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| How to Make Lip Balm |
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In my experience, in which I have slaved away in the kitchen trying to make the 'perfect' lip balm, I have found that there is no exact formula to stick to. It depends how you like your lip balm.
However, I have picked up a few tips along the way and have established that there are certain rules which you must stick to if you want to make really good lip balm. For example, you will always need more oil if you're making your lip balm in a pot rather than a tube, so you can scoop it out more easily.
The Rules
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What oil to use? Stick to Sweet Almond Oil or Sunflower Oil because they are odourless & colourless, so won't interfere with your flavourings, yet they're both moisturising and packed full of vitamins. Add some Calendula oil for sore, chapped lips. They say Castor oil makes a glossier lip balm, but to be honest I couldn't see any difference in the lip balm - it is more ideal for use in lip gloss (see below). The only thing I know is that the more of any oil you use, the glossier the lip balm. But steer clear of Extra Virgin Olive Oil - it turns the lip balm green and tastes horrible!
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What butter to use? Stick to Organic, unrefined Shea butter and Organic, unrefined Cocoa butter for the best texture and flavour. The better quality butter, the better the lip balm. I used a bad quality Shea butter at first, unaware of this fact, and wondered why my lip balms were all lumpy. Looking back, it was bleached and refined - and hard. (Which is why there were hard lumps in the lip balm).
The Shea butter I use now - the one I sell on this site - is of optimum quality; soft, pure, Organic and unrefined. It makes the lip balm so smooth. Plus, the more unrefined your ingredients are, the longer your lip balm will last. Avoid Mango butter like the plague - it makes the lip balm lumpy too.
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What wax to use? The only wax that I've ever used is English beeswax, straight from the farm on which it's made. I'm completely happy with that, but if you're a vegan you can use another natural vegetable wax called Candelilla wax.
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What preservatives to use? If you use all my ingredients, which are Organic and unrefined, then the lip balm should last at least 18 months on its own. So, if you will keep your lip balm for longer than this, then add a capsule or two of Vitamin E to the mixture to preserve it. (As lip balm is all fat and no water, it doesn't need preserving like creams do).
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What quantities to use? Well as I say, it is not an exact science but generally speaking, you need to use roughly 3 times as much butter to beeswax, and just over 3 times as much oil to beeswax.
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You don't need to use the same amount of Cocoa butter to Shea butter either. In the early days, I used twice as much Shea butter as Cocoa butter (I just had more Shea butter!) and it gave the lip balm much more of a 'nutty' flavour. Now I use more Cocoa butter and you can really smell the chocolate flavour. However, I still think it's better with slightly more Shea than Cocoa, because it makes a smoother lip balm.
The less oil and the more butter you use, the thicker or 'sturdier' your lip balm will be. This is good if you want your lip balm to stay on for quite a while. It will also be 'creamier', which is how I like it! However, add more oil for a 'glossier' lip balm - though it doesn't cling to your lips as much so you'll have to re-apply more often.
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How do I flavour the lip balms? If you want a natural flavour, don't use synthetic flavour oils! Use pure essential oils, or Organic Aromas for the best flavours you will find. Don't forget though, to only use a maximum of 2 drops of essential oil per lip balm. That's all you need! Or use 4-6 drops of an Organic Aroma per lip balm. The aromas won't mix in as easily as the essential oils (as they're water-based, not oil-based), but I've found that a milk frother/small electric whisk will integrate them fully.
The essential oils suitable for use in lip balms I would say are: Rose otto, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit, Mandarin, Geranium, Peppermint, Lavender & Roman Chamomile. You could also try flavouring your lip balms with runny honey, real chocolate, vanilla pods or coffee. Or, for a tinted lip balm, try melting some of your favourite lipstick into the mixture. Be experimental - it's fun!
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How do I add natural colour to the lip balms? My completely natural, pearlescent Mica-based Strawberry colour is great for use in lip balms as it turns the lip balm a vibrant pink-red colour - and also gives a glamorous shimmer effect! Alternatively, you can try using beetroot juice, or just a bottle of 'Natural Colour' which you can get at the baking section of most supermarkets, where the essences are. These colours, as they're water-based, won't integrate into the mixture fully unless you use a whisk / milk frother and add the colour gradually.
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Do I need to certify my lip balms before I sell them? If you buy my lip balm base, which is fully certified, and add absolutely nothing to it then no, as this will be covered under my certificate. But if you are making it from scratch, or if you add anything else to the mixture, then you need to get them safety-tested yourself.
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Natural Lip Balm Recipe (Makes around 50 tubes)
1oz Block of English Beeswax (roughly 30g)
60g of good quality, unrefined Shea Butter
40g of good quality, unrefined Cocoa Butter
100-120g of Sweet Almond / Sunflower Oil
What to do:
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For best results, melt your lip balm ingredients in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Yes you could melt them in the microwave, but I would say only for small amounts. After all you don't want to ruin your nice unrefined ingredients by blitzing them in a microwave, do you?
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Don't overheat your lip balm mixture, and wait for it to cool down a bit before transferring it to your containers. Otherwise, if the mixture is put into the tubes/pots when too hot, it will cool down too quickly and could well set lumpy. For this reason, you shouldn't put your lip balms in the fridge to set.
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The 3ml pipettes are better than the 1ml pipettes. You can transfer more at a time, giving the lip balm less chance to set in the pipettes!
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HAPPY LIP BALM MAKING!
Copyright©
Jessica Smith 2008
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| All Roller-ball Lip Gloss Bottles Reduced! | |
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