DIY : Natural "Vicks VapoRub"

As a kid, using Vicks before bed was always my favorite part of having a cold.
Well, Vicks and orange flavored cough medicine.
For whatever reason, as a child, these felt like serious perks to me.

A couple months ago, I caught a cold. And while these days, I still love the benefits of Vicks, I wanted to achieve those same results without having to put some of those more questionable ingredients on my body. In an effort to find a chemical-free alternative to my beloved childhood vapor rub, I did some blog-browsing and wound up making my own version of the famous congestion remedy, with all natural ingredients. It was super easy and it worked amazingly well!

It only took about 10 minutes to whip up enough of this stuff to fill 4 tins.
If you want to give it a try...

adapted from Wellness Mama and Garden Therapy

You Will Need : 

1 and 1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup beeswax pellets
essential oils : eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender
tins or jars to store the finished product
(I recycled a tin that previously housed Burt's Bees Hand Salve and also used some jelly jars. You can buy new tins here.)

- Melt 3/4 cup of beeswax pellets with 1 and 1/4 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup olive oil over a double boiler. 
Or if you're like me and don't own a double boiler, I used a metal bowl that rested on top of a pot of boiling water, which worked out just as well.

- Stir in 50 drops of eucalyptus oil, 45 drops of peppermint, and 35 drops of lavender oil. 
You can add more or less depending on how strong you want the scent to be. I actually ended up adding even more drops of eucalyptus to the mixture while it was starting to cool, after pouring it in the tins. I like it to be really strong!

- Pour it into your container of choice and let it cool. 

- Rub on chest and/or neck and feel better soon!

Pretty easy, right? Since this recipe makes several tins, you can either save them up to use over time, or give them to friends in little care packages when they're feeling under the weather. Also, if you're in a bind or don't want to include the beeswax, adding the essential oils to plain coconut oil works well too! I did that for the first couple days while waiting for the beeswax to arrive and it was a decent substitute to hold me over. You only need to use about 3-5 drops of each oil and a tiny bit of coconut oil (about 1/2 of a teaspoon!) if you're planning on doing it this way. I combined mine in a little cup each night before applying it.

If you'd like to use the labels I made for my vapor rub, they are available for free download here!

Enjoy and stay healthy, friends!