Honey in lip balm without emulsifier & preservative

[apples]

I wanted to make lip balm with honey in it but after much research, it seems not advisable (if not impossible) without emulsifier and preservative. Some said they've successfully incorporated honey in lip balm by stirring and stirring until the balm cooled and hardened up. The recipe is pretty basic 1:1:1 of beeswax, butter, soft oil + 2% honey.

3 questions:
1) is it really possible to mix in the honey like this without separation issue even after months?
2) and not using preservative?
3) how to "pour" hardened lip balm into tubes/pot? [emoji848]

 

[shunt2011]

I don't use nor recommend using honey. Honey is water soluble and will seep out. Then you also have to worry about the sugar content and will feed the bugs/mold etc... it would need a preservative. I've seen folks say they use it but I sure won't.

 

[dixiedragon]

These are good guidelines:
A simple formula to help guide you in lip balms formulations:
20% Beeswax
25% Butters/Oils that are solid at room temperature. These butters are on the soft side. (mango, shea)
15% Butters that are hard at room temperature. These butters are on the brittle side. (cocoa butter, kokum butter)
40% Oils that are liquid at room temperature
These percentages should equal 100%.

A standard .15 oz tube will hold 6 grams of lip balm.

So, right off the bat your 1:1:1 recipe would be MUCH too hard. If you want to try the method you describe, I'd use a recipe with the proportions I mentioned, then put the balm in little pots with a spatula, vs pouring into a tube. But using yellow (not deodorized) beeswax will give you a lovely honey scent/taste. Use deodorized cocoa butter, or something relatively scent free like kokum, so the honey scent won't have any competitors.

 

[DeeAnna]

If you make lip balm with honey and stir enough to keep the honey droplets very small while the balm is cooling, the honey might be stable enough in the balm to stay incorporated for awhile, but you're counting on conditions being just right for this to happen. Variations in temperature that come from normal use can easily cause a non-emulsified mixture to separate and weep.

I've seen a whipped body butter in my local organic grocery store that didn't have any emulsifier to keep the water-based ingredients incorporated in the fats. The product when I saw it in the store had watery liquid seeping out of the fats. That was an ugly mess -- the product really needed a chemical emulsifier.

Emulsifier or not, that doesn't address the problem of microbial growth that will happen when carbohydrates (the honey) is combined with fats and microbial contamination from one's skin and lips. A preservative is essential.

I agree with Shari and Dixie. And I especially agree with Dixie about the amazing scent you can get from minimally processed beeswax. Find a local beekeeper who can provide "cappings wax" or "honey comb wax" from her bees. Buy beeswax based on appearance and smell -- it should be pale to medium yellow and have a pleasant scent to get the nicest appearance and fragrance in your products. Bleached and refined wax you get from suppliers isn't the same.

 

[apples]

Thanks shunt and deeanna, guess honey is a no for me now [emoji17] probably better if I just eat em all [emoji16]

And thanks to Dixie for the suggestions. I'll give it a try, this will be my first time making lip balm. Appreciate the advice.

Dad got me the comb (I'm not sure which part though) and I render the beeswax myself. It is pale yellow and smells really nice! Can't wait to use some of it.

 

[DeeAnna]

If the wax was a mush of bits and pieces, your dad probably got cappings wax. If the wax was in larger intact pieces, it was honey comb. Either way -- lucky you!

 

[IrishLass]

I have an experimental honey lip balm on my list of things to try making that I formulated loosely based on the honey lip creme recipe over at The Sage (MMS), and also some discussions over at the Dish forum about honey in lip balm. There's no preservative in the MMS formula, but based on the discussions over at the Dish forum, I've formulated mine to have one, and I've also formulated it to have 2 emulsifiers in it: lanolin and the conditioning emulsifier that MMS sells which can be used in lip balms. I've yet to make it, but I should mention that it is something I'll only be making for my own personal use because of the potential for it to go south. For what it's worth, this is my formula:

23% high-melt shea butter
20% natural beeswax
19.15% sweet almond oil
10% castor oil
10% natural cocoa butter
5.25% Butter EZ
5% Lanolin
3% flavor
2% honey
2% conditioning emulsifier
.5% vitamin E T-50
.1% phenonop

Edited to add my plan of action to heat the emulsifying wax separately and add the honey and lanolin to it and set aside while I heat my hard fats and beeswax. Once the hard fats/beeswax are melted, I'll add the liquid oils to them and then add in the honey/lanolin/conditioning emulsifier and then pour once combined.


IrishLass

 

[apples]

Thanks for sharing! I've been gathering recipes the whole day so I could read them all over during the weekend and maybe make some small batches or order some supplies if needed (emulsifier and preservative maybe, depending on whether I still want honey by then haha!)

 

[MGM]

I'm confused....a few threads up, there's a recipe for Egyptian Magic cream (ingredients: olive oil, beeswax, honey, bee pollen, bee propolis, and royal jelly) with no emulsifier and no preservative. Here we have a recipe for honey lip balm with more oil-based ingredients and 2% honey (vs 10% honey plus other bee products), but both an emulsifier and preservative are recommended. Why?

 

[DeeAnna]

@MGM -- It depends on who is participating in a thread as to what might be said or not said. If you feel one or the other of these threads contains poor or incomplete information, then by all means jump in and give your opinion.

 

[SaltedFig]

I'm confused....a few threads up, there's a recipe for Egyptian Magic cream (ingredients: olive oil, beeswax, honey, bee pollen, bee propolis, and royal jelly) with no emulsifier and no preservative. Here we have a recipe for honey lip balm with more oil-based ingredients and 2% honey (vs 10% honey plus other bee products), but both an emulsifier and preservative are recommended. Why?

Sugaring is a preservative method that, like salting, causes bacteria to lose water.

In lip balm, at 2%, honey would attract moisture and taste and smell nice, but have little or no preservative ability (the sugar content is low, so the honey may become a food source for the microbes instead).

While I'm not familiar with the Egyptian Magic cream, perhaps it uses the honey/sugars in a high enough concentration to work as a sugaring preservative.
Note: Sugaring, like salting, is not foolproof, but it's the basis of older preservative techniques (glace fruit is a classic example).

You might like to read this brief summary: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-salt-and-sugar-pre/

 

[DeeAnna]

@SaltedFig -- No, the Egyptian Magic balm not self preserving. See for yourself if you like -- https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/egyptian-magic-all-purpose-skin-cream-bee-keepers.72747/

 

[SaltedFig]

@SaltedFig -- No, the Egyptian Magic balm not self preserving. See for yourself if you like -- https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/egyptian-magic-all-purpose-skin-cream-bee-keepers.72747/

That's the thread where the Egyptian Magic balm is discussed.
There's nothing in that thread commenting one way or another on whether the sugar is in sufficient quantity to have some preservative effect.
As I stated in my reply, I am not familiar with the product to know one way or another how much sugar it contains or how much of a preservative action the sugars it does contain would have.

(The reply I made for @MGM was to provide the concept of sugar preservation, so the idea could be explored as a potential answer to the question asked).

 

[DeeAnna]

"...While I'm not familiar with the Egyptian Magic cream, perhaps it uses the honey/sugars in a high enough concentration to work as a sugaring preservative...."

I was responding to this statement. The balm isn't self preserving. That's all I wanted to say.

"...The reply I made for @MGM was to provide the concept of sugar preservation..."

I thought you were commenting specifically on the subject, not commenting in general. My apologies for misunderstanding.

 

[SaltedFig]

"...While I'm not familiar with the Egyptian Magic cream, perhaps it uses the honey/sugars in a high enough concentration to work as a sugaring preservative...."

I was responding to this statement. The balm isn't self preserving. That's all I wanted to say.

"...The reply I made for @MGM was to provide the concept of sugar preservation..."

I thought you were commenting specifically on the subject, not commenting in general. My apologies for misunderstanding.

I was commenting specifically on the subject, and introduced the concept of sugars as a preservative (with a link to provide a little more information).

@MGM, the product also contains propolis, which has it's own antimicrobial action.

As I mentioned earlier, I do not know this particular product, but it is interesting to look at the alternatives.
(Here's one where propolis is being looked at as a preservative for orange juice!: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29051632)

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I made this recipe (4 dozen lippies at a time) for a wholesale customer for over a year with no negative feedback. It sold very well. The trick is to stir it up to keep the honey incorporated while it cools to room temp. Fridge overnight. Reheat and pour the next day.

Do take good care with the Pyrex or Borosilicate glass container. Do not set hot glass on a cold surface. I have a wooden cutting board next to my microwave that I use just for that purpose.

HONEY BEE LIP BALM
Ingredients: Almond oil, avocado oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, lanolin, honey.

MMS Recipe (tweaked)
https://www.thesage.com/recipes/recipes.php?.State=Display&id=17

25 grams Sweet Almond Oil
20 grams Avocado Oil
20 grams Beeswax (I use pastilles)
15 grams Cocoa Butter
10 grams Coconut Oil
10 grams Lanolin
100 grams TOTAL
2 grams Honey, warmed (2%)

Nuke all ingredients except honey in 2-cup Pyrex, 5 minutes @ 3 (Defrost) until liquid. Add warm honey. Use popsicle stick to mix well. Set timer. Stir every 15 minutes for a hour until it returns to room temperature. Fridge overnight. Reheat. Add MMS Honey Flavor Oil (optional). Stir. Pour into lip containers when temp cools to 160°F (71°C). Cap when all tubes are cooled. Makes 22 lip balms (more or less)

NOTES: MMS Honey Flavor Oil is spot on! Lanolin is sticky stuff. I use 2 popsicle sticks; 1 to dip out with one hand; the other in the other hand to weigh and scrape into the batch. I use local honey for its beneficial qualities.

FWIW: I learned watching "Jeopardy" that honey has the longest shelf life (3 years ?) of any product on our kitchen shelves. I've had it crystalize, but never saw even a miniscule drop of water. Just my experience.

ETA: Honey as a natural preservative: https://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/honey-food-yeast-natural-preservative/

 

[Amy78130]

You could also use CAP-2 from TKB. It’s a lip safe preservative that is oil soluable! A little btms would probably feel nice as an emulsifyer. I’m attempting to formulate a recipe, I’ll let you know how it turns out!!

 

[redhead1226]

I have an experimental honey lip balm on my list of things to try making that I formulated loosely based on the honey lip creme recipe over at The Sage (MMS), and also some discussions over at the Dish forum about honey in lip balm. There's no preservative in the MMS formula, but based on the discussions over at the Dish forum, I've formulated mine to have one, and I've also formulated it to have 2 emulsifiers in it: lanolin and the conditioning emulsifier that MMS sells which can be used in lip balms. I've yet to make it, but I should mention that it is something I'll only be making for my own personal use because of the potential for it to go south. For what it's worth, this is my formula:

23% high-melt shea butter
20% natural beeswax
19.15% sweet almond oil
10% castor oil
10% natural cocoa butter
5.25% Butter EZ
5% Lanolin
3% flavor
2% honey
2% conditioning emulsifier
.5% vitamin E T-50
.1% phenonop

Edited to add my plan of action to heat the emulsifying wax separately and add the honey and lanolin to it and set aside while I heat my hard fats and beeswax. Once the hard fats/beeswax are melted, I'll add the liquid oils to them and then add in the honey/lanolin/conditioning emulsifier and then pour once combined.

Where can you get the Butter EZ? I thought it was discontinued.

 

[Amy78130]

I think someone mentioned natra butter from the herbarie having the same inci as butter ez

 

[redhead1226]

I think someone mentioned natra butter from the herbarie having the same inci as butter ez

It was discontinued as well.