BCN lip balm lovers, rejoice!

[beloved]

I made some of this earlier today. I subbed cocoa butter for the mango and used jojoba oil. This is the smoothest, creamiest lip balm I've ever used. This is definitely going to be my recipe from now on. The other recipe I tried had too much of a waxy feel to it.

You can get cocoa butter at Walgreens it comes in a one ounce tube. The other butters are the one's you're probably going to have to order online.

Did you sub out all the other oils or just the sao?

[candlebean]

I've been making and testing this for the past few weeks and it is definately a keeper! I used Beeswax, Mango butter, FCO, Jojoba, Shea Oil, Vit E, a little color, little flavor, and voila! Perfect - thank you so much for the inspiration!

[jlbrewer73]

Can anyone share the amount of flavor oil they use? I've never made lip balm before & I would hate to "overload" on the flavor, but I don't want to use too little either.Thanks!!

[Jami]

I was at a hobby store that had candy flavor oils. Can these be used to flavor lip balms? If so, how much should I use and should I add stevia to sweeten it?

Any help would be appreciated

[SoyKandles]

Sorry, I can't help you regarding adding candy flavoring.

Where you buy your flavor oils from should provide you the information on how much to add when making lip balm. Some are 3%, others are 1% and when using essential oils, like peppermint, that's even less. Maybe .5 to 1%

If you look at the MMS website (www.thesage.com) and look under flavorings, it gives you good information. The same for Bitter Creek, they give information on how much to use.

[ah-soy]

Check the ingredients on the candy flavoring. If it says it contains alcohol it wont incorporate into the balm.

[Jami]

I checked and no alcohol. I also found a website for candy flavor oils that state alcohol free. I will play a little and see how it works. If it does work then at least I can have a good variety of flavors

Thanks for letting me know about the alcohol!

[CareBear]

no glycerine either.

[quiet girl]

Hi, I just made this recipe tonight.... I LOVE IT!! I used coconut oil, cocoa butter, bees wax, and EVOO... and added buttercream flavor oil..... smells great, feels great, but it would be so much better if it was sweet...... just wondering if anyone has added stevia to this and how much? Thanks so much! Melissa

[Christina]

Hey Melissa,

I made some the other day (I also used cocoa butter and jojoba oil...which was new for me and whoa!!!!!!! what a difference!!!) and I used some liquid stevia. I've never been able to figure out how much I was supposed to use so...and this is gonna sound soooo unprofessional....I just added it drop by drop, dipped my spoon in and blew on it so it would harden and tried it on, licking my lips, hahahahaha. Anyway, eventually it got sweet enough for me. Next time I'm going to use less flavor oil though, I always overdo it. HTH.

Christina

[blazerina]

I did mine by taste as well:rolleyes2 . I can't even remember if it was Stevia or not, but it was a liquid sweetner.

[quiet girl]

Thanks Christina and blazerina! I'll try that method too then :smiley2:

[pixisprkl]

I am going to try this recipe, but I have never made a lib balm, and I am wondering...

If I add castor oil... do I use less of one of the other oils? Also, can I sweeten it with honey? If so, would I need to use less of other ingredients?

I am just going to play with it but I am going to use Mango butter, and I only have a small amount so I do not want to ruin it! I am a lip balm fiend. haha

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Jami]

The recipe calls for 4 oz of SAO. I have subbed out castor oil, emu oil, macadamia nut oil and jojoba oil (all at 1 oz each) I also like to put a little vitamin E in my recipe. If there are certain oils you prefer, give them a try. Just keep your oils at 4 oz (consistent with the recipe).

I also use mango butter in mine. One batch I made I used 2 oz of cocoa butter and 2 oz of mango butter. There are so many variations that you can do. I like to experiment and think I have it down as to what variation I like.

I haven't tried to sweeten with honey although that is on my list to try. I do know that others have used it. I just can't help ya with how much to add lol

I really liked that this provided me with a baseline of beeswax, butter, and oils. It is so user friendly. The best part is I LOVE how it makes my lips feel!

[pixisprkl]

The recipe calls for 4 oz of SAO. I have subbed out castor oil, emu oil, macadamia nut oil and jojoba oil (all at 1 oz each) I also like to put a little vitamin E in my recipe. If there are certain oils you prefer, give them a try. Just keep your oils at 4 oz (consistent with the recipe).

I also use mango butter in mine. One batch I made I used 2 oz of cocoa butter and 2 oz of mango butter. There are so many variations that you can do. I like to experiment and think I have it down as to what variation I like.

I haven't tried to sweeten with honey although that is on my list to try. I do know that others have used it. I just can't help ya with how much to add lol

I really liked that this provided me with a baseline of beeswax, butter, and oils. It is so user friendly. The best part is I LOVE how it makes my lips feel!

Thank you Jami!! That's exactly what I was wondering about the oils. I am soooo excited to give this a try.... but as I said, I have a limited amount of mango butter and didn't want to mess it up "experimenting".

As for the honey... I have searched and searched for info with little luck. I am thinking I might just add a small amount at a time and see how it goes....

Thanks for helping!

[asheebeans]

Ugh, unfortunately I will be gritting my teeth and ordering BCN's for now....because I don't have time to fool with testing. BUT, for future reference I am really getting interested in this thread!

I do have a (probably very stupid) question. For the "coconut oil" portion of this recipe, I can use my plain ol' 76 degree melt point coconut oil that I soap with, right? (Or does it have to be the higher MP stuff?) Thinking of subbing out the SA with sunflower oil too.... but that is just because I have a crapload of it around! I can't wait to play with this recipe, thanks so much for sharing! How nice of you!

[blazerina]

Im really not sure, but I think honey would turn grainy at some point- as it tries to naturally. Doesn't go bad really, just not a desired side effect. BUT- there is probably a way to 'temper' it perhaps to prevent this just as you do sometimes have to do for Shea. Again, not sure... just something to look deeper into before trying.

And I think you CAN use the 76 CO, but it will not be all that stable far as standing up to heat. If someone puts it in their hot little pocket it will melt easily. MAYBE though, subbing out a harder butter/wax for some of the other oil amts will balance that out. Not sure. Just thought I'd toss some confusion into the ring, Lol. J/k. Just stuff to consider. If you are anxious to try and don't have exactly what you should, your subs 'should' be workable.

I'm the kind of person who says Dont tell me why it's not a good idea, just tell me if it is POSSIBLE. From there I will fix or change the recipie as needed accordingly. Because when I get a hair up there, and I WANT to do something, I'm going to try to do it. And when it doesn't work so well, THEN I will make a mental note, lol, and report back.:rolleyes2

[pixisprkl]

Im really not sure, but I think honey would turn grainy at some point- as it tries to naturally. Doesn't go bad really, just not a desired side effect. BUT- there is probably a way to 'temper' it perhaps to prevent this just as you do sometimes have to do for Shea. Again, not sure... just something to look deeper into before trying.

And I think you CAN use the 76 CO, but it will not be all that stable far as standing up to heat. If someone puts it in their hot little pocket it will melt easily. MAYBE though, subbing out a harder butter/wax for some of the other oil amts will balance that out. Not sure. Just thought I'd toss some confusion into the ring, Lol. J/k. Just stuff to consider. If you are anxious to try and don't have exactly what you should, your subs 'should' be workable.

I'm the kind of person who says Dont tell me why it's not a good idea, just tell me if it is POSSIBLE. From there I will fix or change the recipie as needed accordingly. Because when I get a hair up there, and I WANT to do something, I'm going to try to do it. And when it doesn't work so well, THEN I will make a mental note, lol, and report back.:rolleyes2

Would adding a bit more beeswax help keep it firmer if you are using the 76 CO? hahaha... as I know I will be keeping that baby in my pocket!

I think I will refrain from using the honey... a sweetner sounds good but I don't need to lick my lips non-stop... and I do have some flavor oils on the way, they just aren't "sweetened".

I will be making it this next week...so I will post my results.... good or bad!

[Jami]

I knew I had read SOMETHING about honey and FINALLY found it lol

Honey is water soluable not oil soluable.

I found this on Sweetcakes website:

Sweeteners -- even "grocery store"-type sweeteners like honey and stevia -- can be notoriously hard to mix into lip balm. We've come up with the following tips for incorporating our sweetener into lip balm:

Make your basic lip balm mixture (whether it's "from scratch," using various liquid oils plus beeswax, or using our preblended base plus beeswax). Add to this our All-Natural Sweetener (we recommend using 3% by weight). Stir continuously as the base cools (the sweetener will want to pool at the bottom initially, but will become more willing to blend and integrate as the mixture cools down). When the base has cooled and is opaque and thick, put the container in a hot-water bath to remelt, stirring constantly. Voila! The sweetener will stay nicely combined with the base.

"You must allow the mixture to cool COMPLETELY after the initial melt before you put the mix in a hot-water bath or over a double-boiler to emulsify the sweetener with the lip balm."

"Stir constantly both while you cool the mixture until you can't stir anymore AND while you re-melt the mix -- if you don't stir at all times, some of the sweetener will not mix in and will be left sitting in the bottom of the cup or pot when you pour."

I use the 76 Degree coconut oil. Where the weather has cooled off, my balm is a little harder in the tubes than they were during the summer. If you are concerned with it melting in your pocket, you can add part candelilla wax in place of about 1/3 the beeswax. That will make it much harder and safer for your pocket! You can also up the beeswax just a TINY bit.

[pixisprkl]

Fantastic Jami! Thank you for sharing. I will leave the honey out for sure.

I have read a couple things about sweeteners, but that was an eye opener.

I can't wait to make it! I wish the mail wasn't sooooo slow ....

[Sister Kya]

Just made up my first batch using this basic formula (with subs for fun).

Now I'm officially hooked!!

And I thought soaping was fun, but lip balms...wow! I'm currently waiting on a new order of flavor oils that will bring my total up to 30, not including the 7 flavors I tested and dumped already.

Now I'm eyeing lipbalmtubes.com and considering picking up 500 tubes and even more flavors. Now what the heck am I going to do with 500 lip balms???? No clue, but I'm going to have a blast testing and pouring them!

I used the double boiler method; melting waxes first, then CB, then softer butters last before adding the liquid oils and throwing it into the fridge to cool fast. No grainies yet...

I wanted to try the BCN base, just to see what all the fuss was about, but now I probably won't bother. This stuff is GOOD!

THANKS!

[bunkie68]

I just tried this tonight - I started with 20, to see how they turn out. I melted everything together in the microwave, added MMS Vanilla Banilla and Spearmint oils, and poured. They're setting up now (and boy, did I make a mess pouring! ). I'm curious to see how they turn out. If they do well, I can see another addiction coming!

[bunkie68]

Double posting to say, so far, so good! My husband, my son and I have all tested the lip balm, and it's really nice. No graininess at all, the flavor is good without being overpowering, and it just goes on so smoothly. Great, just what I needed, something else to make.

Oh, and I just read the posts about the 76 CO. That's what I used, and my lip balm stays in my pocket pretty much constantly when I'm awake. I'll let y'all know how that turns out!

[Tizimarezie]

Oh, I need another addiction!

I've been wanting to try BCN's lip balm and so glad to find this thread!

[bunkie68]

Mine seems to be holding up just fine with the 76 CO. It gets a bit soft, but not melted/liquid, and I like lip balm that I don't have to scrape to get on my lips. So, I'm happy with the way my first batch turned out. And if it's holding up decently with the 76 CO in my pocket in the heat of a Texas summer, it's likely to do all right just about anywhere.