Horsetail cuticle cream is full of silica and beneficial vitamins for your skin and nails! The best part? You can easily make it at home!

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Ah, gardening season. One of the most magical times of year is in full swing. If your days are currently spent like mine, with your hands inches deep in soil and compost, then I bet your hands are feeling rough.

Your nails are covers in dirt and I bet your hands are pretty dry from the amount of times you’ve scrubbed the soil off before heading into your house. It’s such a bother to have dry, cracked nails but we love it anyways!

I used to love buying products for my nails, my dry hands and my cracked feet but those can get pricey. Which is when I started to look towards making my own. Through my research, I learned about the benefits of horsetails and how it has been used for centuries for not only nail growth but also a numerous amount of other things.

Horsetail for Nailgrowth

Horsetail, which can be found in many places, is often regarded as a common weed. Horsetails are high in silica which is a mineral that can help strengthen and grow nails.

Horsetail can be found in supplements, nail lotions and even strengthening polishes all on your grocery store shelves. But why do that when we can pick some in our own backyard?

What is Horsetail and Where to Find It

Horsetails are a perennial fern. They are very popular in landscaping and grow well throughout most of North America and Europe.

We have two different varities of horsetail growing here on the homestead. My favourite variety known as field horsetail and another variety that can often be confused with bamboo. I’m sure you can tell which one is which!

What You Need to Make Horsetail Cuticle Cream

Horsetail, fresh or dried
Sunflower Oil
Beeswax
Essentail Oils

How to Make Horsetail Oil

To start, we will need to begin by making a horsetail infused oil. You can use either a hot processed or cold processed oil but I find that a cold process for horsetail is what works best!

Harvest your horsetail by taking cutting from the plant. Fill a jar with the plants and then cover them with a neutral oil, like sunflower oil or olive oil.

After about 2-4 weeks, the oil will be ready to use. You can use the oil as is and apply directly to your nails.

I really enjoy the texture of a creamy lotion so that is what we will be doing in the next step!

How to Make a Horsetail Cuticle Cream

If you have read last weeks post on How to Make a Marigold Salve, then I’m sure you will catch the similarities between these two tutorials. It is exactly the same!

Once your sunflower oil has been properly infused, use a cheesecloth to strain out the remaining leaves and leftover particles.

Then create a double broiler by putting a few inches of water into a pot and placing a tightly fitting glass bowl over the pot. Begin heating the water on a mid to high heat.

Place the oil and beeswax pellets into the glass bowl and mix until all of the pellets have fully melted. Careful not to overheat your oil! You want it to be warm enough to melt the pellets but not warm enough to fry the oil.

Add in a few drops of your favourite essential oils and combine before transfering the mixture to a container.

Transfer the melted oil and wax into a container with a lid and set aside until the wax has hardened.

Use your horsetail cuticle cream on your dry, cracked nails, feet and hands as often as needed.

Yield: 8oz

Horsetail Cuticle Cream

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Materials

4 ounce container
1/4 cup fresh or dried horsetail leaves
1 cup sunflower oil
20 grams beeswax pellets
10-20 drops of essential oils

Tools

Large pot
Glass bowl
Rubber spatula

Instructions

Infusing the Horsetail Oil

To infuse the sunflower oil with horsetails, place clean horsetail leaves into a mason jar and pour the sunflower oil over the leaves.

Seal the jar and set aside for 2-4 weeks.

When ready to use, use a cheesecloth to strain the leaves and leftover debris from the oil and continue with the tutorial.

Making the Cuticle Cream

Add 1 to 2" of water into the large pot and begin heating on a stovetop over low heat.

Place a fitted glass bowl over the top of the pot.

Add the infused oil and beeswax pellets into the bowl and stir together until the wax has melted and the ingredients are fully combined. Add a few drops of essential oils.

Remove the bowl from the heat and transfer the mixture into an airtight container.

Seal the container and allow the wax to fully harden before using.