What are Unguents?
Unguent is an old word from Latin and Late Middle English. It refers to a soothing, smoothing or healing ointment. It is used less often than similar words such as balm, salve or ointment. It has strong association to healing arts. It protects and nourishes. It lubricates. It is a way of applying nourishing oils directly to the skin that is more absorbable and un-spillable than simple oil. This ease of use draws me to unguent.
Two kinds of unguent
I make two kinds of unguent from nourishing oils.
The single oil unguent allows me to focus on a single oil, such as Castor oil. the unguent is primarily a high quality oil, with a Rosemary preservative to keep it from becoming rancid. I often include a few drops of Vitamin E oil for freshness as well.
A blended oil unguent combines several oils that marry well. My favorite is a 4-oil unguent I make from Shea Butter, Castor oil, Cocoa Butter and Olive oil.
I use beeswax to give the nourishing oils a semi-solid consistency. If the nourishing oil is runny, the beeswax gives it body. Some oils are solid at room temperature, like coconut oil, Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter. When these are used alone, or mixed with runny oils, much less beeswax is necessary.
How to apply an unguent to your skin
Creamy unguents made from liquid oils are light and easy to spread across the skin.
Unguents that are more solid require you to use friction and the heat of your skin to melt it into a light, pleasant oil, that is not actually “oily.”
I push out a bit of the solid unguent with the outer part of my fingernail or a very small spoon. Then I rub it into the tips of my fingers. When it is warm and is distributed across my fingertips, I gently dab and pat my skin to place the oil. Then, I lightly rub in circles to work it into small areas such as my face or elbows.
When I want to use more on my body, I begin with a hot shower. When I step into the room, I quickly pat myself with a towel, but let my body remain damp. This makes it easy to rub the unguent into my fingertips, and then smooth it over larger parts of the body. The warmth of the shower helps the unguent to quickly melt into skin.
