to dig it out of the tin with my nail! Warning for future users, I recommend lanolin for lots of salves but avoid using the solid product unles you count for the hardness in the recipe!
Thanks, Sarah! Do you find your lanolin smells awful? All my experiences with it have been so putrid that I’ve been put off it pretty hard.
Mine does have a weird sort of smell, but I found that once I put it into something with cocoa butter and coconut oil (like a lip balm) I don’t smell it much anymore. It may be a function of how processed and clean the lanolin is. Of course, I might also just be used to it since I’ve been using Bag Balm for ages now. Frankly, I personally prefer the lanolin to the castor for lip balms and salves, adds a bit of extra long lasting protection I find. I’ve been buying and using the Now Solutions brand lanolin since I can’t find any wholesale anywhere, but it’s so dense that a few grams is almost nothing compared to other oils I found, so I’m not using that much at a time. Hopefully you can find a less stinky one!
I shall look! I’ve always loved the supposed benefits of it, but not the smell, so it would be great to have one without the other!
Love your videos. Question about the recipe, the one above vs the one under the video. The one above has vitamin E oil listed, in the video and under the video, you do not add vitamin e. What is you suggestion for vitamin e. Thanks so much.
Add it if you have it, leave it out if you don’t 😛
I made this! For my scents, I used some vanilla and benzoin (need to invest in a 100mL bottle). I’ve never liked (if I’m honest, loathed) the scent of roses. So never planned on making this. A good friend of mine has been saying all she wants for Christmas is a natural, lightly tinted rose lippy.
So got the wax (actually quite cheap!) and gave it a go! And I have to say, I kind of like the scent with the vanilla and benzoin.
For Lanolin, I find it smells like apple sauce!
Yay! I definitely don’t find this to be distinguishably rose-y—it’s sweet, and a bit floral, but not at all like being smacked with a rose haha. I hope your friend loves it 😀
Hi Marie!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I’m wondering what the finished texture is like? I am wanting something fairly soft and easy to get out of the jar…wondering how I would do this…maybe just a bit more castor oil?
Thank you!
It’s not hugely soft, but I think you will like tomorrow’s recipe 😉
Thanks! I saw it and am so excited to try. Have your book on order and shopping carts going on both ND and SB. It’ll be like Christmas when everything arrives and I can try all your recipes!
Whee! That’s my kind of Christmas 😀
I just made this with cera bellina and a drop of lemon oil and I’m droooooooling. It’s like a solid lip gloss! I’m thinking of actually trying to make a solid lip gloss — trying to think of ways to make it shinier without making it softer or harder. So far I’ve come up with splitting the cera bellina with a touch of candelilla wax. Think that would work?
So cool! You might try swapping out some of the sweet almond oil for more castor oil, or even coconut oil, which I find to be pretty shiny/oily.
I made another batch of this, using cera bellina and lots of castor and olive oil and it’s a super shiny, solid balm. It’s pretty amazing! I used liquid carmine dye and gold mica and it’s such a pretty, subtle, sparkly gloss that smells lovely and feels even better!
Ooooh, how lovely! Your cera bellina is certainly getting a workout 🙂
Wondering how much to increase the beeswax to be able to use it in a lip balm stick? I can’t wait to try it!
I don’t think you’d need to increase the wax at all—try it and see 🙂
Can I use safflower oil instead of almond oil
Yup—please read this 🙂
YAY! I got some Rose Wax in that wonderful lot on eBay and was just thinking I missed Smith’s Rosebud Salve so much! Afterwork science project 😀
Just finished alkanet infused sweet almond oil this week so I’m giving it a go on that.
Too lazy for a water bath, so it’s in a small jar on a candle warmer, LOL. The whole room smells of roses. YUM!
Oooooer! Rose wax should be much more widely loved. SWOON!
I love this stuff! 🙂 I use it for all purpose salve, hand cream and mild solid perfume when I feel like it. Texture is perfect, not too soft/ hard, so I don’t accidentally use too much.
I find rose scent both positively stimulating and calming so it’s the best for self-massage. It’s highly stable as my batch is quite old (maybe from 2016? My notes are kind of allover the place :D). I didn’t measure my essential oils in % back then so I’ll make new one soon with rose absolute or rose eo, possibly with geranium to boost the scent (I don’t have other eo’s mentioned in recipe).
I diluted my rose eo’s 10 % in almond oil to make things easier. I used same trick for your lagoon balm.