Lip Balm/Chapsitck

[Banannabelle]

I've got this idea in my head that I need to make my own chapstick. There are tons of recipes out there! I've found one that I think I'll like, it's really simple:

Sweet Orange Lip Balm

8 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

3 Tablespoons Beeswax

1.5 Tablespoons Raw Honey

30 drops Sweet Orange essential oil

(if you want color) 1/2 stick of natural lipstick

*Place oil, beeswax and honey in a double boiler (or heatproof bowl resting on top of a small saucepan of simmering water). (As a side note, I picked up an extra double boiler thrifting that I use just for beeswax crafts, which really makes cleanup easier.) Heat gently until everything has melted.

Remove mixture from heat, and add peppermint oil and lipstick. Stir until blended.

Place the pan or bowl in a larger bowl full of cold water. Stir quickly until the mixture begins to change in consistency (it will become thicker).

Pour mixture into containers, place covers on, and let sit to cool and set up.

(fills approximately one dozen 1/2 oz tins)

I thought I might also ad some Vitamin E capsules that I saw mentioned in another recipe, other recipes also use additional oils, but I don't want it to be very greasy. I would also like it to be thick enough that I can put it into chapstick tubes instead of tins. What are your more experienced thoughts on this?

[Candybee]

As far as scent goes make sure you use only body safe flavor oils for lip balm. Some essential oils can be harmful to your lips and peppermint oil can burn them badly.

You can get flavor oils from any good B&B supplier. A flavor oil is made specifically for use in lip balms. I use the flavor oils and sweeteners from Elements. But there are other suppliers that carry them; Brambleberry, WSP, etc. Or, you can just try a batch made with the honey and see if the natural sweetness and scent of honey is enough.

[Banannabelle]

I didn't know that there were different oils, I'm not going to do peppermint, I'm thinking of using either Vanilla or Sweet Orange. We have a local health store that I think carries the oils I want, but I'll be sure to ask them, thanks!

[TallTayl]

It's likely that the honey will not blend with the other oils and will precipitate out. Also, if using tins, make sure they are rustproofed. If you decide to go with honey, which is a humectant, you may see rust develop over a short amount of time.

When making things like this, it's best to use weight measurement versus volume.

A simple formula that is very, very nice is 1/3 brittle oils, 1/3 soft oils 1/3 beeswax. For instance, palm kernel oil, palm oil and castor make a nice blend. You can tweak til your heart's content with this guideline.

TheSage.com has a formulary with different ideas to get started.

[Kitn]

I would not add honey to a lip balm. Stevia or any suppliers sweetener would be better to add imho. There are ingredients made to color the lip balm as well.

[Banannabelle]

Wow, I didn't know there was so much to think about! I've found a couple of recipes on TheSage.com that I'm looking at now, thanks for that website.

How might I add a sunscreen/SPF factor?

[sporadic]

Here's a couple of links that might help - this company has natural bases, flavor oils and sweetener:

http://library.rusticescentuals.com/category_11/Lip-Balm.htm

http://rusticescentuals.com/Bases/

[RichardLOZ]

Speaking of lip balms we are also experimenting with recipes right now also.

At the moment pretty much the standard ration of beeswax / butters / oils + flavour & sweetner. The only issue we are finding is that putting it into small pots it is actually quite difficult to get it out due to the cast that it does get quite hard. We do not want to go down the tube or plastic route and definitely want to use glass jars.

The jars that we have hold approximately 10 - 12 grams and are 4 cm diameter and about 3 cm height. Besides changing butter from cocoa to perhaps shea, does anyone have any other suggestions as to what we can do to make it somewhat softer and easier to get from the pots. I have tried increasing the oil ratio, however that does make it somewhat more greasy in feeling, and we preferred it the other way.

Any suggestion would be most welcome.

Thanks

Richard

[TallTayl]

@richard - decreasing the hard oils and/or beeswax will soften the resulting blend. THe oiliness factor depends on the choice of oils and butters used in your formula. Some are drier than others.

Adding shea in favor of cocoa butter may result in a softer product, but then you need to account for eventual graininess. Shea (and similar butters such as mango, kokum and even cocoa) can turn grainy over time - epecially if it goes through a couple of heat/slow cool cycles It's the nature of those oils.

Palm Oil, Palm Kernel and Castor with beeswax makes a very nice balm that is forgiving WRT the proportions.

[msalex28a]

How do you make it not grainy?

[Lorelei]

If you are already looking at MMS (thesage) then you should look at their lip balm flavoring honey. It is simply amazing.