Dear Annie,
I spent a lot of time in a sailboat this summer and my skin seems to have aged a lot from both sun and wind exposure. What DIY formula do you suggest that is really natural and pure to help my skin cells? The last thing I want to do is buy a commercial product that includes toxic chemicals! –Barbara, ME

Dear Barbara,
My mother used to sail a lot in the summer and I worried about her skin in the fall as it would be so leathery. I didn’t worry about the leathery look, but the health of her skin cells. Fortunately, I have just the formula for you from my book Better Basics for the Home. It includes comfrey, an exceptionally healing herb for injured or aged skin.

Cell Renewal Comfrey Cream
2 ½ ounces oil infused with comfrey leaf and root
4 ounces comfrey water (make a very strong comfrey tea, let cool, strain out the comfrey)
1 ½ ounces coconut oil
2/3 ounce beeswax
Preservative (1/3 teaspoon grapefruit seed extract, found in health food stores)
10 to 25 drops essential oil, if desired.

To make an oil infusion, crumble 2 ounces of dried comfrey leaves and root into the bottom of a crock pot and cover with an oil such as olive. Place over low heat for 6 hours. Let cool. Strain out the plant matter.

Melt the beeswax with the oils in a double boiler over medium heat. Remove from the heat, pour in the comfrey water, and mix with a hand or electric mixer until thick and creamy. Stir in the preservative.

Note: This cream needs to be refrigerated and will last for two to three weeks. Only use comfrey externally.