I’ve been gifting homemade lip balm to friends and family for so long now that people have told me they just hold out for Christmas rather than buy more—and I’m definitely not going to let them down! This year’s holiday lip balm is Sugar Plum themed (it seemed much more lip-compatible than Christmas Tree!). It is softly purple, deliciously fragrant, and it has got staying power that’s suited to colder winter temperatures. I think you’ll like it!
Most of the vegan lip balms I’ve tried share the characteristic of being quite glassy and thin—they lack that rich creaminess of beeswax lip balms. With a beeswax lip balm you can really schmear it on and it’ll stay there and lock in moisture for ages (especially this recipe). Vegan lip balms made with candelilla and carnauba wax are pretty much the opposite of that, though; they tend to “slick” on quite thinly, leaving a thin, glassy coating. Now, this isn’t a straight-up bad thing (it can be great in the summer!), but in the midst of a dry winter I find glassy vegan balms are pretty much useless. That’s the problem I wanted to tackle with this Vanilla Spice Vegan Lip Balm recipe.
If you have ever dreamed of living in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, or figure the best superpower ever would be the ability to eat as much chocolate as possible without it having any calories, I think this lip balm is for you. Decadent, super-fragrant cocoa butter is paired with golden liquid nutty goodness macadamia nut oil to create a lip treat that is easily confused for dessert. Yum.
This divine, lightweight, Heavenly Cocoa Lotion went straight into my purse, and that is high praise. Jasper requested a “simple yet effective facial moisturiser. Something a little bit like the LUSH Celestial Moisturiser… I worked for the company a while back as a product trainer and it is their best selling moisturiser, so I feel a formulation based on this cream would be really useful for your subscribers too!” The original ingredient list had some really lovely things in it—almond oil, cocoa butter, and lots of vanilla—and we all know I’m a total sucker for cocoa and vanilla, so how could I resist?
The first thing I should get out of the way in regards to these Chocolate Sugar Scrub Nuggets is this: please don’t eat them. You will be sorely tempted, and I’m guessing they probably don’t taste all that bad. After all, they are mostly cocoa butter and sugar, and that right there is sort of white chocolate, so I can understand the temptation, but you really shouldn’t. Truly. Save these nuggets for the bath, and pick up some proper nuggets for nomming from a place that does not specialize in exfoliation and bath treats that lie.
I often hear that my soaps look downright edible, but I think I may have outdone myself with this decadent Chocolate and Roses Valentine Soap. It’s a beautiful dark bar with what looks like a swirl of nougat running through the center, and if you don’t want to lick it on sight, there might be something a bit wrong with you. These cold processed bars are loaded with rich cocoa butter and moisturizing olive oil, and they work up into an utterly lovely creamy lather. I’m not sure how you couldn’t be completely smitten with them, so let’s dive in.
