A couple Lip Balm Questions

[Clarice]

That is where I found it - i am not on FB, but was able to see that when i googled "temper CB" - sorry - will remember to put citations in future! note to self!

 

[DisneyMom]

SO many awesome tips here! Thanks so much, everyone, for chiming it.

MGM, may I ask how you temper? I love me some lip scrub, but...not in my lip balm. lol

DixieDragon--I made a HUGE mess pouring my tubes the other day. Why I didn't think to put wax paper underneath is beyond me, but this is brilliant. THANK YOU!

And, I have another question for you all. This one is about combining Flavor Oils. When I want to combine two different flavor oils, and I'm looking at the usage rates for each (let's say the low usage rate for each is 1%), do I add 1% of each, or do I add .5 of each to total a flavor oil total usage rate of 1%? Does that make sense what I'm asking?

 

[dixiedragon]

Also, if you are having irritated lips, I'd leave out the flavor in one batch. If you use prime pressed cocoa butter and yellow beeswax (sweet smelling), you will have a very nice mild chocolate scent.

Where are you getting your flavors?

When determining usage rate, I usually shoot for between medium and high, because I like to smell the things!

Here's an example:
From WSP, Vanilla has a 1-2% usage rate. Cherry has 8%. So the MOST I would use would be 2% vanilla and 6% cherry. There are components in flavors (and fragrances) that are rated only skin safe at certain percentages. We don't know what those components are. So we can't say, Oh, I can only use 1 gram of Chemical X per 100 grams of balm, and then calculate the total amount of Chemical X in Vanilla and Cherry to be sure we are under the safe Chemical X rules.

I would probably start out at something like 1% vanilla and 4% cherry, and see how I like it, then bump up as needed.

 

[IrishLass]

And, I have another question for you all. This one is about combining Flavor Oils. When I want to combine two different flavor oils, and I'm looking at the usage rates for each (let's say the low usage rate for each is 1%), do I add 1% of each, or do I add .5 of each to total a flavor oil total usage rate of 1%? Does that make sense what I'm asking?

I'm notorious for combining flavor oils (it's fun to come up with different flavors). Yes- if the usage rate for each of the 2 flavors you want to combine is 1%, use .5% of each....or .25% of one and .75% of the other....whatever ratio you wish to use that will equal up to 1%.


IrishLass

 

[MGM]

I haven't made any lip balm since I learned about it. I may have just gotten lucky tho, as I don't have more than a couple tubes where I notice grains, and have never noticed them in my lotion bars .

 

[Jeannie Hinyard]

I just found this re tempering Cocoa Butter - do you follow a similar method for shea @MGM?

Cocoa butter has a wonderful tendency to melt at just about skin temperature, which makes it a great addition to lotion bars. Its high content of stearic acid keeps it very solid at room temperature and allows recipes in which it is an ingredient to be firmer and more heat resistant.

Because the stearic acid content of the cocoa butter is high, products made using cocoa butter can develop cocoa butter “beads” if the cocoa butter isn’t tempered to break up excessive crystallization. Tempering is simple to do: heat the cocoa butter slowly in the top of a double boiler, or in a Pyrex container sitting in a pot of water. (Do not use a microwave, as this will not be an effective method of breaking up the crystallization.) As the cocoa butter continues to melt, raise the temperature slowly, over the course of about 45 minutes, until the butter is fully melted. Then immediately stir the cocoa butter up very thoroughly (to break up the crystallization) and cool the cocoa butter as quickly as possible to prevent crystals from re-forming.

It might be helpful to pour the cocoa butter into the cavities of ice cube trays which you then place in the refrigerator for rapid cooling. Once they are hardened, you can pop them out of the ice cube tray and just store them in plastic bags until you are ready to use them. Please just take care to store them in a cool, dark place, so that they don’t melt and recrystallize. If they do melt and recrystallize (which you can easily identify if they lose their ice cube shape!), please just repeat the tempering process to break up the crystallization.

You temper shea butter in much the same way, but it requires holding at a higher temperature. The information I have is from Brambleberry.com. They recommend heating mango and cocoa slowly to 100 degrees and holding at this temperature for 45-60 minutes. Shea butter should be heated to about 180 degrees F and held for 45-60 minutes. Keep a constant, even temperature, which may require turning heat source on and off. Crock pots work well. Pour into an airtight container and place in the fridge or freezer. It gives the butter a very smooth consistency and makes it very easy to scoop.

 

[Clarice]

Thank you very much!

 

[Ginger Aneshansel]

And here's a pro tip from me.... I only recently learned that you had to temper shea butter (and cocoa maybe? who knows?) lest it go grainy, so I have a number of grainy lip balms....no I don't! Those are lip scrubs---that you don't have to wash off! Exfoliating and moisturizing all in one step!

Thank you for sharing this "lip scrubs" I also have some balms that got grainy and quit using shea butter because of it. I never knew to temper it.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

I love my silicone lip balm filling trays.
I usually make the full 48 tubes at a time but making less is easy. Just put masking tape over the unused holes.
So far I have just been using peppermint essential oil for scenting/flavoring.
I infused sweet almond oil with rose petals, Fireweed flower petals and, wild Chammomile.
I'm going to do rose hips next as I have lots of dehydrated hips.
I use 1 cup of oil with 2 ounces beeswax and 25-30 drops of the peppermint and 6 or so drops of vitamin E oil.
This gives me 48 tubes plus a 1 oz tin.
I heat my oil and beeswax in a double boiler.
While this heats I fill the filler tray with tubes.
Then I check my temp with a coffee stirrer.
If the stirrer is deformed then it will deform the tubes. If it is fine then I add my EO and put it in my plastic measuring pourer and fill the tubes.
I can usually fill them all on one heat if not I scrape the top and reheat in the double boiler.
Once filled I let them cool then heat just the tops with my heat gun to remove the divot that formed from the screw mechanism.
Then cap and label.
I buy the lip balm label blanks and my buddy designs and prints them for me to my ideas.
I don't sell right now, but these make great gifts and work wonderfully.

 

[SoaperForLife]

Very nice Kasilofchrisn! I don't use my filling tray anymore as I decided it was one more thing that I needed to clean... now I just rubber band the tubes together and pour into each one.

 

[shunt2011]

I too quit using the filling tray. I rubber band them together and use a pipette. Works a charm, I can partially fill them, put them in the fridge and then top them off. No divots to worry about. Leaves a nice round finish as I over fill them just a bit. I don't make large amounts of one flavor. I make 12-20 of different flavors. I carry 12 flavors or more at any given time. They are good sellers for me.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

I always tend to overfill and the filler tray is great for that. I could probably get by without a major spill but I'm sure I'd spill a few drops.
Especially since I add labels to mine.
It would be a major headache for me to have to clean each tube so I could get the labels to stick properly.
It's also makes it easy to scrape off the excess and remelt.
I just wash my filler tray on the top rack of my dishwasher so it's super easy too.
I have two silicone filler trays so doing a second batch of a different flavor does not require cleaning in between. Though usually it's just so I can have a friend (s) make a batch the same time as me.
I couldn't imagine not using a filler tray.
But to each their own I guess!

 

[dixiedragon]

I am a devotee of the tray! I love to make lip balm, so what I will do is 2-3 batches of fruity flavors (same recipe), and I don't wash the tray or the cup in between. I figure a little cherry flavor in my grape batch isn't going to matter.

I make mine in 300 gram batches, which is 60 tubes. Sometimes I make 50 tubes, then put a tube in each corner to hold it steady and pour the other 10 tubes. But sometimes I put all that excess into a cup on the side, and after I make 2-3 batches of, say, Grape, Cherry and Raspberry, I'll combine that leftover 10 tubes worth into a Mixed Fruit batch.

If I am doing nekked lip balm (no flavor), I'll do a batch of that first, then follow up with a flavored batch. Sometimes I do a Peppermint batch, and follow that with a chocolate mint batch.

 

[Lin19687]

I just bought a tray. Years ago I tried the rubber band and I just make too much of a mess

 

[Amy78130]

I’ve had luck using my heat gun to re melt smaller batches super quick. That or I set it on my griddle to keep the oils and butters warm. I’ve even used my Scentsy warmer!!

 

[SoaperForLife]

I too quit using the filling tray. I rubber band them together and use a pipette

I could never get the pipette thing to work for me - the lip balm solution always seemed to harden up before I could get it in the tubes. I pour my solution into warmed pyrex measuring cups with the spout and then pour into the tubes...