Question about shelf life of lip balm

[christysfarm]

I make lip balm from a very simple recipe. Beeswax, sunflower oil, EO, and vit. E. It lasts for about 4-6 months and than gets hard, sticky and smells bad.

Any suggestions?

How long does your lip balms keep?

Christy

 

[pixybratt]

do you happen to know if your sunflower oil oil is high oleic? if not it could be going bad

 

[soapbuddy]

Your lip balm will last as long as the shortest shelf life of your oils. With that said, sometimes it's a crapshoot, as we don't know how long any of the oils sat on the vendor's shelf before being shipped to its final destination.

 

[christysfarm]

Thanks, I will have to look to see if the sunflower oil is high oleic. WHat do you do to lengthen the shelf life?

 

[christysfarm]

One more question. What oils are the most stable, have the longest shelf life?

 

[soapbuddy]

One more question. What oils are the most stable, have the longest shelf life?

Jojoba and fractionated coconut have a long shelf life.

 

[Earthchild]

I have found sunflower oil to go rancid within 3-6 months. Jojoba and coconut oil are very stable (1-2 years), and avocado, soybean, and rice bran oil tend to give you a year before going rancid. Hempseed is among the shortes, with assured rancidity within 3 months. That said, as posted previously, a lot of this depends on how long the oils have sat on the shelf. HTH!