Lip Balm

What would an organic DIY blog be without a recipe for lip balm? Let me Google a lip balm recipe for you and you'll find oodles of different concoctions.  The common ingredient for most lip balm recipes is beeswax. I purchase quite a bit of my supplies from Amazon since we have one natural food store where we live, Basic Foods, which is somewhat limited. You can also find beeswax at Mountain Rose Herbs. The next time I buy beeswax (which will probably be years from now since it takes such a small amount), I'll get the pellets so I don't have to grate it.  

I guess I put too much beeswax in my first batch, so I ended up throwing it out (I should have just remelted it and added more oil.)  On my second attempt, I used this recipe with coconut oil, jojoba oil, beeswax, and beet juice as a tint. The beet juice and oils didn't mix well for me. I tweaked the Peppermint Cocoa Lip Balm recipe from Mountain Rose Herbs site on my third try, and it turned out fabulous. The cocoa butter gives this balm a hint of chocolate flavor.

Cocoa Butter & Honey Lip Balm

1 Tablespoon pure cocoa butter

1 Tablespoon organic jojoba oil

1 Tablespoon almond oil

2 teaspoons grated beeswax (or pellets)

1/4 teaspoon local honey

(Most lip balm recipes recommend that you squeeze 1 capsule of vitamin E after the oils are melted, but I didn't put any in mine this time.)

Place the cocoa butter, beeswax, and oils in a small Pyrex measuring cup (I used a small glass) and heat in the top of a double boiler (I just use a frying pan) until the butter and beeswax have melted (it takes a while for the wax to completely melt). Once it's melted, remove from the stove and add a small drop of honey and capsule Vitamin E Oil (optional but recommended in most recipes). Immediately pour the mixture into containers. I couldn't find any BPA free plastic tubes, so I purchased 1/2 oz. lip balm tins from Mountain Rose Herbs (or you could reuse any small glass container). Allow your balm to completely cool before placing the caps on.  This recipe makes exactly enough for two 1/2 oz. containers.  Enjoy!