# My First Balm Base



## LBussy (Jan 15, 2015)

So ... I always say this but I'll say it again just in case.  I always need a starting point ... a "known good".  I did some searching and you know how you can begin to tell when people do or don't know what they are talking about?   Lots of recipes out there, a lot seem bad.  

Anyway, I cobbled this together from several recipes and I wanted to get some feedback on it:

30%	Bee's Wax
30%	Coconut Oil
30%	Almond Oil
9%	Lanolin
1%	Castor Oil

A few sources say the castor oil help with "shine."  Not sure I'm sold on that.

Another "leaning" I have seen is equal parts of four incredients:

25% Bee's Wax
25% Coconut Oil
25% Almond Oil
25% Shea Butter

Any tips on which direction to go?


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## Dana89 (Jan 15, 2015)

I made my first lip balm over the weekend so you may want to listen to someone else, but I started with 1 part beeswax, 1 part butter (advocado butter, but the recipe said any butter) and 1 part coconut oil. For me it was too waxy, but it was a great start and so simple to melt down again and I added almond oil, a few drops until it felt right.
I took the Soap Queens advice and froze a spoon and dipped it in, the balm hardens on it right away so you can try it before you pour.
Have fun with it, it is not nearly as nerve racking as soap can be because it is so easy to melt down and add to.
So start with recipe with the fewest ingredients.


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## Susie (Jan 15, 2015)

My balm changes with the seasons, but I found that I prefer basically these proportions:

1 part beeswax
1-1.5 parts solid oils(CO, lard, anything solid at room temp.)
1.5 parts liquid oils
No more than 0.5 parts butters/lanolin

You are going to have to come up with your own.  Do the frozen spoon thing.  I use plastic spoons as I hate cleaning the balm off of the spoons.

I just had to make new balm as my lips have eczema, and I need to start eliminating ingredients.  I eliminated lanolin first.


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## KristaY (Jan 15, 2015)

The 2nd recipe you posted looks very similar to mine (but with about half the shea butter you listed) and I love it. My husband likes his more dense or firm so I have to add a bit more beeswax for him. On the other hand, my daughter and I like ours softer so I use less beeswax for us. I also add a few drops of vitamin E to mine. Good luck!


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## LBussy (Jan 16, 2015)

Thank you all ... I should have my beeswax on Sat so I'm going to try a few.  Susie my wife has VERY sensitive skin so I appreciate your input.  She did grow up on a farm so lanolin is familiar to her, she just doesn't like the taste/smell.  Shea seems a good one though.


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## LBussy (Jan 16, 2015)

LBussy said:


> Susie my wife has VERY sensitive skin


Hrm ... if you read that in a certain way it sounds like Susie is my wife:

"Susie:  my wife has VERY sensitive skin ... "  there.


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## Susie (Jan 16, 2015)

Or a comma, "Susie, my wife has very sensitive skin..."

If she has not experienced eczema on her lips, it is a sort of weird type of eczema.  First, the corners of the mouth split, and  then you get the itching/burning and peeling.  And peeling, and peeling...


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## Seawolfe (Jan 16, 2015)

_/me makes up a whole story in her head about LBussy and Susie..._


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## LBussy (Jan 16, 2015)

See, that's how it all starts.

At least it's a clean story ... it's all about soap, right?


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## shunt2011 (Jan 16, 2015)

Lee, I like your second recipe of the two.  However, I would just change out a bit of the shea or other oils for lanolin if you want to use it. I don't think I would use 9% though due to the smell/taste.  I've tried 2-3% and it worked pretty well.  It's totally up to you though. As for castor in lip balms, I've read that many don't like it.  I've not used it in mine so don't know first hand.  I too add a bit of vitamin E in mine.   I pefer a softer lipbalm so I like 25% beeswax.  As stated, you can test it until you find the right formula for you and your wife.

It's all trial and error like everything else we do to find the perfect mix.


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## snappyllama (Jan 16, 2015)

I've been using something closer to your first recipe and really like it. I *think* I adapted it from Kevin Devine's lip balm discussion recipe but lost my notes.
It does add up to 101% - I just put in 1% of vitamin e on top of whatever amount I make since I played with a bunch of variations before settling on this one.  

30	Beeswax
15	Coconut Oil
15	Shea Butter
10	Lanolin
30	Sweet Almond Oil
1	Vitamin E

I also make a sugar lippy scrub that is awesome for exfoliating. I really don't know where I got this one from (Soap queen, maybe?). Again, my main notes were lost and I just had my handwritten recipe saved. Even though you're supposed to rub it on and wipe away the excess before applying lipstick, the guys at Christmas all stole this from their moms or girlfriends or fiances (intended recipients) and just wander around scrubbing and leaving it on. At least my one-day-son-in-law has soft lips even though he bikes to work. In January. At 3am. In Denver. Regardless of snow.

13	Beeswax
11	Avocado Oil
11	Pumpkin Seed Oil
3	Vitamin E
18	Shea Butter
44	White Sugar


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## LBussy (Jan 16, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> Lee, I like your second recipe of the two.  However, I would just change out a bit of the shea or other oils for lanolin if you want to use it. I don't think I would use 9% though due to the smell/taste.  I've tried 2-3% and it worked pretty well.  It's totally up to you though. As for castor in lip balms, I've read that many don't like it.  I've not used it in mine so don't know first hand.  I too add a bit of vitamin E in mine.   I pefer a softer lipbalm so I like 25% beeswax.  As stated, you can test it until you find the right formula for you and your wife.
> 
> It's all trial and error like everything else we do to find the perfect mix.


So maybe something like:

25%	Bee's Wax
25%	Coconut Oil
25%	Almond Oil
22%	Shea Butter
3%	Lanolin

?

I like it a little softer as well, and it is winter.


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## shunt2011 (Jan 16, 2015)

LBussy said:


> So maybe something like:
> 
> 25%    Bee's Wax
> 25%    Coconut Oil
> ...


 
I would give that a try.  You can always remelt if needed to tweak it if you don't find it hard enough or soft enough.


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## IrishLass (Jan 16, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> I don't think I would use 9% though due to the smell/taste. I've tried 2-3% and it worked pretty well.


 
I've taken to using HPA Lanolin in my lip balms, which is a high-purity grade of lanolin that you can find sold over-the-counter as, you guessed it- Lansinoh (for breastfeeding moms). It's 100% HPA lanolin with nothing else added. It's as beautifully occlusive as the other grade of lanolin I was using previously, but this particular grade doesn't have the barnyard smell or taste. I use it at 10% in my balm. 

IrishLass


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## LBussy (Jan 16, 2015)

IrishLass said:


> I've taken to using HPA Lanolin in my lip balms, which is a high-purity grade of lanolin that you can find sold over-the-counter as, you guessed it- Lansinoh (for breastfeeding moms). It's 100% HPA lanolin with nothing else added. It's as beautifully occlusive as the other grade of lanolin I was using previously, but this particular grade doesn't have the barnyard smell or taste. I use it at 10% in my balm.
> 
> IrishLass


Wow ... $7 for 1.4 oz?  It better make my lips look like Channing Tatum's!


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## shunt2011 (Jan 16, 2015)

IrishLass said:


> I've taken to using HPA Lanolin in my lip balms, which is a high-purity grade of lanolin that you can find sold over-the-counter as, you guessed it- Lansinoh (for breastfeeding moms). It's 100% HPA lanolin with nothing else added. It's as beautifully occlusive as the other grade of lanolin I was using previously, but this particular grade doesn't have the barnyard smell or taste. I use it at 10% in my balm.
> 
> IrishLass


 
Thank you for this information.  _I will be checking it out next time I need to make my lipbalm._


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## seven (Jan 17, 2015)

i looovvvee lanolin and use it in my soaps. i am going to experiment with lip balm soon, so thanks for this thread. def going to include lanolin in the formulary.


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## IrishLass (Jan 17, 2015)

LBussy said:


> Wow ... $7 for 1.4 oz? It better make my lips look like Channing Tatum's!


 
Okay- don't laugh- this is a little embarrassing, but I had to look up who Channing Tatum was/is. 

 Although I've heard the name before, I just couldn't put a face to it. Now that I have seen his face and his lips, I can see what you're saying, but if my balm ever made my hubby's lips look like that, I'd for sure be leaving the lanolin out for fear that it may have caused some kind of an allergic reaction! 

As for the price- yes it is pricy, but since I don't sell or make huge batches of balm, it's worth every penny to me for how awesome it makes my balm feel without me having to put up with a sheepish smell and taste.

IrishLass


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## LBussy (Jan 17, 2015)

I did put some numbers to it and that tube would last a while for sure.  

I just asked my wife "what man has the prettiest lips?" and his name came out with no pause.  :shifty:


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## Dana89 (Jan 19, 2015)

If I was a man I would want Henry Cavills lips, That man is perfect!


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## LBussy (Jan 19, 2015)

Dana89 said:


> If I was a man I would want Henry Cavills lips, That man is perfect!


I want lips that can truthfully say:  "I'm THAT rich."


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## Susie (Jan 19, 2015)

I had to look both of them up.  I feel so out of touch.


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## dixiedragon (Jan 19, 2015)

I use this recipe from Majestic Mountain Sage:
https://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipe-exec/.State/Display/id/200

60 grams of Beeswax
75 grams [URL="https://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html#SheaButter"]Shea Butter, Refined[/URL]
45 grams [URL="https://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html#CocoaButterWhiteOdorless"]White Cocoa Butter[/URL]
120 grams Avocado Oil

It makes 60 tubes.


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## IrishLass (Jan 19, 2015)

Whew! Thank you for that, Susie- now I don't feel so bad. I had to look both of them up, too. :razz:


IrishLass 

ETA- I should have known who Henry Cavill is, though, since he played in one of my favorite movies- the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo (I almost wrote Crisco, lol). I guess I only had eyes for Jim Caviezel in that movie. ;-)


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## LBussy (Jan 19, 2015)

dixiedragon said:


> I use this recipe from Majestic Mountain Sage


What about the consistency?  Chapstick vs Carmex like?


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## Susie (Jan 19, 2015)

And Henry Cavill was in The Tudors, which I watched most of.  I just don't pay much attention to names.  But I still have not seen anything Channing Tatum is in...I think.


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## dixiedragon (Jan 19, 2015)

LBussy said:


> What about the consistency? Chapstick vs Carmex like?


 
This is a tough one for me - I don't think I've ever used chapstick brand chaptick. It is very like the Burt's Bees chap stick. It is more creamy, vs gooey like Carmex. It absorbs quickly vs staying on top of your lips, and it doesn't give your lips that wet/shiny look.


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## LBussy (Jan 19, 2015)

dixiedragon said:


> This is a tough one for me - I don't think I've ever used chapstick brand chaptick. It is very like the Burt's Bees chap stick. It is more creamy, vs gooey like Carmex. It absorbs quickly vs staying on top of your lips, and it doesn't give your lips that wet/shiny look.


That works ... was just looking for a commercial reference.

I would imagine that Shea and Cocoa butter (and pretty much any other butter) can be swapped out 1:1 (with a tiny bit of tweaking).  The same for the oils?


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