How to Make a Tincture
Tinctures are alcohol extractions from botanicals. You can use very little of a tincture and receive potent results because alcohol extractions are so effective. The neat thing about using tinctures in skin care is that alcohol works to absorb the substance into the skin at a rapid rate, and it’s a preservative.
Note: If having alcohol in your home is an issue, make a glycerite instead. Instructions on page 22.
Use only hard alcohol when making tinctures; the higher the proof, the better. Avoid using flavored alcohols. When I started making tinctures, I would use 80-proof organic vodka because it was what I had available. Now I get my alcohol out of state and use 190-proof organic grape alcohol; it has a minimal sweet aroma, but it’s hardly noticeable. I love Organic Alcohol Co!
Check out the references in the back of this book for a link to a variety of really neat alcohols.
In addition to type of alcohol used, it’s also important to take the odor of alcohol into consideration in skin care tinctures as well as its color. Use what you can get your hands on, but clear is preferable if you’re extracting herbs for colors.
The following will get you started with fresh herbs.
FRESH HERB TINCTURE
Fresh herbs of choice
Alcohol of choice
Fill up any size bottle to 1 inch from the top with fresh herbs, pour alcohol over herbs, cap, date, and label. Shake daily, then strain after 2 to 4 weeks. Compost your plant material, and that’s it! Technically, tinctures can be kept indefinitely.
You will notice with fresh plants that not many retain their color; they will still retain their medicinal properties.
I have found with resins that I don’t need to use very much to achieve great results, which is convenient and affordable! This photo is my Dragon’s Blood Tincture (see page 21 for recipe).
2 tablespoons ground resin
8 ounces alcohol of choice
Fill your bottle with ground resin, add alcohol, date, and label. Shake daily, and strain after 2 to 4 weeks. (Personally, I only strain this type of tincture just before I use it, as resins hold up really well.)
DRIED PLANT TINCTURE
Dried plants of choice
Alcohol of choice
Similar to the Fresh Herb Tincture on page 18, fill up bottle to 1½ inches from top with plant, and add alcohol to 1 inch below the top of container. Cap, date, and label. Shake daily, then strain after 2 to 4 weeks. Compost your strained plant material.
COLOR TINCTURES
Every plant harvest will be different—sometimes the colors will be more potent, other times weaker. Sometimes things like alkanet will range from red to burgundy to purple based upon where it was grown, how the soil was, how the environment is, etc.
Here are some examples if you’re looking to draw out a specific color for your skin care product:
Red to Orange
manjistha + alcohol
Purple to Red
alkanet + alcohol
Green
chlorophyll + alcohol
Yellow to Orange
turmeric + alcohol
Orange to Peach
red sandalwood + alcohol
Created from glycerin, these are a wonderful alternative to tinctures and can be used in hydrating skin formulas.
BASIC GLYCERITE
⅓ ounce dried herb of choice
¾ cup glycerin
¼ cup distilled water
Put all ingredients in a jar, cap, label, and date. Shake daily, and strain after 2 to 4 weeks. Compost plant material. This will keep for 12 to 24 months.
I recommend using dried herb for all glycerites; fresh herbs have so much moisture they can cause a formula to turn rancid.
