As a Canadian it is my patriotic duty to try to incorporate maple syrup into as many things as I can manage. Today’s thing is lip balm, and it is lovely. This taffy coloured maple syrup lip balm is creamy, hydrating, and lightly maple scented. Please don’t eat it, though I wouldn’t blame you if you tried!

Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe

The base of this lip balm is made up of locally sourced golden honey scented beeswax, crazy fragrant virgin coconut oil, and cocoa butter (USA / Canada) so chocolatey scented that you are seriously tempted to chow down on a nugget (again, not recommended, but I wouldn’t blame you for trying!). There’s also some sweet almond oil (USA / Canada) to keep things soft and supple.

Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe

Because maple syrup is water soluble I’ve added a bit of soy lecithin to help things emulsify. As the mixture cools, we whisk, and as the lip balm thickens you’ll see the syrup begin to incorporate really nicely. I don’t recommend dropping the lecithin; it may work out at first, but chances are you’ll find the maple syrup starts to bead out of the lip balm as time goes by.

Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe

I used a dark maple syrup—grade B or C rather than grade A (though it looks like they are rebranding “grade B” as “grade A dark”, so that should work, too). Grade A sounds better from a marketing perspective, but the B & C grades are far more mapley and lovely. If you’re a maple fan, the darker grades are where it’s at! You can use grade A if that’s all you have, but if you love maple syrup and haven’t tried the dark stuff, I really recommend it. I got mine at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, but I’ve also seen it at Trader Joe’s in the USA and health food stores here in Canada, and on Amazon.

Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe

The final maple syrup lip balm is a bit too soft for a lip balm tube, so I’m loving it in this pretty (and since discontinued, though they still have them as of this writing) glass jar from New Directions. It’s also great in tins and other similar wide mouthed containers 🙂 Enjoy, fellow maple lovers!

Maple Syrup Lip Balm

5g | 0.17oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada)
3g | 0.1oz virgin coconut oil
4g | 0.14oz sweet almond oil (USA / Canada)

2g | 0.07oz soy lecithin
4g | 0.14oz dark (grade B or C, or “grade A dark”) maple syrup

Weigh the beeswax, cocoa butter (USA / Canada), coconut oil, sweet almond oil (USA / Canada), soy lecithin, and syrup out into a heat resistant glass measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in a small saucepan of barely simmering water to melt everything through.

Once everything has melted, remove the measuring cup from the water and dry it off. Begin whisking the mixture (I like the mini wire whisks for stuff like this since they aren’t so big that the entire recipe clumps up inside the whisk) and continue whisking as it cools. As it cools you’ll see everything come together into a creamy yellow pot of loveliness.

When the mixture is thoroughly emulsified and has cooled it to room temperature you can use a silicone spatula to scrape the lip balm into some wee jars or tins—the recipe makes about 20mL (2/3 oz) of lip balm, so I filled one 15mL (half ounce) glass jar and then a 5mL tin.

Don’t have some of the oils called for in this recipe? Read this for information on making substitutions!

Wondering why there isn’t a preservative in this, even though maple syrup contains some water? Read this!

Maple Syrup Lip Balm recipe

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