First impression of lip balm recipe? Need advice

[Clear Black]

So Im trying to make a similar version to my faithful companion, the Burts lip balm, thats always in my pocket no matter where I go. But im also fed up with paying nearly $4 per tube at retail stores. So ive been toying with the idea of making my own lip balm because I currently have bags of soy wax laying around from making soy candles. Im trying to keep as much soy wax as I can in my recipe and figured id also add in some bees wax to help with hardness during summer months. So far, I have a list of ingredients, but being as novice as i am, I have no clue if there is any red flags going up in this list. That is where you folks come in (i hope)

 

So far my rough recipe reads:

 

1.25oz Soy Wax

0.75oz Bees Wax

3.00oz Coconut Oil

0.75oz Cocoa Butter

0.25oz Canola Oil

Peppermint oil flavoring

Rosemary leaf flavoring

 

Ive been doing some reading and it seems most of the recipes i found were sticking to a 2oz wax/4oz oil type formula. If anything in this recipe sticks out as a big NO-NO please advise asap. I hope to be purchasing some of these ingredients this week to make my first run batch and go from there.

 

Thanks!

[TallTayl]

Lip balms can be the most frustrating things to make, believe it or not. They seem so simple

I have not converted your items above into a formula yet. A typical starting formula for lip balm is 1/3 oil, 1/3 butter and 1/3 wax. This all changes depending on the waxes, etc you choose. Very hard waxes like Candelilla, carnauba and ozokerite waxes are decreased, for instance. Coconut oil is often considered an oil versus a butter because the melt point is very low at 76*F. When in a pocket it turns to liquid easily.

In your formula above, here are my first notes (before sipping my steaming hot coffee).

the soy wax. Make certain it is certified as edible/lip safe. Not all are processed, packaged and handled with food intentions.

The flavorings. Make certain they are (a) lip safe and ( not water based. Candy flavorings, for instance, are water based generally, and will not blend into the oils. They may appear to at first, but will separate over time as the tube warms/cools from being in a pocket, car, purse, etc.

Flavorings again, if choosing essential oils, be certain they are FCC (Food Chemicals Codex) rated. not every essential oil is handled and processed for lip use. Also check the IFRA guidelines for usage limits. Many that are rated acceptable carry a super low for lip usage rate (some far less than a drop per tube).

Oils, waxes and butters high in stearic acid (cocoa butter and probably the soy wax) will turn grainy. Sometimes they turn within days or weeks without something to stabilize the crystal formation. Ingredients like Butter-Ez from lotion crafter help with that.

Canola oil has a very short shelf life. It begins oxidizing as soon as the bottle opens. You may (or may not) notice the tubes start to smell "off" after a couple months or less.

When you make your formula, give the tubes at least 3 days to fully harden and cure. Then keep them everywhere you normally would to test them (pockets, purse, car, etc.) tweak from there.

Have fun once you figure out a formula you like it's life changing.

[Candybee]

If it were me I would switch out the soy wax for candelilla or carnauba. Beeswax is great in lip balm recipes and is good enough to be the only wax you need. if you are trying for an all vegan recipe you would want to avoid beeswax.

 

I would also switch out the canola for either sweet almond oil, castor, even olive oil, or a combo of those for the liquid oil portion of your recipe.

 

I started using Butter EZ from Lotion Crafters in my lip balms this year and its made a huge difference. Before they used to get grainy because of the butters I use like Shea which can really turn a lip balm grainy. So now I use a combo of shea and Butter EZ.

 

Also, a site that helped me formulate my recipe with the perfect % of oils, wax, and butters is Ingredients to Die For. They have a lip balm recipe formula that shows what % work well together to perfect your recipe to the right consistency, slip, shelf life, etc. When I incorporated their formula into my recipe my lip balm came out perfect for the first time.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Candybee

[Clear Black]

If it were me I would switch out the soy wax for candelilla or carnauba.

 

 

I make Soy candles with GB 444, so i was hoping to stay with the soy theme if that makes sense. I was thinking more of a blend of Bees wax and soy wax so that i could still tell myself it has soy in it.  Considering I have 50lb bags of GB 444 sitting here making candles, I had hoped to not have to stock a 3rd wax besides the 444 and BW. I guess I will have to try a 444/BW blend and a BW/Cand or Carn blend and see if I can tell the difference.

 

Also, how much of the Butter-EZ would you use in that formula? I dont see anything there that suggests or references how much if any to use. With that I have no starting point as to what I should be adding. 1 cup, 1tbsp, 1tsp, etc etc?