If your handmade skin care line caters to individuals 16 and older, there is someone in your customer base that is looking for a winning organic acne scar salve recipe (guaranteed!!!).
Acne scars can be extremely frustrating to deal with. They can make a person self-conscious about their appearance, which is why so many people turn to invasive treatments from steroid injections to laser resurfacing or skin needling.
Even more ‘moderate’ approaches, such as prescription drugs and OTCs, have undesirable side effects or don’t work well for everyone; even worse, some cause more harm than good by damaging skin over time.
Let’s introduce a more natural option to your audience.
This blog post has everything you need to create an effective organic acne scar salve recipe at home for your own skin care business. You’ll walk away today with an amazing all-natural product AND solid tips for branding it to perfectly fit your specific target market.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links (at no cost to you). Please read the disclosure for more information.
What is Acne Scar Salve?
Acne scar salve is a moisturizing, rich formulation that encourages cell regeneration for skin irregularities due to past acne breakouts.
Organic ingredients are used for the best acne scar salves because they provide benefits without side effects or overworking the immune system.
Essential oils and carrier oils work together to naturally assist the body with the repair.
Carrier oils are the unsung heroes of skin care. They provide the necessary nutrients and minerals to encourage healthy cell growth and reduce scarring, which is why they’re a great addition to any organic acne scar salve recipe or skin care routine.
Essential oils can also help to reduce redness from acne scars and calm skin blemishes. There are many different essential oils you can use for your acne scar salve depending on what your target market prefers.
Note that while discoloration may improve quickly with natural products, the healing of scar tissue may take several months. Salves are a long-term-use product, and this should be made clear to your customers.
What Essential Oils are Helpful for Acne Scarring?
If choosing your own essential oil blend for scarred skin, make sure you include constituents that have:
The oils in this recipe all meet this criteria:
- Helichrysum essential oil (Helichrysum italicum)
- Patchouli essential oil (Pogostemon cablin)
- Myrrh essential oil (Commiphora myrrha)
- Frankincense essential oil (Boswellia carterii)
However, this is not the only effective blend.
If you are experienced with looking at the individual components that make up an essential oil in a batch-specific GC/MS report, use the constituent suggestions above and enjoy the process of finding a beautiful combination specific to your skin care line!
Do I Need FDA Approval to Sell Handmade Acne Scar Salve?
Selling handmade acne scar salve all comes down to the language you use in your labeling and advertising.
According to the FDA Cosmetics Laws & Regulations, skin salves are cosmetic products and do not need to be approved before they go on the market.
However, if you refer to your scar salve as a scar TREATMENT, you’re moving it from the COSMETIC category to the DRUG category.
If you put your salve in the drug category, you will need FDA approval to sell it.
Always be cautious with the wording you use on your skin care line packaging and product descriptions – there are so many ways to describe your formulations while staying compliant.
Acne Management 101 to Share with Your Skin Care Customers:
How to Prevent Acne Scars
Be gentle with your blemishes
Don’t aggressively pick or scratch your skin when you have acne breakouts. Not only can you damage the skin in the short term and cause more flare-ups, but this can also lead to long-term scarring if done often enough.
Protect your skin from the sun
The sun may leave dark spots on the skin, but over time it can also cause acne scars. Covering your skin with sunscreen is a great way to keep acne-causing damage at bay.
Moisturize daily
Another cause of acne can be dry skin. Find moisturizing cleansers or serums that won’t clog the pores and will hydrate the face. The fewer dead skin cells you have, the less likely your pores are to become clogged leading to breakouts.
Address your breakouts
Using gentle, soap-free cleansers and nurturing hydrosols are beneficial on blemished skin.
See a dermatologist if you have severe acne or cystic blemishes. These kinds of breakouts mean that you have a more serious condition that needs to be cleared up before scarring occurs.
Adopt a Holistic Skincare Regimen
Acne goes far beyond the products you use on your skin. You can address many breakouts by tending to your overall lifestyle and daily habits with a holistic skincare regimen.
Read an overview of holistic skincare here.
Are Acne Scars Permanent?
Results depend on the intensity of the scarring and how long it has been since the skin was originally damaged. The earlier you address distressed skin, the better.
Exfoliating the area where acne scars are found can help to fade spots. Smooth, even skin is more likely to become clear than rough patches of skin that are scarred.
How Do You Use Acne Scar Salve?
Cleanse the face and exfoliate if necessary.
Scar salve is most safely used by scooping out a small amount of product with an orange stick (or similar item) to prevent bacteria from entering the container.
Apply directly to scarred skin, most commonly on the chest and face. This is best applied at night, allowing it to absorb fully without washing off.
As with all natural products that include essential oils, the salve should be stored tightly closed in a cool environment away from sunlight.
Supplies to Make Organic Acne Scar Salve
Note:
The double boiler and glass Pyrex set above are either/or suggestions. It depends on the size of the batch you’re making.
This recipe makes (3) 1 oz. containers and can easily fit into a double boiler.
If you’re making a bulk batch, the glass pyrex is the way to go.
Organic Scar Salve Ingredients
Best Organic Acne Scar Salve Recipe
Yields (3) 1 oz. containers
- 1 oz Baobab Seed Oil (Adansonia digitata)
- 1 oz Trauma oil or Tamanu oil (Calophyllum inophyllum)
- 0.5 oz Beeswax (Cera alba)
- 0.25 oz Jojoba oil (Simmondsia chinensis)
- 15 drops Helichrysum essential oil (Helichrysum italicum)
- 15 drops Patchouli essential oil (Pogostemon cablin)
- 10 drops Myrrh essential oil (Commiphora myrrha)
- 10 drops Frankincense essential oil (Boswellia carterii)
How to Brand Your Scar Salve to Sell Online
Your brand’s voice should come through in the language you use in your product descriptions and packaging. It should also be present in your marketing copy and social media posts.
Be sure you take the time to fully flesh out your customer avatar before purchasing any packaging – this will help you decide what your target audience would be attracted to in terms of salve containers, label materials and design, shipping methods, etc.
If you’re bringing a product to market for the first time, remember that it’s much easier (and less expensive!) to start small to see if it is desired by your customer base.
Handmade Scar Salve Packaging
The images above show the organic acne scar salve in clear jars for tutorial purposes, but it can be poured into a variety of different containers based on your target market.
Consider what type of packaging below would speak to your avatar’s lifestyle, values, and financial situation:
Glass Jars with Lid
Glass jars are a classic, earthy container made of renewable resources.
They can communicate high value and come in a variety of colors such as clear, blue, green, and amber.
Glass tends to be a bit more expensive than other containers and heavier to ship. Make sure all of these variables are included in your product pricing.
Aluminum Tins
Tins are an eco-friendly choice that can be reused again after the product is gone.
You can get traditional round aluminum tins with screw tops, or the more retro-inspired slide tins shown in the photo.
As with the glass, be sure to check out colored aluminum options if you would prefer that over the frosted silver finish!
Plastic Jars with Safety Liners
These one-ounce plastic jars are lightweight and a good choice for a target market that has a more modest budget.
This particular set of jars also comes with inner liners, a lovely safety feature that should be highlighted on your product listings.
Lids come in black, white, clear and gold for a variety of branding possibilities.
(Make sure to get BPA free plastic if this is your container of choice.)
Labeling Your Handmade Acne Scarring Salve
Your acne salve labels are another opportunity for you to draw in your intended target market with details that speak to them.
Make branded labels the easy way with these editable skin care label templates.
Our most popular salve template is a 2″ diameter design that works for a 2 oz. aluminum tin:
Be sure to check out the 5 branding design styles that are all easily customized in Canva (with a free account):
- Small Batch Grid Round Label Templates
- Pastel & Script Round Label Templates
- Kraft & Typewriter Round Label Templates
- Black & White Round Label Templates
- Neon Round Label Templates
When you’re ready to print your labels, consider the label material.
Salve is an oily product that works best with waterproof labels or anything that has a protective, plastic coating.
Be sure to consider other variables such as label color, shape, how you’ll have your labels printed, etc..
This organic acne scar salve recipe is a fantastic addition to any handmade skin care business. Its moisturizing, rich formulation encourages cell regeneration for irregularities caused by past acne breakouts.
As always, don’t forget to educate your customers on the importance of preservative-free products in your online listings and shipments – together we can make a REAL difference in health and wellness through our organic products!
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