Lip balm advice.

[MelissaG]

Well, the stevia extract tastes great! It didn’t blend in as good as I’d hoped. But it mostly stayed suspended. This bit of sediment at the bottom was disappointing.

Try the brand Lakanto. It tastes just like sugar but very slightly less sweet. It's made with monk fruit and erythritol. Erythritol can give stomach aches in large amounts but they are mixed at an amount that just tastes good without side effects. You can get it at walmart. My husband has diabetes so I've been forced to look for alternatives. It's not cheap though.

 

[TashaBird]

Try the brand Lakanto. It tastes just like sugar but very slightly less sweet. It's made with monk fruit and erythritol. Erythritol can give stomach aches in large amounts but they are mixed at an amount that just tastes good without side effects. You can get it at walmart. My husband has diabetes so I've been forced to look for alternatives. It's not cheap though.

You e used it for lip balm?! I thought erythritol was grainy.

 

[TashaBird]

Current workings on lip balm. Reformulating again due to cocoa butter being quadrupled the cost it once was. Loving using Deanna’s lip balm ratios with my preferred fats/oils! Currently pocket testing that recipe. But I think I like a slightly thicker balm like my previous recipe. The stevia extract is super potent! I reduced one batch by half and will reduce it again. Loving the rose flavor oil from bulk apothecary! Highly recommend it if you love rose!! Will add more mica to my tinted batch next time. Hate the mess of Kraft tubes! But just ordered more of the black cardboard tubes which I love!!
Was wondering if my honey worked so well long ago because it looked like this…instead of this. Started looking into removing moisture from honey, but will probably just stick to the new stevia extract I got.

 

[dmcgee5034]

That container of Stevia powder will probably last a lifetime, but they do have liquid, if the powder didn’t dissolve as nicely as you’d like. Stevia Liquid

 

[Tammyfarms]

@TashaBird

Current workings on lip balm. Reformulating again due to cocoa butter being quadrupled the cost it once was. Loving using Deanna’s lip balm ratios with my preferred fats/oils! Currently pocket testing that recipe. But I think I like a slightly thicker balm like my previous recipe.

I was just looking at cocoa butter and those prices!

The stevia extract is super potent! I reduced one batch by half and will reduce it again.

Do you mind sharing how much stevia you used with how much lip balm? I am putting a last minute batch of balm together and want to try sweetening it up.

 

[CLMP]

I'm planing to make chap stick for my son and I'm wondering how much lanolin and glycerine I would add to the recipe. I'm making enough for 10 tubes. Also wondering what kind of lanolin do I buy? Lanolin or lanolin oil. If some one knows what percentage of each to use in a recipe I would be so happy I'm having trouble finding the right info about it. Thanks so much.

 

[CLMP]

So I made lip balm almost 4 years ago. I posted about it on here and was read the riot act because I’d used 10grams of honey to my 200g fats and butters. I’ve been waiting all these years for it to show any sign of spoilage or going bad. I’ve used it all day everyday, and I am at my last bit of my last tube. So, I respect the opinions and experience here, and in an attempt to “improve” my recipe I tried honey powder. I also used a different flavor combo: essential oil mixed w glycerine flavoring. The honey powder hasn’t really added any sweetness, and it is a tad grainy. Without the sweet the flavor has a tinge of bitterness. I’m still waiting for them to harden for the final test.
Now before I remake the flavor color combo that I and my customers have loved over the years, I want to get this right. My instinct is to remake it exactly as I did before. Why shouldn’t I use the honey? I know there’s a small percentage of water in honey. But I’ve had zero problems over 4 years.
Please advice, experience, and opinionsView attachment 78775?

Anyone use monkfruit to sweeten lip balm? Something like this? https://a.co/d/3sF6Qiv

Ooh! I have glycerine! Can I sweeten lip balm with that?! Trying hard to use what I have on hand. Wish the honey powder wasn’t grainy!! Really just want to use honey like I did before, but trying to heed advice.

I think this’ll make more than 12 lip balms!

I don't know much about lip balm I'm trying to learn how to make some right now and I came across a article that says too use raw honey that it won't seperate so I thought I should mention it in case it's right.

 

[A-Polly]

I'm planing to make chap stick for my son and I'm wondering how much lanolin and glycerine I would add to the recipe. I'm making enough for 10 tubes. Also wondering what kind of lanolin do I buy? Lanolin or lanolin oil. If some one knows what percentage of each to use in a recipe I would be so happy I'm having trouble finding the right info about it. Thanks so much.

Hi @CLMP,
Here is a recipe from Humblebee & Me that uses lanolin; maybe Marie's percentages will help you work out your formula. One thing: she used HPA (highly purified anhydrous) lanolin because the regular lanolin has such a strong and unpleasantly musty (sheepy?) smell. The HPA stuff is a sticky sort of salve that comes in a tube and I've bought it at a regular pharmacy. There's a picture of the exact kind I found in Marie's recipe description (she's located in Canada, but I am not). Good luck!

 

[Tammyfarms]

I'm planing to make chap stick for my son and I'm wondering how much lanolin and glycerine I would add to the recipe. I'm making enough for 10 tubes. Also wondering what kind of lanolin do I buy? Lanolin or lanolin oil. If some one knows what percentage of each to use in a recipe I would be so happy I'm having trouble finding the right info about it. Thanks so much.

I use regular lanolin and it does have a strong sheepy smell but I use so little that it doesn’t come through in the finished product. Here’s my recipe:
34% tallow
34% Cacay oil
28% beeswax
2% lanolin
2% peppermint EO 2nd distill

I haven’t tried adding glycerine or honey as I think both are water soluble and could separate?

 

[CLMP]

I use regular lanolin and it does have a strong sheepy smell but I use so little that it doesn’t come through in the finished product. Here’s my recipe:
34% tallow
34% Cacay oil
28% beeswax
2% lanolin
2% peppermint EO 2nd distill

I haven’t tried adding glycerine or honey as I think both are water soluble and could separate?

Oh thank you I will keep this in mind. I've never tried tallow yet but I would like to try it in the future for soaping too. I'm going to try making lip balm for the first time today so I decided to wait to use lanolin and glycerine for another time cause I'm not sure how much to use of either. Plus I wasn't sure about what kind of lanolin to buy when I made my order so I decided not use it this time around. I'm going try a simple recipe with coconut, shea, and almond oil and peppermint EO.

Oh thank you I will keep this in mind. I've never tried tallow yet but I would like to try it in the future for soaping too. I'm going to try making lip balm for the first time today so I decided to wait to use lanolin and glycerine for another time cause I'm not sure how much to use of either. Plus I wasn't sure about what kind of lanolin to buy when I made my order so I decided not use it this time around. I'm going try a simple recipe with coconut, shea, and almond oil and peppermint EO.

Wow I'm done making my peppermint lip balm for the guys in my family and pink cherry flavoured lip gloss for me. I used pretty in pink for color and it's shimmering on my lips and it's soooo nice.

 

[squidstings]

I'm planing to make chap stick for my son and I'm wondering how much lanolin and glycerine I would add to the recipe. I'm making enough for 10 tubes. Also wondering what kind of lanolin do I buy? Lanolin or lanolin oil. If some one knows what percentage of each to use in a recipe I would be so happy I'm having trouble finding the right info about it. Thanks so much.

Lanolin is an oil.

Are you emulsifying the Glycerine in? Without your recipe, I'll just mention, glycerine can be tricky. Especially for 10 tubes. That was my first batch size. Glycerine is something I'm still in the middle of challenges with.

You're making such a small batch, you could test more than you're planning on using.
I'd suggest fixing your skin benefits, as you feel to, then adding in the firmness (waxes or butters).
Have extra tubes on hand too.

 

[CLMP]

I bought a couple of bottles of lip balm flavor oil and I'm wondering if I should store it in the fridge.

 

[AliOop]

I bought a couple of bottles of lip balm flavor oil and I'm wondering if I should store it in the fridge.

I store mine at room temp and have never had any issues with that.

 

[squidstings]

Oh thank you I will keep this in mind. I've never tried tallow yet but I would like to try it in the future for soaping too. I'm going to try making lip balm for the first time today so I decided to wait to use lanolin and glycerine for another time cause I'm not sure how much to use of either. Plus I wasn't sure about what kind of lanolin to buy when I made my order so I decided not use it this time around. I'm going try a simple recipe with coconut, shea, and almond oil and peppermint EO.

I missed some of this.
You'll need an emulsifier for glycerine with that recipe. I'd suggest sunflower lecithin. My thinking is that sunflower oil carries deeper into the skin than soy. My understanding is that they're more natural (more of an extract than concoction would be my qualifier here) but I haven't gotten there yet. Just What I've found so far.

I LOVE Shea for lip balm!!! I've found that Shea ne

eds to be tempered. Heat it to 80C for 20 minutes and cool the tubes quickly. Otherwise you'll get what I describe as rice crispise forming (crystalization). That'll happen over months anyway (got 3 tubes going, 2 years old. long test). But if you don't temper it, you'll get them within hours/days.


I cut my beeswax down to almost nothing in favor of cocoa butter to stop clogged pores. Balls and tubes survived the dryer.