Lip balm advice.

[Tammyfarms]

Made a batch of lip balm today with peppermint eo and lip balm sweetener from WSP. It is stevia in coconut oil. Not sure I like it, the initial flavor is fine, it’s nicely sweet. The downside is that it has an aftertaste, like most things sweetened with stevia. Gave a tube to a tester to see what she thinks. Hubby thinks it’s fine. I don’t trust my impression as I’m super sensitive to many things - freakishly so.

 

[MelissaG]

Made a batch of lip balm today with peppermint eo and lip balm sweetener from WSP. It is stevia in coconut oil. Not sure I like it, the initial flavor is fine, it’s nicely sweet. The downside is that it has an aftertaste, like most things sweetened with stevia. Gave a tube to a tester to see what she thinks. Hubby thinks it’s fine. I don’t trust my impression as I’m super sensitive to many things - freakishly so.

I don't like stevia. It's a terrible aftertaste. I usually don't bother adding anything to it. If you really want to add some sweetness to it, try using Lakanto brand sugar alternative. It's monkfruit and erythritol. It's almost as sweet as regular sugar and tastes great. The only thing is that erythritol is a sugar alcohol which has been known to cause stomach aches in large doses. With the amounts used in lip balms, it shouldn't do anything. I just thought I'd give a warning. It's more expensive than stevia but tastes way better. My husband is a diabetic. I've been looking at alternatives to sugar.

 

[AliOop]

All the store-bought stevia powders taste horrible to me, unless I mix them with another sweetener. That’s probably why the only stevia I can tolerate is stevia glycerite - that is, mixed in glycerin rather than alcohol. The glycerin has its own sweetness that offsets the stevIa’s bitterness.

Oh, and we grew stevia for awhile; our dried and powdered leaves had zero bitter taste to them. Sadly, it took such a large amount of the powder to taste the sweetness that we abandoned that project.

Back to your question, @Tammyfarms i think the issue with powdered anything is getting it to suspend in your balm and not feel grainy. The stevia glycerite would not be grainy, but again, it won’t mix well with the balm.

Hopefully someone else will have a good answer for you. Otherwise, I do find that peppermint EO can be fine on its own if you find one that is less medicinal and more sweet to start with, and you use a fairly small amount.

 

[squidstings]

Just saying, I'm finding pure 100% stevia around $40/lb. Most "stevia" is a mix.

Would xylitol/birch sugar work? As an intended sugar connoisseur (baby bottles full of simple syrup screw up your sensitivity for sweetness), it's got the sweetest aftertaste of the non-sugars.

 

[Tammyfarms]

All the store-bought stevia powders taste horrible to me, unless I mix them with another sweetener. That’s probably why the only stevia I can tolerate is stevia glycerite - that is, mixed in glycerin rather than alcohol. The glycerin has its own sweetness that offsets the stevIa’s bitterness.

Oh, and we grew stevia for awhile; our dried and powdered leaves had zero bitter taste to them. Sadly, it took such a large amount of the powder to taste the sweetness that we abandoned that project.

Back to your question, @Tammyfarms i think the issue with powdered anything is getting it to suspend in your balm and not feel grainy. The stevia glycerite would not be grainy, but again, it won’t mix well with the balm.

Hopefully someone else will have a good answer for you. Otherwise, I do find that peppermint EO can be fine on its own if you find one that is less medicinal and more sweet to start with, and you use a fairly small amount.

Thank you. The sweetener I bought is from WSP and already mixed in coconut oil. I have the same issue with the store bought powders - ick. I also grew stevia and it was also a one season attempt, for the same reason as you. It took so much to make a difference. If I remember correctly, by the time there was much sweet, whatever I was sweetening also started tasting a bit green.

I have been using BB 2nd distill peppermint by itself and I like it just fine. Was hoping hubby would be more inclined to use it if it was sweeter, he is a cheery chapstick guy. Will probably try using some cherry candy sweetener at some point.
For anyone interested, I used the WSP sweetener at 3%, instructions say it can be used at up to 10%.

I don't like stevia. It's a terrible aftertaste. I usually don't bother adding anything to it. If you really want to add some sweetness to it, try using Lakanto brand sugar alternative. It's monkfruit and erythritol. It's almost as sweet as regular sugar and tastes great. The only thing is that erythritol is a sugar alcohol which has been known to cause stomach aches in large doses. With the amounts used in lip balms, it shouldn't do anything. I just thought I'd give a warning. It's more expensive than stevia but tastes way better. My husband is a diabetic. I've been looking at alternatives to sugar.

Thank you, do you know if the Lakanto sweetener is oil soluble?

 

[AliOop]

I have been using BB 2nd distill peppermint by itself and I like it just fine. Was hoping hubby would be more inclined to use it if it was sweeter, he is a cheery chapstick guy. Will probably try using some cherry candy sweetener at some point.

I really like the cherry from Nature's Oil, which I purchased on destash. I cannot find it on their website, so perhaps they have discontinued it.

I also grew stevia and it was also a one season attempt, for the same reason as you. It took so much to make a difference. If I remember correctly, by the time there was much sweet, whatever I was sweetening also started tasting a bit green.

Sadly, "tasting a bit green" is the perfect description. Oh well, it was fun experimenting! At some point I may try again to see if, like many greens, it becomes sweeter with colder weather. But my understanding is that this is due to the reaction of sugars to the cold temps, so that may be a bust.

 

[MelissaG]

Thank you. The sweetener I bought is from WSP and already mixed in coconut oil. I have the same issue with the store bought powders - ick. I also grew stevia and it was also a one season attempt, for the same reason as you. It took so much to make a difference. If I remember correctly, by the time there was much sweet, whatever I was sweetening also started tasting a bit green.

I have been using BB 2nd distill peppermint by itself and I like it just fine. Was hoping hubby would be more inclined to use it if it was sweeter, he is a cheery chapstick guy. Will probably try using some cherry candy sweetener at some point.
For anyone interested, I used the WSP sweetener at 3%, instructions say it can be used at up to 10%.

Thank you, do you know if the Lakanto sweetener is oil soluble?

I didn't have a problem with it but it needs to be hot enough to properly melt it.

 

[Tammyfarms]

Sadly, "tasting a bit green" is the perfect description. Oh well, it was fun experimenting! At some point I may try again to see if, like many greens, it becomes sweeter with colder weather. But my understanding is that this is due to the reaction of sugars to the cold temps, so that may be a bust.

Yeah, green and oatmeal or coffee really don’t go together.
My experiment was in NC so definitely no cold weather during the growing season. Might be worth another try in Idaho.