So I want to make lip balm for some of my coworkers, as a generic winter/fall/holiday/"I like you all" sort of gift. :-) Don't know whether I'm going to wait until after Thanksgiving or not ... probably will, though.

Anyhow, are there any recipes here that people have made and really like? Since I'm giving them away, it's somewhat important that the texture and look at the end is nice. It's hard to tell how many of the recipes online have actually been tried. :)

CHeers,
Jonobie

My lotion bar recipe works for lips too!!

Anais' Solid-Satin Lotion Bar

Recipe Copyright (c) Anais Satin YAAAAY

--5 parts oil (jojoba, avocado, macadamia, hemp, etc... different combos of those oils. As long as it all adds up to 5 parts)
--4 parts kokum butter (from Brenda Sullivan at http://www.mystifyyoursenses.com (http://www.mystifyyoursenses.com/))
--2 parts "Ghana gold" shea butter or coconut 76 (though I haven't tried coconut 76, it might work as a substitute. Although I don't know who would want to use coconut 76 instead of shea butter if they could help it)
--2 parts golden beeswax (the opaque kind, made into "beads")
--1 drop EO per bar, stirred in when the mixture was a creamy texture.

I melted the kokum butter (a very hard butter) in the microwave with a Pyrex liquid measure thingy and beeswax together. Then I added the shea. When everything was melted, I added all the oils. Don't add EOs yet. When the mixture is still liquid but the Pyrex isn't too hot to touch, pour into lotion tubes or soap molds. or in your case, Jonobie, lip balm containers.

Stir each lip balm container thoroughly (just one stirring though) when the ingredients reach the consistency of aloe vera gel, or otherwise develop soft butterlike deposits. Do a final stir when the stuff is frosting-creamy. This waiting and stirring took hours for me... but it kept the even consistency and the end result was very uniform and butter-colored. It melts on skin contact and is about the hardness of deodorant, without the powderiness.

and one more thing..

When I left out the beeswax (albeit a small amount of beeswax) or didn't stir enough, the mixture developed "pockets" of oil surrounded by hard butters. It was just plain weird.

HTH! :flowers:

Anais

Castor oil is an excellent ingredient to use because it adds smooth slip (mimics that smooth texture that petrolatum and silicone has), moisture, and staying power. One of my favorite lip balms is a small amount of beeswax (just 'cause I like mine a bit softer and packaged in pots) with avocado oil and castor oil. I like to add a touch of tea tree and lavender oil for more healing/soothing power in the winter.

Cool -- thanks guys. :) I'm thinking I might give this a whirl tonight. If I don't decide to do something else. (Yeah, what a ringing endorsement, eh? :))

Cheers,
Jonobie

So I want to make lip balm for some of my coworkers, as a generic winter/fall/holiday/"I like you all" sort of gift. :-) Don't know whether I'm going to wait until after Thanksgiving or not ... probably will, though.

Anyhow, are there any recipes here that people have made and really like? Since I'm giving them away, it's somewhat important that the texture and look at the end is nice. It's hard to tell how many of the recipes online have actually been tried. :)

CHeers,
Jonobie

I made a pot of cherry lipbalm which was really nice. I never measure anything properly, but I squished a few cherries to make cherry juice. Then I simmered the juice to reduce it in a foil cake tin over a candle flame. I then added a tiny bit of honey, jojoba oil, cocoa butter and a tiny piece of beeswax and stirred it up over the heat until it had melted. Then I took it off the heat and let it cool a bit. when it was nearly cold I whipped it up and then poured it into a clean pot. Its wonderful stuff, and I'll definatly make it again. Sorry I can't tell you the exact amounts though.

I got a few nice recipes in my thread
Lip balm, any ideas? (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=25565)
a few weeks ago :)

I did four different recipes a few days ago and I'm trying them out now. I can highly recommend trying some out first, so you find the perfect blend, I did just one lip balm tube for each recipe. I'm going to try them now a few days and then decide which one is best and how to tweak the recipes to perfection :)

I got beeswax from a bee farmer I know, but that can be bought in many health food stores or crafs stores quite easily. Olive oil and coconut fat are bough in the grocery store.

The easiest one is:
1,5 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coconut fat
1 teaspoon beeswax (I took a piece that's about 1 inch x 2,5 inches)

Another one is
1 teaspoon beeswax (a piece that's about 1 inch x 2,5 inches)
1,5 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coconut fat
1/2 teaspoon of honey
5 drops jojoba oil

If you use too much beeswax the lip balm gets much harder, better for chap stick tubes but maybe to hard for small pots. If you use too little, it becomes to soft.
I'm very happy with my lip balms so far, they're great and I use them all the time.

I used a metal bowl that I put in a saucepan with water on the stove. I added the ingredients, turned on the stove and as soon as everything was liquid I lifted the metal bowl off, poured in a drop of EO if I wanted a nice smell, and then poured it into the tubes or small pots, put on the lids fast and held them in running cold water while moving them around a little, until they cooled and got hard. I also put them in the refridgerator afterwards for a few minutes.

This is a cool thread that I hope stays alive because we have bee hives and tons of wax. I need all the inspiration I can get.

Cool -- thanks guys. :) I'm thinking I might give this a whirl tonight. If I don't decide to do something else. (Yeah, what a ringing endorsement, eh? :))

Cheers,
Jonobie


did it work?

This is a cool thread that I hope stays alive because we have bee hives and tons of wax. I need all the inspiration I can get.

I'll try to remember my recipe notebook tomorrow. I use beeswax and Borax powder to emulsify my lotions.

Off the top of my head, my basic recipe is 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (it's good for sensitive skin), 1 oz of beeswax, 1/4 cup of distilled water, and 1/8 tsp of borax. I melt the beeswax and add the grapeseed oil then I mix the water and borax and heat that up to almost boiling. Drizzle the borax/water mixture into the beeswax/grapeseed mix while blending (in a blender or using a stick blender). Blend it for a couple of minutes until it looks like lotion.

My first time, I didn't blend it enough and I had blobs of oil and water. I add fragrance oil to mine and color to DD's but DH gets no scent or color.

Enjoy all that beeswax!