Bad reaction to lip balm!! Has anyone else ever had this?

[Lana]

On July 30, 2016 at 7:07 PM, Moonstar said:

Im searching old posts about lip balm base + flavor oils and found this lol ! Who is C& S ? Man, Ive been learning A TON about EO in lip balms on here

the only  EO Ive used for lip balms have been lemon -vanilla . Ive never used flavor oils so I don't know where to begin to look 

 

 

I've used plenty of EO's in lip balm. There are essential oil safety groups on Facebook that offer "safe" dilution rates for lip balms and what not. My go-to is called "*NEW* Using Essential Oils Safely". There's also a lot of adulteration of EO's so I also belong to few groups that test various oils and educate people about the adulteration. Good Facebook groups are "essential oil university" and also "Essential Oil Consumer Reports". 

[iansmommaya]

I would get a wicked bad reaction from the mango butter.

[WanderlustSoaps]

Having never made lip balm this is purely speculation, but would it be possible to use flavorings used for ecig juices?  I also make ecig juices and they mostly use food grade candy flavors suspended in propylene glycol which is the medicine carrier in asthma inhalers.  The reason I ask is that the supplier I use sells 4oz bottles of flavors for about $8 and orders over 75 ship free.

[TallTayl]

1 hour ago, WanderlustSoaps said:

Having never made lip balm this is purely speculation, but would it be possible to use flavorings used for ecig juices?  I also make ecig juices and they mostly use food grade candy flavors suspended in propylene glycol which is the medicine carrier in asthma inhalers.  The reason I ask is that the supplier I use sells 4oz bottles of flavors for about $8 and orders over 75 ship free.

I had thought about this too. The only wrinkle is you would need an emulsifier to suspend the flavor, which is another potential point of irritation and allergy. 

[WanderlustSoaps]

11 hours ago, TallTayl said:

I had thought about this too. The only wrinkle is you would need an emulsifier to suspend the flavor, which is another potential point of irritation and allergy. 

 

I'm afraid I don't understand, what would an emulsifying agent be needed for?  The flavor is already in either a pg or vg base, and both pg and vg mix completely with one another without separation.  The vg or glycerin is obviously already in soaps, or is derived through sapomification.  Am I missing something?  Not trying to be a wise arse, I honestly don't understand but I want to, so I hope you can help.

[TallTayl]

1 hour ago, WanderlustSoaps said:

 

I'm afraid I don't understand, what would an emulsifying agent be needed for?  The flavor is already in either a pg or vg base, and both pg and vg mix completely with one another without separation.  The vg or glycerin is obviously already in soaps, or is derived through sapomification.  Am I missing something?  Not trying to be a wise arse, I honestly don't understand but I want to, so I hope you can help.

lip balms are anhydrous (do not contain water), primarily made of oils and waxes. 

Glycerin is water based.those flavors are water based.

 

Oil and water don't mix. Think of Italian vinaigrette salad dressing. 

 

while a blend of the water based flavor and lip balm oils might seem to blend at first, as time passes the flavor will weep out.

 

emulsifiers hold together oils and water (think Italian salad dressing that stays mixed)

[WanderlustSoaps]

Ahh, I see, I understand what / how an emulsifier works I was just not thinking clearly and didnt think about the fact that Glycerin is water based.  It has been a long day lol, I was purely going off of the idea that glycerin is in / product of soap and therefore should be oil soluble which of course is wrong.  Thanks for getting my head back in the game.

 

Ken

[Sponiebr]

 

On 8/28/2011 at 8:37 AM, asheebeans said:

I recently purchased some lip balm base and made some up using VERY little peppermint oil. (A few drops for several tubes' worth of balm.) I used all of the usual precautions and within a few days, my lips are now blistery and swollen and ouchie!! This was a sweetened base, and one I haven't tried before, so I am wondering if the sweetener had something to do with it? I used to use BCN's lip balm with no issue. I thought I would try a new supplier because I'd gotten a gift cert.....now I'm wishing I'd have skipped the lip balm purchase. I look like I stole Mick Jagger's lips and planted them on my face! Help!

Here's the ingredient list: Ingredients: Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Jojoba Oil, Vitamin E, and Sweet Flavor for Sweetened Base.

I'm disappointed because the base itself was awesome as far as staying power goes. Some lip balms are really greasy like an oil slick and this one wasn't. Too bad my lips feel like I kissed a boiling tea kettle though.......

 

I didn't think I saw any comment on this idea yet, but before you huck the wax, but have you thought about maybe adding the wax to a soap? Everything in the list except for the sweetener can be used in soaping, and your reaction might not be present after the offending butters have been saponified. (you also can test it on your hands and not lips which is a big plus in my book ) The sweetener might cause soap on a stick and the reaction might not go away, and if soaped in large quantities might make a really soft bar, but hell, I think it'd be worth a shot over trashing it.  

 

Just my tarnished 2 cents worth. 

 

-Sponie the Executor of Bad Ideas.