# having a terrible time choosing a lip balm recipe.



## shee (Nov 10, 2010)

I have tried a couple different lip balms that I have purchased and one was luxurious and so smooth.  the other was hard as a rock and just didn't glide on at all.  I want to make a really nice one.  a smooth gliding one ya know?  But I am new at this and I dont know which recipes to choose from that will make it smooth.  I have all the ingredients that I need.  I've been making lotion bars.  

is it beeswax that makes it hard?  the hard one had beeswax in it.

thank you so much!


----------



## cmd439 (Nov 10, 2010)

You can make great lip balms with almost any oils/butters/waxes.  The trick is in your proportions.  Play with different proportions starting out with 1/3 1/3 1/3 and adjust from there.


----------



## shee (Nov 11, 2010)

thanks!

the thing is, is there a way to do smaller batches accurately for testing purposes?  or is it just extremely hard to get it right with such small measurements?  I'd hate to make a regular batch and end up hating it.  

is it more important to do larger portions of liquid oils to make it less hard?  such as candillilia wax (sp?) grapeseed oil, and cocoa butter lets say.  would it be better to have a higher ratio of the grapeseed oil to make it not as hard?


----------



## rubyslippers (Nov 11, 2010)

There are a lot of good recipes online that you may want to use as a starting point and tweak to suit your likes.  If it isn't quite what you want, it is so easy to remelt & add more soft oils or butters until you get the consistency you like.  I like a lip balm that glides (no drag at all) easily and this is what I've come up with:

.25 oz beeswax
.30 oz cocoa butter
.10 oz shea butter
.40 oz sweet almond oil
.20 oz castor oil
.15 oz jojoba oil
.10 oz avocado oil
5 drops Vitamin E
Choice of flavoring oil

This fills 10 tubes (.15 oz size).  I mix it up everything in a little 1/2 cup plastic container set in a pan of low boiling water.


----------



## agriffin (Nov 11, 2010)

In my opinion castor oil is a must!  It's makes it super smooth and glide well.


----------



## loveit_latherit (Nov 11, 2010)

Oh I'm glad I found this .... Can I use a few drops of peppermint EO or should I only use safe for lip product oils?  Any suggestions on EO's I can use in lip balm anyone favors?

TY


----------



## shee (Nov 11, 2010)

that is AWESOME. thank you!!!

I'm planning on putting peppermint oil in it since I like it tingly   maybe I should get some mica to give it a little tint?  I'm contemplating that.  

I can't wait for my tubes to come in the mail so I can make some!!!  I'm so excited!!!


----------



## shee (Nov 11, 2010)

also, thank you for the remelting idea.  I hadn't thought of that.


----------



## rubyslippers (Nov 11, 2010)

loveit_latherit said:
			
		

> Oh I'm glad I found this .... Can I use a few drops of peppermint EO or should I only use safe for lip product oils?  Any suggestions on EO's I can use in lip balm anyone favors?
> 
> TY



Yes, you can use peppermint EO and that is what I prefer.  I rececently purchased some peppermint flavor oil but found I like the peppermint EO better.  (little more "kick" than the flavor oil)   In addition to the peppermint EO, I've read that you can safely use tea tree, rosemary, sage, spearmint, anise, vanilla, cinnamon, camphor, lavender or ginger although I've not tried anything other than the peppermint.  The camphor & mints give a cooling effect; the cinnamon & ginger are warming.


----------



## rubyslippers (Nov 11, 2010)

agriffin said:
			
		

> In my opinion castor oil is a must!  It's makes it super smooth and glide well.



I agree with you agriffin.  And, the castor makes it glossy, too.


----------



## loveit_latherit (Nov 11, 2010)

TY Rubyslippers!


----------



## carebear (Nov 11, 2010)

If you are interested in selling lip balms be sure to use food grade EOs.  You can get them from Scent Works and other suppliers.

They will be labeled FCC, but also read the descriptions for precautions.  For example, they have an FCC eucalyptus but it's toxic when taken internally.


----------



## loveit_latherit (Nov 11, 2010)

Thanks Carebear. I am making for me and my freinds and fam right now ... But good to know in case I fall in love with making them and want to make them to sell 

I'm doing my Christmas gift exchange at Thanksgiving ... so these are my little stocking stuffers


----------



## shee (Nov 11, 2010)

Nice!!!  I am going to get some cinnamon eo too.  and I was going to get orange.  I don't see orange on the list though.


----------



## cmd439 (Nov 11, 2010)

You don't have to wait for the entire batch to harden.  Put some metal spoons in the freezer and dip them in the lip balm mix.  Let that harden for  a few minutes and its an instant tester, theen you can adjust your balm as needed.


----------



## Romane (Nov 11, 2010)

My first attempt to make a lip balm was not succesfull: at the begining, it was ok, but after a while, the balm was grainy. Someone told me it was because of the sea butter. 
Any idea on what my problem was?
My recipe was similar to the one mentioned before.


----------



## cmd439 (Nov 12, 2010)

I believe any butter can turn grainy in balms.  Tempering the butters may help avoid this, but there is no guarantee.  There is also a product called easy butter that I think claims to not get grainy.


----------



## IrishLass (Nov 12, 2010)

To avoid grains when I use butters in my lip balm, I like to use a product called ButterEZ from LotionCrafters. It works great. 

IrishLass


----------



## jarvan (Nov 12, 2010)

I don't use butters so I don't have to worry about grains.


----------



## Romane (Nov 12, 2010)

Butter EZ! Seems great:
http://www.lotioncrafter.com/butterez-trade.html
Thank for the tip.


----------



## shee (Nov 12, 2010)

OK, no butters.  I will save those for lotion.  thank you!


----------



## Deda (Nov 12, 2010)

ButterEZ is fabulous.


----------



## lauramw71 (Nov 12, 2010)

Deda - the ButterEZ makes it not go grainy?  Right now I use the base from BCN, and LOVE, but my dad gave me a ton of raw beeswax from his hives that I need to use up.  I think I'll have to try out the butterez if it stops the grainyness!


----------



## IrishLass (Nov 13, 2010)

Deda said:
			
		

> ButterEZ is fabulous.



Ditto!   




			
				lauramw71 said:
			
		

> Deda - the ButterEZ makes it not go grainy?



Not Deda, but yes, ButterEZ completely eliminated the grainy problem that I used to get in my lip balms made with mango butter. Since adding a little ButterEZ to my formula I've not had any grainy issues at all.

IrishLass


----------



## lauramw71 (Nov 15, 2010)

Oh how much I love you terrible enablers.  LOL
I have a tub of the base from BCN, but really want to try my own.  
Adding ButterEZ to my list of need-to-gets.  WOW this list is getting long, good thing it's almost XMas!   haha


----------



## carebear (Nov 15, 2010)

IrishLass said:
			
		

> Deda said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


yep yep yep!!!


http://www.lotioncrafter.com/butterez-trade.html

Oh, and you use it at a level equal to 10% of the butters in your formulation.  I take the amount out of my coconut oil if it's in there since the EZ seems to melt very quickly.


----------

