Make your own lip balm with our tips
Have you ever found a lip balm that felt like it was made for you?
There are lip moisturizers in every scent, flavor, and color out there, and chances are you've already found some of the best lip balm products for your needs. What are the odds of a perfect mix of your favorites? It’s a good thing that creating a personalized lip balm right in your kitchen is so easy.
Making your own will require a base—grated or pellet-form beeswax, or coconut oil—and a scent or flavor, at the very least. Some tips: Use unrefined and organic virgin oil, instead of fractionated or distilled, for coconut oil-based lip balm. While not necessary, vitamin E is a great antioxidant addition to any lip moisturizer recipe because it extends the life of the ingredient oils. Clean, sterilize and repurpose old cosmetic pots or jars or buy brand new empty ones to hold your creations.
Ready to make your next favorite lip balm? Use the five recipes below as starting points in the path to discovering your ideal — don't worry, they don't contain ingredients that will make your dry lips worse.
1. Easy Tinted Coconut Lip Balm
For this recipe, you will need unrefined virgin coconut oil and an old lipstick. To add fragrance and a nourishing factor to the recipe, you can include other oils: argan, avocado, jojoba, olive or safflower.
In a microwaveable bowl, add enough coconut oil to fill three-fourths of its container-to-be to a chunk of old lipstick. Microwave the bowl for 10 to 20 seconds and stir with a spoon or craft stick. Add drops of the other oils at this point, too. Pour into the waiting container and let the lip balm sit until it hardens.
The mixture will look much darker when you’re making it compared to when you’re wearing the lip balm. If the color is too pale, repeat the microwaving step and add more lipstick until you get your desired shade. Too dark? Add more coconut oil.
Keep in mind that the melting point of unrefined coconut oil is around 76 degrees. Don’t use tube or stick containers for coconut oil-based DIY lip balms because they’re more likely to leak.
2. Kid-Friendly Drink Mix Lip Balm
This child-friendly and non-toxic recipe requires drink mix and unrefined virgin coconut oil. Pick drink mixes based on your flavor and color preferences.
Prepare the drink mix by adding drops of water and mixing until you get a thin colored paste. The water shortens the shelf life of this DIY lip balm, but it is necessary because the drink mix can’t fully incorporate with the coconut oil on its own. Tip: To achieve a strong tint, use a powder with a deep color, like grape or strawberry, and a lot of it.
Add some of the thin drink mix paste to the unrefined coconut oil and mix until the hue is uniform throughout. Keep doing so until you get a color you like. Don’t microwave or heat the oil because you want both ingredients at a paste-like consistency for easy blending. Let the lip balm set completely before using it.
3. Freeze-Dried Berry Lip Balm
For this edible recipe, you will need a teaspoon or more of beeswax and a tablespoon of coconut oil. Find freeze-dried berries, too: cherries, raspberry, strawberries, or a mix. Grind the berries into a powder and run through a fine sieve, as you will need two tablespoons of it. You may lessen the coconut to include other oils, even cocoa or shea butter.
Like water, the natural properties of the fruits lessen the lip balm’s shelf life. It will probably keep for about a year, but any flavor will fade in half that time.
Use a double boiler to melt the wax and butter ingredients in the lowest heat possible. Add the fruit powder once the mixture is liquid. You can set a mesh strainer over the waiting container to catch any lingering seeds or grainy fruit bits as you pour the lip balm to set. Beeswax-based balms should stay solid, so you can use a stick or tube container.
4. Essential Oil-Scented Lip Balm
For this recipe, prepare one or two teaspoons of beeswax and a tablespoon of coconut oil. You also need about 10 to 20 drops of skin-safe and edible essential oils. Lavender, mint and citrus variants like lemon or lime are popular. You can include oils like jojoba or safflower, too.
You may microwave and melt the beeswax as a last resort, adding the other components after it cools but before it starts to resolidify. However, it’s preferable to use a double boiler to control the heat. Don’t microwave or overheat the essential oils because they may lose their innate herbal properties.
Pour into a container as quickly as you can once the mixture’s started cooling. The lip balm should harden in about six hours.
5. Lip-Plumping Cinnamon Honey Lip Balm
For this recipe, start with the standard teaspoon or two of beeswax and tablespoon of coconut oil. The lip-plumping ingredient is 5 or more drops of edible cinnamon essential oil. Temper the warming sensation from the cinnamon oil with a dab of raw honey.
Want to create an autumn-themed variant? Add a tablespoon of unrefined pumpkin seed oil and half a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. If you want to customize the spice blend, the latter is usually made up of ground cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
Combine and melt beeswax and coconut oil using a double boiler. Add all other ingredients once the mixture turns liquid and has been taken off the heat. Stir fast and vigorously until fully incorporated. The honey, in particular, may be difficult to spread evenly.
Like most beeswax-based lip balm, pouring it into its new container as quickly as possible is key. Off the burner, it will begin to set in as little as minutes, so work fast. Let it harden completely before first use.
Any of these lip balm recipes are sure to help you prevent your lips from being dry and chapped.
Resources—Brit + Co, Martha Stewart, SheKnows
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