I find my quick guide to liquid oil and beeswax ratios so useful that I knew I’d have to extend it out to soft oils as well. Today we’re looking at beeswax and coconut oil, a perennial favourite in DIY body products. Coconut oil is a soft oil, solid at room temperature. However, it melts at 24°C, which means it’s liquid most of the time in the parts of the world where coconuts actually grow. It’s a very smooth oil that liquifies quickly and absorbs into the skin leaving little evidence it was ever there. I was curious to see how it acted when paired with beeswax.
I used the same method for this experiment as for my other wax and oils guides. Working with 1g increments, I tested ratios of 1:1 through 1:8, increasing the amount of oil (coconut oil this time), and always using 1 gram of beeswax wax. So, 1:1 was 1 gram of each, while 1:8 was 1 gram of wax and 8 grams of coconut oil.
I labelled each little tin, melted them one by one in a water bath, and then let them set up before observing my results.
When it came time for my observations, I used the same criteria as I did with the beeswax experiment:
- How hard was it? I tested this by pressing on the surface of the mixture with my fingertip (as you would to apply a salve or lip balm), and then scraping with a fingernail.
- How quickly did it melt? This was pretty easy to observe by simply handling bits of each mixture.
- How sticky was it? I rubbed the mixtures into my arm and tested to see how tacky they were.
- How was the slip? I tested this by rubbing bits of the mixture on my lips as they are more sensitive than my arm, and also very familiar with lip balm.
And, as before, I did everything in my house, with an average ambient temperature of about 20°C (so my coconut oil is solid at room temperature). If you live somewhere drastically warmer than I do, you will likely find these observations on the harder side.
1:1 Quite hard, but it can still be dented with a determined finger press. A small amount can be rubbed into the skin pretty easily, and surprisingly it’s not very sticky. Makes a nice lip balm.
1:2 Firm, but can be dented. Smooth, but somewhat tacky on the skin. Melts relatively quickly, could be a firm salve.
1:3 Quite soft, with a firmer top and softer underneath bit. Not sticky, and a bit glossy. Could be a soft salve.
1:4 Quite soft, very smooth. Easily pressed through, fast melt.
1:5 Very soft, nearly liquifies with a small amount of handling. Absorbs quickly, smooth.
1:6 Very soft—I can dent the surface with my finger without the mixture shattering or coming into chunks. Oily, liquifies on touch.
1:7 Very soft. There’s a thicker skin on the surface, and then it’s nearly liquid underneath. After it sets up for a bit longer this effect lessens, though it is still extremely soft.
1:8 Super soft. Has a noticeable, flexible skin on the surface. When pressed, the skin cracks and liquidy oil oozes up from underneath. After setting up a bit more this effect diminishes, though the mixture still liquefies within about 2 seconds of skin contact.
A few lessons, after observing everything:
- These mixtures are far less sticky/tacky than the mixtures using liquid oil
- Raw beeswax + virgin coconut oil smell amazing
- Give the concoctions at least a few hours to set up
- Results will definitely be different on a hot summer day
- This is my first oil/wax experiment where you could use the 1:1, which I really wasn’t expecting at all
| Hard? | Solid? | Melt speed | Sticky? | Slip | |
| 1:1 | Firm | Yes | Slow | Very little | Pretty good |
| 1:2 | Firm | Yes | Average | Very little | Pretty good |
| 1:3 | Quite soft | Yes | Fast | No | Great |
| 1:4 | Quite soft | Yes | Fast | No | Great |
| 1:5 | Soft | Yes | Very fast | No | Great |
| 1:6 | Soft | Yes | Very fast | No | Great |
| 1:7 | Very soft | Yes | Practically liquid | No | Great |
| 1:8 | Very soft | Yes | Practically liquid | No | Great |
Another awesome post, Marie! I’ve been trying to make mostly beeswax candles, but have been advised to use an alternative oil. I chose coconut oil so this is extremely helpful to me. Thank you again!
Cathryn
Glad to have been of use, Cathryn 🙂 Have fun with your candles!
I live in a hot climate and would like to make whipped body butter out of coconut oil. I want to add beeswax so the whipped butter will not melt so easily. Can you recommend how much beeswax to add and when in the process to add it?
Hiya Fran!
Unfortunately, there are so many factors to consider and your climate may or may not be the same as what my hot climate is. The only suggestion anyone can offer you, is trail and error. Be sure to make small batch of about 50g, and be sure to take lots and lots of notes with your observations! When you have a question like this, always be sure to check out the FAQ’s! I’ve found the right FAQ to help you out!
What ratio would I use for beeswax furniture polish?
Have you attempted coming up with a recipe for any natural underarm deodorants?
Lynn, here are a few http://www.humblebeeandme.com/?s=deodorant
Thanks, Joanna 🙂
I have three—use the search box above my photo 🙂
Hello!
I’m trying to come up with a wholesome alternative to paraffin-mineral oil hand wax treatment (to use in a hand waxing warmer device). Would one of your combinations be able to layer for therapeutic hand wax treatments?
Thanks for your careful experiments and great notes!
Yes, I also would like to know is you think beeswax and coconut oil would be a safer substitute for the paraffin and wax hand treatment? Any ideas or suggestions?
Nice work and thanks for sharing your info! Can I assume that the coconut could have been any liquid oil or combo – like??? Almond, coconut, avocado?? as long as the combo equaled a gram???
Thank you!
Hi Leslie! So—no. For starters, coconut oil isn’t a liquid oil—it’s a soft solid, with a melting point of about 24°C. If it’s liquid in your part of the world you’ll find your results for this test don’t hold true to mine since it’s solid for me. Coconut oil has also proven to be a bit of an outlier in that its thin, super-smooth consistency makes the higher concentration blends useable, which they aren’t with olive oil (they’re too sticky and skiddy). I did an experiment using beeswax and olive oil, and so far I’ve found that to be a better jumping-off point for formulations made with liquid oils 🙂
I make a lip/body balm with beeswax and coconut oil that is has a 1:1 ratio. We live in NY and absolutely love it. It protects our skin during the harsh weather without constant re-application. It can get quite hard with the cold weather so we keep it on a shelf behind our woodstove. During the summer I make the balm with a ratio of 1:3 since we don’t need as much protection.
I’ve been really enjoying the 1:1 as a lip balm as well—I found myself dipping into the tin on my way out the door quite often 😛
Marie, this is amazingly helpful! I am so in awe of just how open and honest you are in sharing your experiences and wisdom with the world! It’s so humbling to see genuine goodness around, such as with a place called humblebee. Even with all the blatantly rude and ignorant comments that get thrown your way, you respond with a great deal of poise and *respect*!
Thanks for doing what you’re doing 🙂
Now i’m going to make more lip balms, just because I can 😉
Awww, thank you so much, Fatima! Your support and kind words mean the world 🙂
I second this statement! You are very much appreciated! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you so much 🙂
I too enjoy the wholesomeness and kindness
Aww, thank you so much Jill 🙂
DITTO!!!
Thanks for the article!
Is there a way to balance the melting of coconut oil in a recipe?
I’m trying to make a anhydrous butter with coconut oil in it, but I would like it to keep the same consistency even when ambient temperature is above 24 C, (it happens here often).
I can formulate a recipe which stays solid-soft in winter, but in the summer the thickening provided by solid coconut oil is no longer present. I plan to make coconut over 50% in weight so the effect will be noticeable.
Is there any way around this, without making the recipe too hard during winter?
Thanks for sharing that. I’ve been wanting to make some salves with the herb oils I just made so this will be a big help.
Be sure to check out my entry on beeswax & liquid oils as well—you might find that more useful for herb infused oils 🙂
Awesome info and perfect timing! Thanks so much for this post. I was actually wondering what the best ratio would be just a few days ago 🙂
Thanks, Catherine 🙂 Happy to have helped!
Wonderful! Thank you. Would you consider this test using unrefined cocoa butter? I’ve tried to make lotion bars that are either too soft or too hard. Just can’t seem to get it right. I like using raw coco butter, raw Shea butter, and hemp seed oil on my skin. I haven’t put beeswax in because the cocoa butter is already so hard. What do you think Marie?
How funny—I actually already have the cocoa/liquid oil experiment in my schedule 🙂 Cocoa butter is, in general, not that great of a hardener, though. It may be very brittle, but it has a fairly low melting point—lower than shea butter! It melts below body temperature, making it one of my favourite as-is body butter bars. Check out this massage bar recipe to see how I use it with liquid oils and beeswax 🙂
Hi Marie,
This is wonderful.. After spoiling my lip balm I was planning to do similar experiment.. And I saw your post.. This is great.. You saved my time and material..
Thanks, Tanny! Happy to have saved you some time & stuffs 🙂
Hi Marie, very helpful article!
I have been using a mixture (1:1) of VCO and beeswax for candle making but today I will use fractionated coconut oil with my beeswax (1:1 proportion) so I can add fragrance oil to it.
How much FO/EO do you recommend I should use in 200g of melted wax? I was planning on using 10% FO/EO? Is that the right proportion?
Thank you so much and if you have done an article on mixing fragrance oils in candle making, I would truly appreciate the link to your article.
Thanks for these”oil to wax ratio” articles, Marie. They are super helpful! I have an idea that I’ve been toying around with which is some sort of tinted eyebrow tamer using a mascara brush. I love your brow zing dupe and use it every day but for those days when I’m in a rush I’m looking a for a way to reduce all the steps (wax part, powder part, brush with a mascara wand). So do you think using a 1:5 or 1:6 ratio of the coconut oil and beeswax mixed with brown oxide would do what I’m looking for?
Sorry for the long post! I definitely have to thank you for starting me on my diy skincare journey…it has been your website that has changed my whole skincare routine!
You’re very welcome! I find these experiments super useful for my own learnings as well 🙂 I’d probably do something with more wax than 1:5 or 1:6, those were super, super soft and I think you’d find them too liquid to be overly malleable on/near the skin. I’d also recommend adding some clay, I love it for adding a bit of body to those brows 🙂 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me—have fun with your latest concoction!
Thanks for the suggestions! I tried it with a 1:3 ratio but found it too oily. I think it was the coconut oil that I didn’t like. So my next step is just to tweak your eyebrow fixative recipe and perhaps just up the jojoba oil or lessen the beeswax to get the consistency I’m looking for. Thanks again!
No worries—I look forward to hearing how your tweaked version goes 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your experiments- I really appreciate it! You cut out the work for the rest of us.
Thanks, Grace 🙂
Thank you for the post! It is very helpful! I’m thinking making facial mask with beewax and coconut oil. Do you think 1:1 ratio will work?
Hi Eliza! I wouldn’t really recommend putting that much beeswax on your face (I have found it can clog up more acne prone areas), and I’m not sure why you’d want to. Why not use just pure coconut oil?
Thanks! I saw the beewax-honey-coconut facial mask somewhere online and got interested – I do hand wax spa and really like it. Looks like I should not try that on my face.
I’d definitely recommend keeping that one for the hands and feet—paired with gloves or socks it would make a great overnight treatment for dry skin!
Hi Marie!
Your guides have been more than a BLESSING in my current delving into the world of homeopathy. My sincerest gratitude!
I do have a few inquiries. Since carnauba wax has a higher melting point than beeswax there is a need to increase the amount of liquid oil to produce a softer balm/salve. Do you think it that that means the ratio of coconut oil to CARNAUBA wax would also increase?
I ask because I intend to make some solid perfumes using coconut oil infused with herbs and essential oils, plus carnauba (or soy) wax. Here in the Philippines, coconut oil is in abundance (yey!), but carnauba is quite expensive at about US$44 per pound. Soy wax is slightly less expensive at about $41 per pound, but suppliers for either are scarce.
Would it be too much to ask for you to do a “guide to coconut oil and carnauba wax ratios”? or maybe a “guide to coconut oil and soy wax ratios”? or BOTH?
Thanks for your reply!
Hi Kay-L! Thanks so much for reading 🙂 I’m glad you’re finding my guides so useful! I think you will find a combination of carnauba wax and coconut oil to be very glossy and smooth, and yes, you will likely need to use more coconut oil than you would with beeswax, though I have not tried it. I may in the future, but it’ll be several months at a minimum, so if you’re really curious I’d recommend trying it yourself 🙂
Hi Maria! I recently changed my beeswax from a white non-organic to a yellow organic. I have found that the organic acts differently, as in I have to add 2-3x more than I had to with the white non-versions of beeswax. My recipe has stayed the same except for the beeswax. Have you noticed this as well?
Hi Auty! This is very strange, I have never had this experience. Is your organic beeswax clean, or does it have non-wax bits in it?
I am cosmetologist and attempting to replace my “made from petrolium sludge” paraffin dip I use for hands and feet with a non toxic product and am about to try beeswax!
I am pretty sure that I will need some sort of oil to give it slip.
The paraffin dip is used by applying a thin layer of body lotion, dipping the foot/hand in the paraffin 2 times (sort of like dipping a candle..??) and then covering the foot/hand in a plastic bag and then insterting into a terrycloth mit and letting the warmth relax, speed up ciruclation, and also open the pours for the lotion to seep in a bit deeper.
Can you make a suggestion on oil(s) and ratios– thinking the coconut sounds really good.
(I am not sure of the temperature of the warmer at the moment – there is “low to melt” on a dial but not sure of the thermometer reading for that. (Therabath is the brand I have)
THank you!!!!
Hi Janet! What a cool project 🙂 You’ll definitely need some oil for slip as well as bringing down the melting point—I think you’d have some very unhappy customers if you dipped their hands in a pot of 64°C beeswax—YOWZA! That’s a good 25°C hotter than a nice hot tub temperature.
For this purpose, since it’ll be rinsed off from the sounds of it, I’d recommend a cheap carrier oil. Coconut or olive are both good choices 🙂
Hi Janet, I just wondered if you mastered the recipe for use in a ‘paraffin’ wax hand/foot heater? I used pure soy wax and it was a nightmare to remove from the skin – it set hard and just crumbled off (eventually)! Thankfully it was a practice run and not on a client 😉
(the Therabath website says the machine should read 129-134 for best use)
Interesting—do you know if that’s the temperature of the mix or that the machine is set to? It just seems awfully warm, knowing that I like my hot tub at 104°F and anything too much warmer is pretty uncomfortable!
have done some experiments this week – olive oil and beeswax— adding more oil as I went.
In the warmer it stayed melted just fine.
Problem – wax hardens to hard and makes a huge mess coming off — breaking in tons of pieces.
Need something that stays a bit flexible….
Migt have to go another direction completely.
Have you thought about playing with some of the softer oils with higher melting points like shea butter? I’ve always found shea to be wonderful for pampering the skin as well 🙂
Wondering if you came up with a recipe that works and doesn’t burn in the parafin warmer that you would share?
Hi Jane, Wondering if you ever came up with a dippable recipe….I see some wrappable products out there, but dipping is so nice.
Hey Margarite—given that Janet commented here well over two ago, I highly doubt you are ever going to get a response from her. If she doesn’t have email notifications set up I cannot imagine she would ever return here to see if anybody has asked her a question!
Thank you for sharing many of your fantastic recipes.
If I want to turn this into a hair pomade, do I need to add any other ingredients? ?
I.e I have Afro hair..:-)
Hi Christopher! Take a look at my hair balm and beard balm recipes as a starting point 🙂
I’m making a soothing balm with count oil and beeswax and find when it dries completly it’s not smooth looking on top its bumpy, what could be causing this?!?
Hi! I’m assuming “count” oil is supposed to be coconut oil? What ratios are you using?
I am about to embark upon making my own make up, and this is very intresting and helpful! Thank you for your trouble and for posting!
I.S.
Thanks, Irina!
Hi Marie, Where can I buy the best organic Beeswax? Thanks.
Hi Dominick! I always recommend purchasing beeswax locally, so check your local farmers market 🙂
Hi
Brill blog – can you use this on your face at all please? I have fairly dry skin especially above the eybrows.
Thanks
Hi Smita! You can put coconut oil and beeswax on your face if you want to, though you may find the wax clogs pores. I’d recommend pure argan oil instead—it’s my all time favourite facial moisturizer and I live in a very dry climate 🙂
I’m tickled pink that you did this and that I’m reading it. Cheers! Now I know what kind of ratios I want for any given work.
Enjoy! 🙂
I would think you have had some kind of scientific training! This is the second time google brought me to your blog, the other article was on gathering cow fat from the grocer. I’m thinking about trying to make vegetarian pemmican and this was exactly the experiment I had in mind.
Some kind, if you count high school chemistry 😉 Thanks so much for reading!
For my hands, I have been using the Beeswax Butter Balm (from Made from Earth). I absolutely LOVE this stuff! Everything I’ve ever tried from Made from Earth is amazing. Its a balm, and works really well on my extremely dry hands, winters are bad here in Michigan and this does the trick.
All of their products use high quality ingredients and real essential oils, and I have been using the Beeswax Butter Balm both on my hands and on my lips. So addicted
Cool, thanks for sharing! 🙂
This is super helpful. Thanks for taking the time to share this info!
Thanks, Katie! Enjoy 🙂
Do you have any suggestions for cleanup? Wax doesn’t like to come off of stuff too easily. 🙂
Read this 🙂
Thanks for such helpful information.
I would like to make a moisturizing lotion w/ coconut oil and no additives if possible. Is there anything that I can add to increasing the melting point? I would like to whip it possibly with vitamin E, but I understand that if it is in warm place it may melt and loose its creamy texture… thanks in advance…
Julio
What do you mean by “additives”? Increasing the melting point would require adding something (probably a wax, as they have high melting points), and for it to be a lotion you’ll need water and emulsifiers.
Coconut oil really isn’t that great of a moisturizing oil, though. It’s so thin that it really doesn’t help skin in truly dry conditions. If you want a really moisturizing lotion, this one is great 🙂
Hello
Can you tell me please the ratio between oils ,beeswax and liquid such alovera gel , hidrosol?
Thanks
Well, no. There is no “quick guide” for something with this many variables. We’ve got a solubility issue with those ingredients, so they won’t even combine without emulsifiers, and then that ratio varies a lot depending on the emulsifier, which means a lot of variables… which means this experiment could take years. Sorry!
Great post!
I try to make a beeswax cream and your post seems really helpful…
I want to give a consistency like the beeswax creams exist in the market…
I cannot find the proper ratio!!!
I want to make it using a liquid oil (such as olive oil), coconut oil and of course beeswax…
I will appreciate any help!
Hi Dimitrio! If you’ve already read my ratio experiments, then I think this article is your next stop 🙂
Thank you for your fast response!
I read a lot from your blog.
Really wonderful topics these with the ratio between different kind oils and beeswax.
Keep up your good work!!!
Thanks, Dimitrio! 🙂
Amazing…simply amazing! Thank you so much Marie for sharing your great work. It helps all of us save time and resources.
I live in tropical climate where room temperature is easily 26c and it gets over 30c outside. throughout a year. I’ve been wanting to make coconut wax candles but its low melting point makes it difficult. So I was thinking to blend coconut wax with beeswax, but now I’ve decided to use coconut oil as the alternative! Love the smell and it’s affordable here. In terms of the mixing ratio, starting with beeswax 1: coconut oil 0.5 sounds good to you for a candle? Or the 1:1 ratio could still work? Much appreciated any advice from you. Thanks!
Hi Indigo! I’m afraid I have next to no experience with making candles, but I think a 2:1 ratio might be a bit soft once it’s on fire, especially in your warmer climate. This is just hypothesis, though, you’ll have to give it a try to see!
Just found your site! Looking forward to following it. I have two questions. We extract our own honey and wax, and sometimes get water in the wax when we are cleaning it. How do you recommend to the get the water out?
And, Why mix coconut oil into the beeswax for candle making?
Thanks
Lucille
Hi Lucille! To remove the water I would simply gently re-melt the beeswax and let it sit still while it re-solidifies—the water will come out and collect so you can easily remove the water-free beeswax block once it sets up.
I assume you’d add coconut oil to beeswax for candles because you really like coconut oil and want to give it a try, I can’t think of any other reason to include it 🙂
Wow. Fantastic. Love your work.
Thank you!
Wow! Very interesting. Thx for posting your findings.
I am now bookmarking your site. Spot on. : o)
Thanks, Dave! 🙂
Hello, is virgin coconut oil required? or can refined be useD?
As long as the coconut oil isn’t fractionated you should still get the same results 🙂
I was glad with this experiment because I want to make coconut oil / beeswax massage candles. I choose 1:5 ratio to start with but it is much harder than in your setup. Mine feels like the 1:1 and I need firm pressure and movement to get off any soft mixture.
Also the flame only tend to melt the middle part even after 15 minutes burning. I think it is 18 degrees here now but think I need way more coconut oil to get it melted easier.
I also look for ways to make (this) massage oil more smooth and slippery because it is for very soft and sensual touch and I don’t need the friction that a sport massage might want.
I think of adding “lubricant” from flax seeds, Aloë Vera or plant based glycerin. Do you have any suggestion for that?
Hey Frank! As somebody who does not make candles I’m afraid I can’t offer much advice. If you want to add something water soluble you’ll need an emulsifier and a broad spectrum preservative, which is obviously going to drastically impact the melting point (lower it) and might result in a peculiar burn as water would evaporate off while your oils would burn. Perhaps look at some fatty acids like stearic acid? SA is hard and offers good hardening properties without being a wax, which can really heat up a massage oil/butter with friction when you get in there and start massaging.
Thanks for doing this! I just made a huge batch of tinted lip balm that ended up running out of the bottom of the tubes because the ratio of oil to beeswax was off (Sad Face). This will come in handy when I reformulate and even make salves.
Oh no! I hate it when a recipe fails 🙁 Hopefully you didn’t lose too many ingredients! Good luck with the next batch 🙂
Thanks for the post!
I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be better then to use a 2:1 or even 3:1 (BW:CO) then, to be sure the product won’t melt in a hot day/ambient.
Many thanks
With a melting point over 60°C I find beeswax concoctions don’t soften much in hot weather. Even Death Valley doesn’t get close to 60°C!
Marie – I love your site!! So much great information and put together so fabulously. I can’t believe you do this and work in another job!!
What ratio of wax to oil would you use when making a lotion? When you make larger batches what do you use to mix the water into the salve/body butter? Blender, food processor, hand mixer, stand mixer?
Thanks, Adrian! When it comes to making lotion these ratios go straight out the window because you’re dealing with so many extra factors, the biggest one being a TON of water and an emulsion. You’ll also need an emulsifier, and you’d generally drop the beeswax as it can be sticky in lotions and isn’t really necessary to thicken them (though you can include beeswax if you want). Check out my lotions page for more information 🙂
Thanks Marie for sharing this! You know that batural beeswax can have different colour, weaker/stronger smell. Do you think the result would be different if you do this same experiment using a different batch of beeswax? Thanks!
Hey Adi! I’ve never noticed difference between batches of natural bees waxes, but three can be small differences between refined and unrefined. I’ve only found that difference noticeable in some cosmetics where the precise strength of the wax is really important—in things like salves and lip balms it isn’t noticeable at all 🙂
Thanks Marie!
Great info, For my 1st concocution I used 2 parts beeswax 1 part coconut oil (+ couple drops of lemon/lavender oil/vitamin E) to make a product similar to ClimbOn http://www.bananafingers.co.uk/climb-on-1oz-bar-p-647.html which worked quite well. its not very oily and qood for rough skin I get from climbing.
Nice! If you’re interested in a more complex climbing balm my climber friends are nuts about my Palm Balm 🙂 Happy DIYing and thanks for reading!
This is a very interesting article. I’m hoping to make some salves at home but is so worried about the coconut oil liquidfies in the tropical country (Singapore) I’m from. Do I have to keep them in the fridge then?
Hey Lily! If you are using beeswax you generally don’t have to worry about the state of coconut oil—it liquefies so easily that we generally don’t rely on it to harden our products 🙂
Hey,
As you said coconut oil liquefies after 24 degrees… Where I stay it’s pretty much 30-35+ degrees, especially in the summers. So the oil is perennially liquid… Will I be able to use that oil with the beeswax in 1:1 ratio? Or should I change it to half the amount of oil with beeswax? Also, I didn’t buy the Beeswax, got it from a honeycomb around here and clarified it.
I really have no experience formulating for ongoing high temperatures—that’s just not something we get enough in Canada for me to really work with/around and fully understand. The melting point of beeswax is still well above 35°C, though, so when I spent a month in Costa Rica I found nothing with beeswax in it softened too much; the wax held everything together very nicely. So… it should work? But you will really have to try it yourself—formulating for weather that hot is a bit like formulating on the moon to me!
Well, I guess I’ll have to try and get back to you… Yeah? Thanks for helping me out!
Have fun! 😀
I was wondering if it would be possible to make a whipped body butter with beeswax and coconut oil?
Whipped body butters typically don’t have wax in them as the high melting point and waxy texture typically isn’t desirable, but you can certainly experiment with it 🙂
Great reference material. Thank you so much for sharing!
Happy making!
I must say this page is very very informative, as I am a novice in making DIY lipcare.
In INDIA, ambient temperature rises upto 40-42C in summer, so coconut oil melts in our room temperature in Summer. So if I wish to make my own lip balm at home what should be my wax to oil ratio so that it doesn’t melt in room temperature. and what if I wish to add some more olive oil too (and sometimes may be little Vitamin E oil too) in that mixture?
As someone who lives in Canada, where, in summer, it is currently about 20°C, I really cannot answer this question. I’d recommend doing this experiment yourself and making your own observations 🙂
Thank you SOOOO much for these ratios (the coconut and olive oil to beeswax ratios). I am a guy who likes to make my own beard balms and hard work is extremely helpful for me. I add some essential oil for scent as well. Very nice of you to share your knowledge. thank you very much.
You’re so welcome! Happy making 🙂
Recently, I tried to use a little beeswax to increase the melting point of coconut oil and that would leave a bit of a waxy film. I don’t know the exact ratio I used, but it was probably 1:8 or higher. What I ended up with was a lower melting point than pure coconut oil — which I found quite surprising. It was completely liquid at 70°F. Very runny. Almost like water. When chilled to the point that it set up, it was much harder than coconut oil.
I was hoping this page would include information about the lower melting point.
This morning, I tried something different — 1:1:1 of coconut oil, olive oil, and beeswax. This sets up to a fairly firm solid. Dentable with the end of your finger, readily melts at skin temperate, leaves a waxy film. That’s what I wanted.
Hey Paul! It sounds like the “lower melting point” was likely just the mixture not being fully set up, as you comment that it was much harder once it had set up 🙂 When cooling softer things I find you often need to give ’em a kick in the pants with an ice bath or some time in the fridge to get them to work properly—see this experiment to see that in action. I recommend giving this post a read—it has some interesting insights on how different methods of cooling can impact end consistency. Happy making!
Marie thank you so much for all of your information! So helpful!! I just had a question about melting beeswax and adding essential oils without having them evaporate. What’s the best way? I’m so afraid of adding really nice oils and then having them evaporate. Am I being overly worried? Is the microwave not a good way to melt beeswax? Thank You!!
sorry i am wondering, without reading through this entire article – this is to make What? – please include that in the title or first lines of the intro
This isn’t to make anything in particular. It is exactly what the title states: it’s a guide to understand how different ratios of coconut oil and beeswax behave, which can be very helpful if you are looking to develop a formulation of your own. Happy making!
Hello. Hopefully this won’t ramble on too long.
I’m planning on using these ingredients to make a leather conditioner. As someone commented on your leather balm post, I was also a fan of Doc Marten’s Wonder Balsam, which only contained beeswax, coconut oil, and lanolin. Unfortunately, they changed the formula and now it smells like a refinery.
In my quest to find a replacement, I’ve used some off the shelf products that softened the leather so much that the boots stretched to the point of becoming unwearable. This has been so frustrating it’s driven me to make my own. I don’t want to include lanolin for this reason because it softens leather (it wasn’t much of an issue with the Wonder Balsam. I don’t think there was much in it) and also because the other two are much easier to acquire.
The best product I’ve found is Bick 4. It seems to actually tighten the leather up a bit, but it’s very light and doesn’t do anything for water resistance.
Coconut oil is a conditioner and cleaner in its own right, but in this context it’s mainly to soften the beeswax. It should be spreadable but not too liquidy. I was thinking the 1:2 or 1:3 ratio would be about right, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts.
Thanks. Your site is an amazing resource.
Hihi! Thank you for your article! I would like to make a coconut oil + beeswax wood polish, basically to polish my used wooden chopping board/wooden utensils. Which ratio will you use for the above purpose in your country? Looking forward to your reply! 🙂
Thank you for running such a thorough experiment, for documenting your results, and for sharing them here for everyone else’s benefit.
I’m looking to adapt a homemade deodorant recipe (coconut oil-based) for an Australian summer. I’ve been making the recipe throughout our winter, but i’m exploring the idea of adding beeswax to increase the melting point above 30 degrees (c), to manage the higher ambient temperature here during summer.
This post is a great resource. Thank you again.
I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂 Happy making!