As anyone who lives in Calgary well knows, the air is about as humid as a lit barbeque, though usually not as hot. I don’t think anyone’s skin fares particularly well in such conditions, but I’m pretty sure mine fares worse than most. I’ve been carrying lip balm with my like an epi-pen since grade school, but it’s an awfully expensive habit if you want the stuff that actually works (ahem, Burt). I figured there was no way a 10g mixture of beeswax and oils was worth anything close to $5 unless the tin was made from unicorn horn, and I was right.
This is a stellar recipe for lip balm. It glides right on, works like a charm, and the most expensive part of each unit is the tube, and those are still only $0.25–$0.50 each, depending on where you get them and how many you buy (though, seriously, I wouldn’t pay much more than fifty cents per tube, that’s a bit of a rip-off).
I’d recommend getting your ingredients from an online supplier, as most local ones I’ve found overcharge up the wazoo, and you’ll probably come out of it feeling like you’re not saving much money at all. Now, of course, you’ll have to make an initial investment of more than $5, but lip balm doesn’t go bad with much haste, and I’m sure you have friends (or a fridge). I like New Directions Aromatics for most things, though Canwax is good if you’re looking for smaller amounts of things.
Awesome Lip Balm
20g | 0.7oz beeswax (USA / Canada), the natural type that still has a honey scent
25g | 0.88oz coconut or babassu oil
15g | 0.5oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada)
40g |1.4oz sweet almond oil (USA / Canada)
2g | 0.07oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
Essential oil, of your choice (try spearmint, peppermint, or cardamom)Melt everything together in a saucepan over medium heat, and then pour into tins or tubes. I find the easiest way to do so is by using a preheated Pyrex measuring cup with a pouring spout. Just warm it in the oven at a low heat (200 degrees F) so the mixture doesn’t harden upon contact with the glass. Even so, you’ll probably still have to re-melt the mixture unless you’re extremely quick.
Regarding choice of essential oils; I’d recommend sticking to the field of the edible, and with essential oils. I’ve tried synthetic flavoured oils, and they all leave a chemically aftertaste. For mint, I personally prefer spearmint to peppermint. Spice oils can be nice, but be wary, as too much cinnamon can leave you feeling a bit burnt. The citruses sound like a great idea, but be wary of their photosensitive properties, which can quickly set you up with sunburnt lips if you wear a balm made with them outside.
Once packaged, the balm will harden up in a few minutes and be ready to use. I carry a tube with me everywhere, storing the extra ones in a cool, dry, and dark place. I usually have two or three tubes on the go at any given time, and find that a tube will last me about four months.
Makes about 23 tubes of lip balm—you might want to halve the recipe!
How many tubes does this recipe make?
This recipe makes ~100g of lip balm, so if you’re using 5g lip balm tubes you should fill about 20 of them!
I love how simple you make it sound ‘ maybe I can do it after all
You definitely can, Linda! If you can melt butter, you can make lip balm!
Hi, do we need to double boil the ingredients to melt them or just melt them directly in the saucepan?
I prefer the double boiler as it’s harder to burn things + the pouring spout on the measuring cup is really helpful for pouring. You COULD use a saucepan, but be careful + be prepared for more of a mess 🙂 Happy making!
I was wondering if you could show your recipes in imperial measures as well as metric, especially the liquid ingredients like the oils, etc. It is easier to measure in terms of teaspoons, tablespoons, etc.?
I actually find it is MUCH easier to measure ingredients by weight! You can get a kitchen scale for about $10, and once you have one, you’ll use it for everything, I promise! You never have to clean measuring spoons, or worry about the accuracy of a recipe. This is especially relevant for ingredients like beeswax or cocoa butter, which are generally smashed or chopped into irregular pieces before measuring, making it impossible to get a reliable measurement using volume measurement. You can easily convert this recipe into ounces if your scale doesn’t have a grams option (though all of mine do, which is very handy). I’d added the ounce measurements to the original recipe.
Since you recommend not to use citrus for fear of sunburn, can you recommend an essential oil that has a natural sunscreen in it? I am anxious to try this! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Jennifer—You don’t really need to worry about sunburn any more than usual if you’re not using a citrus essential oil in your lip balm. If you really want a citrus scent, you could try either a frangrance oil, which lacks the photo-sensitizing compound bergaptene, or you could try bergaptene free Bergamot essential oil, which won’t cause burns.
If you’re looking to build some natural SPF into your lip balm, you can add a few drops of carrot seed essential oil. You can also try swapping out some of the sweet almond oil in this recipe for soy bean, wheat germ, macadamia, jojoba, or buriti oil, all of which are said to have some amount of natural SPF. I wouldn’t be too confident of the sun-blocking abilities of your homemade products, though—when it comes to not getting skin cancer, I like to leave it up to the pros.
Helichrysum essential oil is said to have SPF Properties! My girls and I love your site!! Thanks so much~
Thanks for reading with your girls, Dee!
And just a note on safety & sun—many oils are “said” to have SPF properties, but I would never trust the health and well being of my skin to some number you randomly read on the internet. I’ve written more about this here, but suffice it to say—if you really need SPF protection, don’t DIY it.
the pro’s put all kinds of chemicals in their products..lol…I don’t use anything made by the Pros, half of their ingredients cause cancer so I would rather take my chances
You are looking at the wrong pros, then 🙂 SkinDeep has a great guide on safe, tested, and effective sunscreens here.
I’ve used lemongrass when I want a lemony scent. You can also get steam distilled lemon and lime oils which also lack the photosensitizing chemical. I get mine from a company called Plant Therapy, which I really like.
Also-just started making lip balms and found this great tip-works like a charm! Melt your ingredients in the Pyrex measuring cup sitting in a pan of simmering water. When everything is incorporated, turn off the burner but leave the cup in the pan. Use a medicine syringe to draw up your 5 mls or so of melted balm and inject it into the tube. The cup stays hot, the balm stays melted and you don’t get it all over everything. It really works!
Thanks, Joan! Do you ever get that syringe clean again? That’s been my trouble with using them; they seem to become almost disposable because they are so hard to properly clean.
Hi! Do you know if shea butter could be used instead of cocoa butter? In looking for recipes I’ve seen both and wasn’t sure which was better.
Hannah—If you want to use Shea butter, you’d want to use it in place of the coconut oil, not in place of the cocoa butter. This recipe (as with most body recipes) is all about the texture and melting point of the final product. Shea butter and coconut oil are both soft at room temperature (though shea is much more sticky), whereas cocoa butter is brittle, just like a chocolate bar. If you swap out shea butter for the cocoa butter you’ll end up with a lip balm that is much softer and stickier, that will tend to drag on your lips rather than glide. I’d recommend sticking with the cocoa butter—it’s great stuff, and the raw version smells just like chocolate. Mmmmm! Or, if you can find another fat that is brittle at room temperature, you could use that, but I’ve never found another one, and I have tried A LOT of oils and butters!
This looks like a great recipe! 🙂 I was wondering, where can I find the chapstick tubes?
I buy mine online from New Directions Aromatics. You can also check your local craft store, though they are generally marked up by a huge amount—you shouldn’t be paying more than $0.20–$0.30/tube.
Bulk Apothecary is clearing some tubes for .12 ea. Less if you buy lots. I got 24 and paid $2.40.
Thanks for the tip, Linda!
Do you have to use an Essential oil? or could I simply omit that?
You can definitely leave it out if you like, Angel—it’s just there for scent purposes 🙂
Excited to try this, Thank you! could you suggest a natural ingredient that would add a slight pigment, pinkish tint to the chapstick? Thanks*
I’ve got three great tinted lip balm recipes: one, two, and three!
Any suggestion on an online supplier for the tubs/tupes and tuperwares you use in your projects?
New Directions seems to have alot of awesome ingredients but the containers can be hard to find at a cheap price.
Thanks!
Kris
I buy my lip balm tubes from NDA—they’re very competitively priced, at $0.15-0.18/tube. I also get lotion bottles, pumps, a few tins, and my various sized Boston glass bottles & droppers from them.
I’ve bought my make-up sifter jars, lip gloss tubes, and mascara tubes from a local shop called Soap & More, but a reader just turned me on to a site called Saffire Blue that has most of those items.
In the past I’ve bought my favourite tins from Canwax, but I find their shipping to be pretty steep for the size of the orders. Fortunately it looks like Saffire Blue carries the same line, which is awesome, because I’m running low!
And, if you’re in the USA you can take advantage of Specialty Bottle—I’m jealous!
Kristina,
Voyageur has a ton of packaging options at awesome cheap prices. I use them for all of my various products and would recommend them to anyone http://www.voyageursoapandcandle.com
Can’t wait to try this recipe out…think I may do that this weekend, nice little mother’s day gift to me thing
Enjoy it, Danielle 🙂 And happy Mother’s Day!
This recipe sounds pretty easy. I will have to try:)
It is! It’s really just measure, melt, and pour, and it’s the best lip balm I’ve ever used 🙂
Should we reuse an old lip balm tube? If so, how do I get the remainder/residue out of the old tube? If we should not reuse them, please let us know. Thanks.
I’ve found the easiest way to get all the old goo out of lip balm tubes is to start with scraping out as much as you can. Then, boil ’em with some water and a bit of vinegar. Then, run ’em through the dishwasher. That usually does a pretty good job!
Hi – a girl at the Kingsland Market in Calgary recommended your page. I’ve read you can add stevia as a sweetner to lip balm. Have you every tried it, and if so how much should be used for a recipe this size? I bought the power packets as I couldn’t find the liquid. Lip tubes are on my next purchase from NDA. Also, have you tried Aloe butter as a sub for any of these, I read that has some sunscreen qualities as well. Thank you for posting the recipe and these helpful tips. 🙂
Hey, Karen! That is so funny—I’ve never been to Kingsland Market, but there’s a good chance you were talking to somebody I know. If not, all the better—real life recommendations are so exciting! 😛 I’ve never tried using stevia as a sweetner in lip balm, though I’ve also seen that it can be done. The stevia lip balm sweeteners I’ve found online say it is stevia suspended in oil (I believe stevia is water soluble, not oil soluble). I would recommend stirring the powder into the final product, ensuring it is finely ground, but either way there’s a chance your lip balm will be really gritty since the granules could just hang around in the lip balm. Start with a small batch and let me know how it goes! Otherwise, you can get liquid stevia lip balm sweetener in Canada here.
I’ve never tried Aloe butter, but it’s on the list. It’s not a true butter in that it is basically just aloe vera extract blended with coconut oil, but we all know how fantastic aloe vera is so it must be lovely. I wouldn’t depend on it for SPF, though (you can read my bit on homemade sunscreen here).
Thanks for reading! Maybe I’ll run into you around Calgary one of these days 😉
May I use lemongrass or rosemary or peppermint oils? I don’t have the ones u listed?
Feel free to use any EO you like the sounds of 🙂 Peppermint is a great choice!
I want to make a lip balm for a trip to the desert, and you use exactly the ingredients I want to use! So I wanted to know how firm yours comes out. Because of the heat, I want to make mine as firm as possible without creating problems for the propel/repel mechanism, which I hear can happen with too much wax.
Relatedly, have you ever tried candelilla or carnauba wax? They have a higher melting point but I’ve read you have to compensate for that by using less, so I’m wondering if switching waxes will help or if it’ll just come out mostly the same.
Thanks for a great post – it’s so nice to see a lip balm recipe in weight measurements, so I can compare it to what the pros say, and your posts using natural colorants have been a big help too!
Are you going to Burning Man? I only ask because I taught a couple of friends how to make lip balm last year so they could take a ton of it down there to give away.
If you’re looking for a dessert friendly lip balm, I’d try my shea butter lip balm, as shea butter has a melting point of 37°C, as compared to coconut oil, which melts at 24°C. The final lip balm is more resilient to warmer temperatures, but still applies nicely (though I find if it’s chilly I have to hold it to my lips for half a second before spreading). You can use any liquid oils you like in the shea butter balm if you don’t have the two I’ve mentioned.
I recently got both candelilla and carnauba wax, but I haven’t experimented with them in lip balm yet. I definitely plan on playing with them so I can develop some vegan recipes, but alas, I haven’t got there yet. I have played around with different beeswax lip balm recipes, and I can attest that using much more beeswax than this recipe does results in a terrible lip balm that is hard and sticky, and just kind of skids across your lips and never really sinks in. Ugh!
Thanks for reading! I’m glad you like my weight measurements, I’m a huge advocate for them as they just make so much more sense than volume measurements, especially for things like cocoa butter. Plus, fewer dishes 😉
Feel free to pass on any more entry requests (beyond extra wax experiments), I’d love to hear ’em!
You guessed it! I’m going to Burning Man and I want to make lip balm for my camp and have extras to give away. Are your friends going again this year?
I was worried about managing to get sun protection in them because I’ve read that it’s hard for an amateur to mix zinc oxide or titanium dioxide in properly, but I found titanium dioxide dispersed in castor oil on makingcosmetics.com, so I’m looking forward to seeing how that works out.
Thanks for the tips, I look forward to seeing more of your experiments!
They are going to Burning Man again this year—I biked past their house today, and they’re just packing up the trailer. I’m definitely a bit jealous!
I would caution against thinking your homemade lip balm has any UV/sun protection, no matter what you do (though titanium dioxide, if it’s the oil soluble version, is perfectly easy to disperse/dissolve in any oil). I’ve written a bit about my thoughts on homemade sunscreen—be careful!
Hi my name is Debra:)) just wanted to know how much f/o or e/o do I use in the lip balm recipe? Thank you so much for the recipe I WILL TRY THIS A.S.A.P……………..THANKS SO MUCH Deb:))
Hi Debra! For lip balm, just add EO until you feel the mixture is scented strongly enough for you 🙂 For me this is generally 5–10 drops, but it depends on the EO as well. Have fun and let me know how it goes!
Made your lip balm last night and really like the recipe. With Winter coming it’s a must have. Thank you 🙂
Awesome! Glad you’re loving it 🙂 No more getting ripped off at the drug store!
I just got my order from ND and want to make balms for my daughter and grandson. They get cold sores in the winter in Brampton Ontario. Since tea tree oil helps with bacteria, would this be good for the EO in the balm?
Love your tips and I just visited New Dimensions and they filled my email order, opening the store just for me. THAT is customer service.
Hey Carol—I’m thrilled to hear you’ve had a great experience with NDA 🙂 They really are awesome! I wouldn’t recommend putting tea tree oil in lip balm, especially for children, as it is poisonous. Since cold sores (herpes) are viral (bummer, eh?), you should look at some other anti-viral EOs, and EOs recommended for cold sores. This list includes peppermint and spearmint, which are both great in lip balm!
really want to try to make soaps, lotions lip balms etc.
Do it! You’ll have so much fun 😀
My mom and I just made a 50 tube batch of lemon and 60 tubes of peppermint for Christmas gifts. We are so thrilled with the results. The recipe given was perfect and lead to a lovely, aromatic and incredibly moisturizing product. I ordered all of my product off of New Directions and was very impressed with the prices as well as the products! This was the first DIY I have tried from humblebee but can’t wait to try more now. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. You have a big fan, my mother is now too.
Fantastic! I’m so thrilled to hear this 🙂 I am so very in love with this recipe as well—I’ll never, ever go back to store bought! And three big cheers for NDA, I could never afford this hobby without their fantastic prices.
Something to be wary of, though, is that citrus essential oils (lemon included) make the skin very photosensitive, greatly increasing the likelihood of sunburn. I once added about 3 drops of tangerine essential oil to a lotion, and after applying it I ended up with sunburnt arms after a 20 minute bike ride on a totally overcast morning. So, if you are giving them as gifts, be sure to warn people, especially if you live somewhere sunny 🙂
Thanks for reading and DIYing with me!
Marie, where do I start…
First, I’m in awe. Are you accepting roommates & do you have space for two kids, a contractor & schoolhouse mom?? 🙂
After running upon your site I’ve been dreaming of soaps, creams & expectant girls night in turned luxurious spa dates. I’m sure that I’ve mentioned needing a coffee grinder to my husband more than necessary. (I’m not too subtle about dropping hints.)
A few shopping carts later (both at NDA & SB) I’m about $500 in love and convinced I need it all… as in NOW. (grin) I have yet to hit “send” as I’m waiting for the nod from my second half. I’m convinced the sad puppy look will eventually wear through his sound reasoning. Something about how we can do facials together & create homemade gifts isn’t breaking through his manly exterior. 🙂
My most recent ploy with the manly lotion is currently being used as is his love for patchouli. Needless to say, I’m hooked. So much so that I grabbed my 2nd graders notebook & started jotting down “have to have” recipes. Lets just say she’s on route to getting a new spiral bound notebook because there aren’t many pages left.
I’ll let you know how my mad science experiments turn out when the packages arrive. I am beyond excited! Thank you for opening a whole new world of skin & hair care to me!
Warmest,
Angela
Hey Angela! Your comment filled me with warm fuzzies when I got it, so thanks for that! 🙂 I can’t say I’m currently looking for neighbors, but I think there’s a house nearby for sale, and we could be neighbors, lol. I can attest to many of my girls nights turning into spa affairs as I always need new guinea pigs and I enjoy talking my friends into smearing goo on their faces, lol (face masks are great spa night things for so many reasons). Any luck on getting those ingredients? I wrote a post on starter ingredients here if you need any help whittling your carts down, lol. That, and convincing him that you can make all your own soaps, laundry detergents, and body care products might help? Plus, less packaging! Yay! And no artificial fragrances. I know my dad hates artificial fragrances, so it’s worth a shot 😛
Have fun with your projects and be sure to get in touch if you need any help 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how everything goes!
Hey Marie,
The boxes did arrive. *happy dance* I pulled everything out and took pictures with it all. Okay, maybe not with me IN it, but I did have to put it all on display for the hubby to see and share in all your dream filled inspirations.
(putting on mad scientist hat)
So after figuring out conversions, yay for college education, I worked on tiger balm. I’m sure my scale and I disagree, but I turned out with some pretty kicking stuff. If 50% eo is good, 60% should be better, right? Right ?? 😉
Next up, headache eo roll on. Lo-oving it! The tingle is great. lol Just realized this stay at home mom’s first projects were stress related. ^_^
Tonight I just finished cocoa lip balm & bath salts for Christmas presents. I added a touch of peppermint to the balm for the holidays. The hubs said it tasted (yes, tasted. don’t ask) like a thin mint. Score!
So far so good. Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU 🙂 I look forward to quiet evenings more than usual.
I’ll let you know how the girls night goes. I’m going to be plugging away on your site the whole night as it’s full of everything we already love. Facial fun & great food!
Angela
EEeee! I know the feeling exactly—a box arrived for me yesterday! I, too, took photos, and opened every bottle and waived each one under Craig’s nose, demanding his opinion on each of the 5 (yes, five…) different types of lavender EO I bought, lol. They were on sale, I swear…
Your tiger balm sounds seriously kick-ass! Do be careful with the bonus EOs, though, most sources recommend 25% as the upper limit of EOs, but tiger balm kicks serious arse at 50%… so yeah. Don’t put that stuff on your kids, haha (they’re supposed to get 50% of what adults use).
I’m thrilled the headache roller is working for you 🙂 I just introduced a headache prone friend to it the other day and she loved it. And yes, isn’t the peppermint/cocoa lip balm fantastic! I’m currently licking a wee bit off my lips right now, haha. Mmmmm.
Thanks so very much for supporting & DIYing with me 🙂 I appreciate it so much—it warms my frozen Canadian heart to know people all over the world are creating awesome stuff with me!
HAHaha So I did see a lavender sale going on and had the thought “how do you choose?!?” ^_^ Answer solved: You buy them all 😉
After my first uncontrolled purchase (grin) I’m determined to use what I have… at least until your next post comes out and I need (“need”) to put in a new order. The cart is currently hovering a little over $100. *shhhh* I’m still hoping for some Christmas money to come through.
Oh yea… We definitely have the kids diy vick’s rub and our Tiger Balm in separate cabinets. Even handed out a sample to a family friend who had a slipped disk. She already used it up and asked for more. It definitely has a nice kick to it. I’m ready to venture into the massage bar now. Can’t have too many options when it comes to aches and pains.
Awe, You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful creations! We have a few ladies excited about our girls night this Jan. Brace yourself for a possible flurry of questions 🙂 Nothing like donning face masks and making body butter with friends.
Ummm… maybe? Yes. Who am I kidding? LOL. I have a problem. And 7 different kinds of lavender essential oil as well. At least it’s a nice smelling problem!
Enjoy your girls night! I should really schedule one of those so I can get some help using up all these body products I have sitting around my house, lol. Every blog entry is a new pot of body butter or bottle of lotion… it’s getting to be a bit ridiculous!
How much of the essential oils do you add? I noticed in your recipe it didn’t give an exact amount. Thanks so much!!!
Just until you like the way it smells 🙂 With lip balm it’s not an exact science, just don’t add more than 3%, or it could be irritating.
Can you suggest a replacement for the sweet almond oil? I have a daughter that may be allergic to nuts so I don’t want to risk some type of allergic reaction.
Thanks!
–David
Absolutely! My first suggestions would be olive oil (so very easy), apricot kernel, and jojoba. You should also check out my article on carrier oil substitutions for some more ideas 🙂
could I use Apricot Kernal oil in place of the sweet almond oil. I don’t want to have to spend extra money on another oil if I don’t have to.
Yup, definitely!
Just wanted to say thank you for this recipe – just made a batch as Christmas gifts (recipe so reliable I got it right first time, with the help of my handy jewellery scale). I decided to tint some of the batch with mica + iron oxide and this formulation was able to hold the colour in suspension (after mixing well as it cooled). Very adaptable recipe, thank you for your excellent intros to the science of DIY makeup! I came into making body/face products from a desire to avoid the carcinogenic & teratogenic chemicals often found in commercial preparations. Most organic/anti-chemical sites on the web offer recipes without much grounding in a knowledge of how different oils/extracts/etc behave in preparations, so your site is a breath of fresh air. I trust your word and appreciate the time you spend discovering and then testing recipes. Many thanks from merry old England!
Fantastic 🙂 And you’re very welcome! This recipe has never done me wrong 🙂 I love to experiement with different oils, adding micas/oxides/liquid dyes, and even incorporating things like honey & molasses.
I’m so thrilled to hear you’re interested in how everything works as well as the ingredients that are in your products—I always want to teach people how to understand why things work, and not just to follow recipes blindly. I’m still learning, of course, but I love to ask “why” and share whatever answers I find with everybody here.
Thanks for reading, and please do get in touch if you have any questions or requests!
Have you tried making this lip balm with candelilla wax? (Not that you would because beeswax smells so good, but…) If so, do you need to adjust the amount of wax? If not, I’ll report my findings. I’m going to attempt to use the candelilla for my son (who seems to be sensitive to beeswax) and my vegan friends (because vegan lip balm is surprisingly hard to find, even in a groovy college town).
Thank you for all your great recipes! I really appreciate them.
I’m actually working on those experiments right now 🙂 Right now it seems like using 50% of the beeswax amount seems to work pretty well, though I haven’t finished finessing the recipe. Remember that both candelilla and carnauba waxes take 3 full days to reach their full hardness (even in the fridge!), hence my rather slow experiments 😛
Thanks! Good to know about the waxes taking time.
🙂
I made this lip balm but I didn’t have Sweet Almond oil (I haven’t gotten my package with it yet.) so I substituted jojoba oil instead. Should be fine right? Well, the lip balm felt great going on, but after two hours, it dried my lips out! I’ve never had this problem with a lip balm before… Any idea as to what happened there?
Eh… that doesn’t make any sense, lol. Could it have been anything else? Perhaps a sunburn (always surprisingly extra awful on the lips)? A new EO? Did you eat something funny? Less water that day? Basically, can you replicate the problem?
Ya, I can’t figure it out either. I thought, well, maybe it was just me, but my brother tried it and he said it made things worse for him too… I guess I’ll just have to start over. 🙂
Weird! Well, try it with a different liquid oil & take notes? And maybe melt down the jojoba version for a body butter?
good idea. How would you suggest melting the lip balm out of the tube?
I generally start by screwing it all up, and break off what I can. Then I scrape out what I can with a toothpick. You can boil the tubes to try to remove the remnants of the lip balm (scrubbing will be required), but I’ve sort of given up and just decided to use those tubes for personal lip balms since you don’t exactly get to use the stuff that’s stuck in the little twisty cap bucket at the bottom at any rate 😛
Hi Marie!
I just made a half batch of these 🙂 (using exact measurements). This is my first batch of lip balm using cocoa butter and i’d like to say, this does not need any sort of additional scent whatsoever! It smells so so yummy! I added about half a teaspoon of mica powder so I have a lovely deep red tint (very slight). I also added a bit of fragrance oil (tropical coconut) and lip balm sweetener (although it still has a very strong waxy flavour).
The only thing I’d criticise about the balms is that they’re a bit too moist and glossy (not in terms of shimmer or colour, but slippery texture) for my liking. As a result it tends to wear away a lot quicker than my harder/thicker balms which stick to my lips (the ones I made for the boys – pre-mica addition – may not be appreciated so much when this makes your lips look so supple and glossy ^_^)
Still, can’t deny the awesomeness here 🙂 thanks for a lovely recipe! Now to pick all of the wax out from under my nails! 😀
Yay for success! If you’re looking for a less glossy, more man-friendly lip balm, my bayberry lip balm is a nice one. It’s a wee bit tacky, hangs around for ages, and smells like a forest 🙂
Hi Marie
You have got me motivated to start making soaps, lip balms and cleaning products!! I’m previously just tried soaps so this will be a new chapter 🙂
Is there anyway I can substitute the vitamin E oil for something else? I just don’t have any in the cupboard and for such a small amount I was hoping not to have to buy it.
Thanks so much
Renee
Hi Renee! You can just leave out the vitamin E—it’s such a small amount that it won’t really effect things. It’s an antioxidant, so it will help extend the shelf life of your lip balms, but in my experience that means 3 years instead of 2 (or something like that, I’ve actually yet to have a tube of lip balm go rancid on me). Enjoy your new lip balm!
Fantastic I’m off to buy my tubes today and am also going to try your yoga mat spray!! I don’t have patchouli or bergamot so will experiment with some other essential oils as I need to use what I have….. 😉
Loving your website and fresh ideas.
Nice! Enjoy all your new goodies 🙂 Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me!
Hi so I have beeswax I can use and I want to make lipbalm but hardly have the funds to buy all the other products to go in it. Is there a version that works okay too but only uses one or two other products besides besswax? And products that are cheap and easy to find? thanks, -Abby
Hi Abby—if you like a rather sticky lip balm, you can try a 1:1 mixture of beeswax and coconut oil 🙂 Otherwise a 3:1 liquid oil:beeswax balm isn’t too bad!
This is definitely what I’m going to do for christmas! (as well as CrunchyBetty’s not-for-gardeners-salve)
However, do you think I could just use some cold-pressed Avocado Oil instead of Sweet Almond Oil? I’m going to buy Avo Oil since it’s made in NZ so I can get it locally for cheap, and I’m going to use for a moisturiser anyway. Thanks so much! 🙂
Hi Natalie! You definitely can, just keep in mind that it does have a different texture than almond oil and will take longer to absorb 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Do you use a tube filling tray? If so where is a good place to purchase one that won’t cost me an arm & a leg in shipping?
I’ve never used one, though I’ve seen them for sale from most of my suppliers—I wouldn’t recommend ordering just the tray, though, or the shipping will be a pretty high percentage of the cost of your order.
I have one and I’ve ended up not using it. My tubes don’t tip over when I fill them (I use plastic droppers), and putting them in the tray is kind of annoying if you’re doing a lot of them. I do like to have them all out on a table ready for me though.
Thanks for your input, Presley—it’s always nice to hear from somebody who has actually tried one 🙂
This was my gateway Humblebeeandme recipe and now there’s no going back! True story: I had met my now-fiance a few minutes before when I offered him a sniff of this balm. He liked it so much I gave him a few more the next day, and the rest is history!
One word to the wise: I left the heat on low while I poured these, and a few of the tubes melted. It might also have been because I bought cheapo tubes from eBay.
Awww! I LOVE this story! In fact… I shared it on my Facebook page straight away because it’s so sweet and adorable 🙂 I definitely think you should do lip balm as wedding favors… and perhaps send me an invite 😉 Congratulations and thanks so much for sharing!
And yeah, I think the melting thing was probably your tubes! I’ve never had that happen :/
Couldn’t you add zinc oxide for the suncreen?
Hi Susan—I never recommend DIY sunscreen, and here’s why.
Hey there! I was just wondering if you could use beeswax directly from a beekeeper, so completely natural and untreated for all your recipes which have beeswax in them?
Love your ideas! x
Hi Hannah! As long as it’s relatively clean and uniform (no odd chunks, blobs of honey, etc.), you definitely can—that’s what I use 🙂
I am planning on making the lip balm, do you think it would be okay if I did not add the vitamin E and sweet almond oil? Could I use Avocado oil instead of those 2 oils or just leave that part out completely?
Also how many drops of the peppermint oil should I add???
Thanks so much!!
Lisa
Hey Lisa! You should find your answers here and here 🙂 (generally, though, if something forms the majority of a recipe, like the sweet almond oil does, don’t leave it out)
The damage caused by overheating say to carnauba wax. Is there any way to overcome the beaded texture?
Is it possible to reheat and restore a smooth texture at that point?
Overheating is a chemical change, like burning something, and unfortunately you can’t un-burn something :/
So exciting to try this! Can another oil be used in place of the sweet almond?
Yup! Check out this article for lots of information on oils you can use instead and why 🙂 Happy making!
Hi Marie, I’m stumped on what to use, hope you can help… A friend asked me to make bubblegum flavoured lip balm for a grab bag for a children’s birthday party in the coming weeks, I don’t know what to use. I have lorAnn oil for candy making, can I use that ?? Thanks in advance, happy weekend Therese
Hey Therese! I have never worked with those flavouring oils in lip balms. If they are oil soluble it’s worth a try, but I would start by mixing a drop or two with a few drops of a carrier oil to confirm solubility 🙂
Also, I’ve deleted this question all the other places you asked it—no need to ask multiple times, I have a special digital box where all comments go until they are answered!
HI, do you have a recipe for 50 tubes?
No, I keep my batches intentionally small, but because they are by weight you can easily scale the recipe yourself 🙂
Oh, and how much flavor essential oil do you put in per batch? Thanks
That’s highly dependent on your taste for strength and the particular oil—just start slow and stop when you like the smell of the batch 🙂
I just realized that the hyperlink says “take that Burt” haha! Love your sense of humor. How did you get it that way?
🙂 It’s just a simple setting in WordPress!
I wanted to give some of these to family, but was wondering if I could substitute some of the sweet almond oil for some castor oil to make it shinier and look more like lip gloss? If so, how much? Can I put 30% sweet almond and 10% castor or will it need more/less? Thank you!
Yup! That’s a great place to start and adjust from 🙂
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Just the other week I finally made my own lip balm with another recipe on your site and I’ve been sooooo very pleased with it. I can’t go back to store-bought now – and I LOVE it! 🙂
Oh, just a heads up: your link in the article for New Directions Aromatics (just above the recipe itself) has an extra ‘c’ in the URL, so it doesn’t actually take you to their site.
Yay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it, and thanks for the heads up on the broken link 🙂
Does this recipe also work in a tin rather than the tubes? I have been trying to find a good recipe that has the right consistency for that type of application. Thanks!
I’ve used it in both, though I prefer tubes as I don’t have to worry about the cleanliness of my hands to apply my lip balm 🙂
Hi Marie,
Apologies, i know you may have answered this question already but pardon my asking. Please where do you buy your flexible spatula(s)? Thanks
I’ve got a whole post on my favourite gear and where to get it 🙂
Marie, How could I implement propolis and honey into the receipt for healing purposes?
Hey Kathy! I wouldn’t recommend including propolis or honey in an anhydrous recipe. I always work with propolis as part of a water soluble tincture, and honey is also water soluble. Once you start incorporating those things you need an emulsifier and a preservative, and in a lip balm both of those ingredients need to be lip safe, which can be tricky.
Hi, how many drops of the essential oil to the recipe for you’re lip balm may I ask many thanks in advance !!
You’re typically aiming for around 0.5% of the recipe by weight for a lip product, though you might like to go up to 1% depending on the particular oil 🙂
I made a batch of this in December 2017 (full batch, plus a little bit of “leftovers” from a tube of a really awesome (but honestly too soft) wholly natural kind). It is literally all I have used since then (one time, I didn’t have it on me and had to use my mom’s Burt’s, and that was far less than pleasant – this one is definitely better, Marie). I live in one of the driest (if not THE driest) Rocky Mountain states, so I’ve used it a LOT (I’ve been known to go through an entire tube in 2 weeks on occasion) – and I still have 2 1/2 tubes left.
I also decided to just use a water bath for this, and, although it took significantly longer for everything to melt than it would have otherwise, it was definitely worth it, because when it started to solidify, I could simply put the measuring cup back in the water, scrape the sides, let it melt, then continue pouring it into the tubes. I’ve tried melting everything in a pan before – it doesn’t work as well for me, and I end up wasting more.
The interesting thing was that I made peppermint ones, with the amount of peppermint a little bit more than the ratio in the Peppermint Cocoa one (I had 3 people ask for peppermint for Christmas), but I ended up not giving them any because it took a month or so for the overpowering chocolate smell to die down and let the peppermint actually come though even a little. It was my first time ever making lip balm, so maybe I can just use more peppermint next time, but I didn’t want it to be overly peppermint-y. For something that’s definitely peppermint-y, how much EO would you suggest putting in?
Well, after combining the remnants in all of the tubes, I’m just now down to the very last little bit from that same batch, so I will probably make it for Christmas gifts this year, as it definitely gets nice and peppermint-y after a few months, to the point that I don’t feel like I would have to use more peppermint (I figure if I make it at least a few months in advance, it will be plenty peppermint-y by the time Christmas rolls around).
Hello Rachel!
I took a quick glance at Marie’s formulas when she adds peppermint into lip products is at 1%. With this amount added into your lip products with the cocoa butter, it does take about a week for the scents to blend and meld, then about three weeks for the cocoa butter scent to fade a little. I wouldn’t suggest more than this as you then run the risk of sensitivities and blisters occurring. Not to mention a really really gross flavour! Yes. I speak from experience here!
Happy making!
Barb
I’ve found this to be a bit “soft”, such that it ends up feeling greasy and not staying on my lips long enough to moisturize it. Almost as if the oils aren’t fully combined? Not sure how to describe it, but the solid-looking lip balm feels liquid. Could I add a bit of stearic acid or cetyl alcohol to thicken it, or would it be better to just add more wax?
I’d go straight to more wax—I find the wax (especially beeswax) is really what gives lip balm its staying power 🙂 Happy making!
Is this lip balm SPF ?
No, definitely not. Please read this 🙂
Hello! Beeswax does more harm than good to my lips. Several of your formulations use it — and I really like the looks of the recipes! But unfortunately, I can’t make beeswax work. What do you consider to be the best substitution? I’m brand new to all of this and you’re my number one go-to for information. Thank you so much for all you do. You really are a wealth of knowledge!
Hey Hannah! I’d recommend you check out some of my vegan lip balm formulations instead—those will be developed without beeswax from the ground up, which I find works far better than trying to substitute the beeswax in a formulation designed to use it. Happy making!
I have been a follower since this first blog post. You have come a very long way, and it is wonderful to follow along your journey.