PEONY Petal Hand Lotion

This is a lovely hand lotion to make. The scent is fragile and hard to describe. Peonies are my favorite flower. I love the smell, their delicate flowers, and the fact that ants harvest their nectar. I chose peonies for my wedding bouquet. Their appearance in early June (when snowfall is truly at an end) always lightens my spirit.

Peony Petal Hand Lotion

2 cups of shea butter , One 16OZ container of shea butter

1 cup almond oil

3 TBSP of beeswax beads

2 cups peony petals

10 drops lemon essential oil

1 TBSP of vitamin E oil

In a double boiler melt the first three ingredients. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes . Place contents into a food processor and add the petals. blend for 1 minute. Remove and quickly strain. Add in your lemon and Vitamin E oils. Place liquid back into the processor and pulse/whip until you get a thick, opaque, white lotion. Spoon into small jars. Let finish cooling before screwing on the lids. Store in a cool dry place.

Paeonia is a perennial cultivar in the United States. A thick knobby rootstock sends up several (reddish green) shoots in late spring. These become totally green 2-3 foot high stems as they mature. At the end of which are sets of dark green ternate or bi-ternate leaves with large ovate-lanceolate leaflets. Flowers resemble roses and can have single or multiple rings of petals. When mature the plant resembles a bush. Flowers can be white, red or shades of pink in color. The scent is quite distinctive and perfume like.

I bet you never considered peonies to have healing qualities unless you studied Traditional Chinese Medicine. In TCM it has been used to clear heat, blood stagnation, and improve circulation. It is the root that gets used for seizures, irritability, restlessness, coughs, headache, stomach pain, sleep issues, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, fever, muscle/menstrual cramps, diabetes, high blood pressure, jaundice, gout, asthma, infertility, anemia, vertigo, yin/kidney deficiency and absent periods. Externally the root has been used for boils, eczema, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins. The petals are great for rashes or aging skin with their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. I only have one large plant which I can not bear to dig it up to harvest roots. I feel fine about using the petals when they are about to fall. I hate to waste anything in the garden if it has a use.

Part used: root

Energetics: bitter, sour, cool

Element: Fire

Spiritual and Emotional Uses: To repel negative energies and prevent nightmares.

Contraindications: the entire plant is considered poisonous by some. Use with caution under the supervision of a highly trained TCM practitioner.