# Lip Balm w/ Castor



## ohsoap (Oct 21, 2009)

Does anyone make a lip balm using castor as the liquid oil?  Last year my balms all cracked after about a month, so I am hoping to avoid it in this years xmas baskets.


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## artisan soaps (Oct 21, 2009)

..


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## SilverMaple (Oct 21, 2009)

So do I.


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## ohsoap (Oct 21, 2009)

Does it help to prevent the balm from cracking down the road?  or is this all in the amount of hard oils I use?
If I remember correctly (moved and cant find my recipe)
Last year I did equal parts of I think 1.5 oz shea and cocoa butter
1.0 oz beeswax and I don't remember the amount of Almond oil. maybe 1.0 0z.
At first it seems really nice, the cosistency is hard, but had a nice glide for pots... a few months later.... not so much.

I would like to try 
Beeswax
Cocoa butter
Caster and Sweet Almond

I notice from other threads that most ppl use CO as well... should I be using this as well?  
My sis-in-law also reacted to something in the balm, I'm guessing the shea... any insights?

Sorry for all the questions, but the other threads left me with more ?'s then I had to start with.


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## dopersoaper (Oct 21, 2009)

i used castor in my trial balm and it provided some gloss. My balm is a little over 1 month old and it hasnt craked yet, but i can't say it's due to the castor oil. Do you think maybe you added too many "hard" waxes/butters. Maybe you should slightly up your softer oils (almond, jojoba, castor etc) or slightly decrease your butters a bit. I dont know, just a thought 

***I meant to say, I do think it could be because of the amount of hard oils***


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## ohsoap (Oct 21, 2009)

Here is the recipe I used, it's from the MMS website
Ingredients:
      .25 ounces Beeswax
      .33 ounces Shea Butter, Refined
      .33 ounces Regular Cocoa Butter
      .40 ounces Sweet Almond Oil
      2 mL Vitamin E Acetate
      10 drops Peppermint Essential Oil


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## artisan soaps (Oct 21, 2009)

..


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## ohsoap (Oct 22, 2009)

thanks 4 the link, i'll experiment with some of those recipes.  After reading threw... I think my balms we're grainy not dried out!  I guess it was the shea I'll have to experiment w/o it and update my results.

I'm also thinking of adding a rose mica for shimmer, will this work?


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## ohsoap (Oct 23, 2009)

So I played around with a new recipe, I didn't end up using castor as I've read it dries out some ppl's lips.  I made another cocoa mint, as that's my favorite.
I did:
20% Beeswax
20% Cocoa Butter
20% Coconut Oil (I would like to try mango butter next time)
40% Almond oil

It feels really nice, and I'm hopping it will not get grainy since I left out the shea.  I did try putting in some peach mica for shimmer but it doesn't do anything but add a tint of color to the balm, so next time I'm going to leave it out.  I only made 2 .25oz pots but it feels good on my lips so I think I will use this recipe for my xmas gift baskets.


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## hobbiz (Nov 27, 2009)

So did your new lip balm get grainy or cracked?


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## ohsoap (Nov 27, 2009)

yup totally got dry in a week!  Tried another recipe from gracefruit, and it was not as bad, but still not great.


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## mariflo (Dec 6, 2009)

Sorry if this seems a stupid question but, isn't Castor Oil a strong laxative? Is it safe to use in lip balms?
Wikipedia says:
"Castor oil acts directly on intestinal mucosa or nerve plexus and alters water and electrolyte secretion. It is converted into ricinoleic acid (the active component) in the gut."
Or maybe the quantities used in lip balm are negligible?


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## dagmar88 (Dec 6, 2009)

As long as you're not planning on eating your whole lipbalm; you'll be fine. 
If you'd take 2 tabelspoons full of pure castor you'd better make sure you have some magazines in the bathroom for the next day...


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## hobbiz (Dec 8, 2009)

Very funny darmar lolz. My castor oil provide good shining and slippery feature for my lip balm. However, it tastes really weird. I think it stinks. I used about 20% of castor oil in my recipe. Do you guys know why my castor oil taste that bad?


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## dagmar88 (Dec 8, 2009)

is it fresh?


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## hobbiz (Dec 9, 2009)

The expire date is is 2012. I tried to taste the castor oil in bottle a little but no taste, so it might be because of its smell. I realize that the smell is stronger and rougher (I think) than other oils. I cant smell anything from my grapeseed oil  :roll: 
Today I tried 1 of my old lip balm batchs that contain castor oil and the smell faded. Maybe later when I put flavor oils in lip balms, the smell will go away?


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## dagmar88 (Dec 9, 2009)

Strange, went off to sniff my castor but it really doesn't have a strong smell. Just a light hint of nut, but certainly not enough to come through in that %.
Maybe you could try another brand and see if it's any better?


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## hobbiz (Dec 11, 2009)

Ok. I will try to find another brand. Thx.


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## Manchy (Dec 11, 2009)

i use cold pressed castor oil ,and it has it's own smell. i wouldn't say unpleasant, but not like a perfume    for sure. well, i don't like it very much, but it's not that bad.
btw, it's not rancid or anything.


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## SilverMaple (Dec 12, 2009)

I use 3-6% castor. You could try cutting it down a bit and seeing if that suits your recipe better?


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## madpiano (Jan 1, 2010)

20% castor oil seems quite a lot ? 

I use the recipe from Gracefruit, but you have forgotten the castor oil in yours ? The recipe you printed here should have castor oil in it. If you don't want to use it, you definitley should reduce the beeswax. I have made that exact recipe several times and it is the only one I use now, as it gives consistent good results. 

How did you package your lipbalm ? I find that recipe better for tubes than tins (increased the beeswax by 1%), but either way, the balm shouldn't dry out once you close it ? I make it, fill into the tubes and place in the fridge, 5 mins later take out of the fridge and close with lids. It really is one of the easiest and least fussy b&b product I make. 

Castor Oil should not have any kind of smell or taste. If it does, it has gone off or is adulterated and should not be used. (the normal stuff which is sold as laxative in pharmacies - I have never seen cold pressed castor oil here, would be interesting, especially as the Castor Oil plant is so highly toxic)


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## carebear (Jan 1, 2010)

I've gone really high with castor without a problem - cracking is more likely due to more brittle waxes or not enough oil in general, IMO.

my castor is essentially odorless - tho the Turkey Red Castor (sulfonated) can have a pretty distinct odor I recall - tho it's been years, so I could be mistaken about the TRC.


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## djk17 (Apr 2, 2010)

I've never tried castor in my lip balm but I do use honey and it so far has been fine (about 1 1/2 years ago was my first batch, still have a couple of tubes left from that batch and it never separated out at all)

about the graininess--could this possibly be due to temperatures used? if you keep the temperature of the shea and cocoa butter down a bit the graininess shouldn't appear, at least in my (limited with lip balm!) experience.


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