Salve Making is fun and people love salves! Because our apothecary is part of our school we make sure that client and customer education is part of our offerings. We have been creating and training students to make high quality herbal preparations since 2001 and we base our techniques off of medicine making from both a place of heart filled joy and physiomedical and modern phytochemistry.
How to tell high quality salves:
Some herbs extract well into oil, and some dont, depending on what constituents you want to obtain. Many volatile oils, sesquiterpenes and saponific components come out well into lipids, like carrier oils. The salves you obtain or make should be thick, and show that plants were actually extracted into the oil. We use a Texas technique, of passive solar. Our plants are extracted at a 1:15 ratio or 1:10 depending on the plant and put into a glass jar under a dark container and left to sit for 2 weeks to a moon cycle. We use high quality gmo free oils, Protecting them from the sun allows them to be protected from oxidation from the suns rays. The only plant that is an exception from this rule is St Johns Wort, which we obtain the fresh tops from and infuse in direct sun, which activates one of the constituents into the oil.
Passive Solar allows for a gentle warm extraction into the oil. Heating Oils in a crockpot, as some salves are made destroys vitamins and essential fatty acids in the oils. We take the extra step of macerating all plants for maximum extraction, which allows for less surface area and the plant able to infuse into the oil.
A good salve therefore must be made with plants that extract well, are extracted properly
Our plant material is either wildcrafted from our botanical sanctuary, obtained from wildcrafter friends from other areas, or from organic gardens. Its not worth making preparations unless the plant material is full of vitality and guaranteed pure.
You may see tiny bits of residue within the salve. THIS IS A GOOD THING. It shows you that there were actual plants in the oil. Some untrained salve makers may not extract with maceration or long enough, or with pure plants. This is the difference between good salve and great salve.
We only sell in small handcrafted batches. We chose to stay small. We have fun making preparations. We want it to stay fun. Our students help in the apothecary and its part of their training to learn how to make preparations properly. This means, we have turned down growth for quality. Its not about having our salves in a bunch of stores. Its about getting them to the right special people that really enjoy and know how to use and appreciate them.
The owner, Nicole Telkes, is a LMT as well and has personal experience both as a wellness clinician and bodyworker using and seeing results from clients for over 15 years which adds a different depth to the products. They are personally formulated, handcrafted and extracted with love and experience. Nicole is also a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and was the first Western Herbalist to be awarded this title in Texas. She brings several 1000 hours of clinical training and experience to the preparations. We truly hope that you enjoy your salves.
How to tell high quality salves:
Some herbs extract well into oil, and some dont, depending on what constituents you want to obtain. Many volatile oils, sesquiterpenes and saponific components come out well into lipids, like carrier oils. The salves you obtain or make should be thick, and show that plants were actually extracted into the oil. We use a Texas technique, of passive solar. Our plants are extracted at a 1:15 ratio or 1:10 depending on the plant and put into a glass jar under a dark container and left to sit for 2 weeks to a moon cycle. We use high quality gmo free oils, Protecting them from the sun allows them to be protected from oxidation from the suns rays. The only plant that is an exception from this rule is St Johns Wort, which we obtain the fresh tops from and infuse in direct sun, which activates one of the constituents into the oil.
Passive Solar allows for a gentle warm extraction into the oil. Heating Oils in a crockpot, as some salves are made destroys vitamins and essential fatty acids in the oils. We take the extra step of macerating all plants for maximum extraction, which allows for less surface area and the plant able to infuse into the oil.
A good salve therefore must be made with plants that extract well, are extracted properly
Our plant material is either wildcrafted from our botanical sanctuary, obtained from wildcrafter friends from other areas, or from organic gardens. Its not worth making preparations unless the plant material is full of vitality and guaranteed pure.
You may see tiny bits of residue within the salve. THIS IS A GOOD THING. It shows you that there were actual plants in the oil. Some untrained salve makers may not extract with maceration or long enough, or with pure plants. This is the difference between good salve and great salve.
We only sell in small handcrafted batches. We chose to stay small. We have fun making preparations. We want it to stay fun. Our students help in the apothecary and its part of their training to learn how to make preparations properly. This means, we have turned down growth for quality. Its not about having our salves in a bunch of stores. Its about getting them to the right special people that really enjoy and know how to use and appreciate them.
The owner, Nicole Telkes, is a LMT as well and has personal experience both as a wellness clinician and bodyworker using and seeing results from clients for over 15 years which adds a different depth to the products. They are personally formulated, handcrafted and extracted with love and experience. Nicole is also a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and was the first Western Herbalist to be awarded this title in Texas. She brings several 1000 hours of clinical training and experience to the preparations. We truly hope that you enjoy your salves.
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