Oh ya, and this site
http://www.stevenfoster.com/education/m ... ricum.html says you can make the oil by crushing the flower and letting it soak in Olive Oil in the sun or a warm area.
I figured the hot sun would cook the oil, and therefor would be bad for the skin. Is this correct?
Also I'd imagine coconut oil would be better than olive oil, because of the vitamin E; do you think it would work the same to have the flower soaking in coconut oil.
Here's a quote from the page
"It is simple to make St. John's wort oil. The herb is harvested just as the plant comes into bloom. Take about one cupful of the fresh flowers, adding a sufficient quantity of olive oil to just cover the flowers. The fresh herb should be finely cut or crushed, covered with the oil, then placed in the sun or warm area for two to three weeks until the herb imparts its qualities to the oil. Shaking it once a day helps to bring more plant cell surfaces in contact with the menstruum, enhancing this simple extraction process. Once the allotted time (2-3 weeks) has passed, the herb should be pressed, strained from the oil, then stored in a dark, closed container in a cool place.
The yellow flowers will turn the oil a deep blood-red color. Basically you are extracting the pigment, hypericin, considered one of the biologically active compounds of the plant, found in the flowers as little black dots along the petal margins. It is best to use the fresh flowers, as hypericin may degrade upon drying. Store the oil for up to a year in a cool dark place."
Are they using 'flower' and 'herb' interchangeably here? I can't tell. And if they are making it out of a crushed flower, do you think the dried up St. Johns Wart pills I have (which by the looks I think might be the crushed flower/herb), would work to make an oil? I'd just open the pill up, spill the contents into some coconut oil, and let it sit in a warm place for a few weeks. I'd imagine this would be better than regular St. John's Wart because it uses coconut oil rather than olive, and has not been cooked.