successful first time lip balm!

[Zing]

Peeps, let's give it up for @IrishLass for sharing this recipe Lip balm . I was looking for a dupe of Burt's Bees. I made my first batch and love it. I buy a lot of Burts Bees lip balm and apply several times a day. However, with my new DIY lip balm, I've only applied once per day -- I think her recipe is superior to Burts Bees! I'm not going back to store bought -- it's so easy and cheap to make! I made 25 and have 75 more empty tubes to go. This Christmas, everyone's getting lip balm -- I may even have to make new friends!

 

[Catscankim]

I always said that Chapstick always makes you need more Chapstick. And i am talking about waaaay before i ever considered making my own. Now i will use nothing but my own. It lasts longer on your lips and you only need to use it occasionally.

i cant speak for burts bees. I only ever bought one once and it was tinted and made my lips look weird lol.

 

[Zing]

I always said that Chapstick always makes you need more Chapstick. And i am talking about waaaay before i ever considered making my own. Now i will use nothing but my own. It lasts longer on your lips and you only need to use it occasionally.

i cant speak for burts bees. I only ever bought one once and it was tinted and made my lips look weird lol.

I've been a long-time fan of burts bees, the one flavored with peppermint. But in doing my recent research in duping recipes, I learned that they were bought out by a corporation that made adjustments to the original recipe. I just finished my second batch!

 

[Ech0s]

How do you keep it from going grainy? Mine seem fine the 1st day but within a few days the grainy texture is back

 

[DeeAnna]

@Ech0s -- If you want better help, please provide your recipe so people can give good advice. The recipe you're using makes a big difference.

Speaking in general, lip balm can start out grainy or eventually become grainy if it contains shea or other fats that melt and harden at normal room air temperatures. They can gradually form small hard crystals as they warm up and cool down, even if they start out smooth.

Fats that stay solid at normal room temp don't usually become grainy if they start off smooth to begin with. Fats that stay liquid obviously can't become grainy.

Irish Lass's recipe the other posters are talking about doesn't contain shea.

 

[Ech0s]

My apologies!

0.2oz beeswax
0.15oz shea butter
0.15oz kokum butter
0.2oz cocoa butter
0.1 oz almond oil
0.1 oz jojoba oil
5 drops vitamin E
12-18 drops essential oil

I repeated and kept Ober heat for 1 hr and repoured. It stayed smooth until the next day and was grainy again.

 

[DeeAnna]

You need to get the balm cooled down faster. Slow cooling is why the larger, noticeable grains form.

Or find a recipe for lip balm that doesn't use shea, kokum, and cocoa butters, all of which can become grainy.

 

[Zing]

My apologies!

0.2oz beeswax
0.15oz shea butter
0.15oz kokum butter
0.2oz cocoa butter
0.1 oz almond oil
0.1 oz jojoba oil
5 drops vitamin E
12-18 drops essential oil

I repeated and kept Ober heat for 1 hr and repoured. It stayed smooth until the next day and was grainy again.

I'm no scientist but I read (and according to my dad, if it's on the internet, then it's true ) somewhere to heat shea butter over low to medium heat. I heat all my ingredients minus the shea first on high. When it's all melted, I turn down the heat to low and add shea.

If I could weigh in on your recipe, I'm wondering if you used just one butter at a time -- it might make it easier to pinpoint the problem.
Good luck!

 

[lianasouza]

Is there any butter that never becomes grainy?

 

[Ech0s]

I was trying to make a moisture stick for the chemo bags we were putting together and went overboard on the "oh this will feel nice" part. I was excited to help! I forgot to mention, I added sorbitol and only 1/2 of the EO listed (peppermint).

 

[Megan]

Is there any butter that never becomes grainy?

You can add additives that can help prevent/delay graininess, but I found that none prevented overall for me. Cera bellina is a popular one. I noticed that rather than going grainy when using that one, I got crystals that were visible but not textured. I still didn't like the effect so I took out the butters altogether.

 

[DeeAnna]

I've shared my lip balm elsewhere on SMF, but here it is again. Like Irish Lass's recipe, this one is another example of lip balm without nut butters --

Dee's Bees Lip Balm

Liquid oil #1 (high oleic sunflower is a good choice) ... 33.8%
Liquid oil #2 (jojoba is nice) ... 33.8%
Beeswax ... 31.5%

Essential oil blend (optional):
Sweet orange ... 0.5%
Red mandarin ... 0.3%
Rosemary verbenon ... 0.1%

Total ... 100%

All ingredients are measured by weight, not volume

Measure the beeswax and liquid fats into a small heat-proof container sitting in a warm water bath (bain marie). For this type of recipe, I often use a small glass canning jar to hold the fats and immerse it in a small saucepan of warm water that's as deep as possible. The deep pan of water warms the glass closer to the rim, so the balm remains more liquid as I pour it.

Warm the water in the bath to about 180F / 80C and let the beeswax melt, stirring occasionally. When fully melted and the mixture is clear, stir in the essential oil blend or other fragrance. Immediately pour into lip balm tubes or other containers. Let the balm cool undisturbed until the product is firm.

A 275 gram batch will fill about 50 regular-size (0.15 oz) lip balm tubes. A 90 gram batch will fill about 16 tubes.

This recipe as written passes my "pocket test" -- the balm in a regular lip balm tube doesn't melt in my pants pocket. It also passes the Iowa winter test -- the balm remains soft enough when it's cold to glide smoothly over sore chapped lips.

Your results may be different than mine, however, so plan to test and adjust the proportions to get the consistency you want. More wax (or less oil) will make the balm firmer and more melt resistant. Less wax (or more oil) will make the balm softer and more melty.

This recipe can be used on the face or other skin -- "Egyptian Magic" is one commercial product like this and another is Cindy Joseph's "Boom" sticks. To adapt this recipe to be more similar to the Boom and Egyptian Magic facial sticks, I'd replace the sunflower and jojoba with mildly-scented olive oil. If the beeswax is from a local beekeeper, the wax will naturally have propolis and pollen in it -- the lemon to butter yellow color is proof of that. If the beeswax is a nearly white product from a B&B supplier, it's most likely been filtered, deodorized, and bleached, so none of the propolis or pollen (or the wonderful scent) remains.

Boom sticks also have honey in them (not sure about the Egyptian Magic, speaking from memory.) You're on your own if you want to add water-soluble ingredients such as honey. Without an emulsifier, the honey may separate out unless you use only a tiny, tiny amount of honey. Also, adding a lip-safe preservative is mandatory if using honey, because honey will not function as a preservative when diluted. I want my balm simple to make and safe to use, so I never include water soluble ingredients.

Also see Boomsilk moisturizer dupe

 

[Hope Ann]

Peeps, let's give it up for @IrishLass for sharing this recipe Lip balm . I was looking for a dupe of Burt's Bees.

Thank you for this. They discontinued the man's fave one and I never could dupe it. Merry Christmas to him!

Hope

 

[Ech0s]

Thank you so much everyone! This helps out tremendously

 

[JillGat]

Peeps, let's give it up for @IrishLass for sharing this recipe Lip balm . I was looking for a dupe of Burt's Bees. I made my first batch and love it. I buy a lot of Burts Bees lip balm and apply several times a day. However, with my new DIY lip balm, I've only applied once per day -- I think her recipe is superior to Burts Bees! I'm not going back to store bought -- it's so easy and cheap to make! I made 25 and have 75 more empty tubes to go. This Christmas, everyone's getting lip balm -- I may even have to make new friends!

Okay, old thread I know, but I just started looking into lotion balm recipes. Zing's link above goes to a potential recipe from IrishLass, but it says she hadn't tried it yet. Did you @IrishLass post your recipe somewhere? I looked around and saw lots of helpful tips (thanks!) but not your actual recipe, if you posted it. Thanks in advance!

 

[Zing]

Okay, old thread I know, but I just started looking into lotion balm recipes. Zing's link above goes to a potential recipe from IrishLass, but it says she hadn't tried it yet. Did you @IrishLass post your recipe somewhere? I looked around and saw lots of helpful tips (thanks!) but not your actual recipe, if you posted it. Thanks in advance!

Here's @IrishLass 's recipe, Lip balm . It's the one I use except I leave out lanolin, sweetener and rosemary oleserin (don't know how to spell it). I get lotsa positive feedback from myself and other users.

 

[JillGat]

Hi, Yes, I saw that post but it was one she hadn't tried. It sounds like you have, though @Zing and liked it!

 

[dmcgee5034]

@JillGat - see @DeeAnna recipe in post #12. It was super easy and it’s lovely!

 

[JillGat]

I've shared my lip balm elsewhere on SMF, but here it is again. Like Irish Lass's recipe, this one is another example of lip balm without nut butters --

Dee's Bees Lip Balm

Liquid oil #1 (high oleic sunflower is a good choice) ... 33.8%
Liquid oil #2 (jojoba is nice) ... 33.8%
Beeswax ... 31.5%

Essential oil blend (optional):
Sweet orange ... 0.5%
Red mandarin ... 0.3%
Rosemary verbenon ... 0.1%

Total ... 100%

All ingredients are measured by weight, not volume

Measure the beeswax and liquid fats into a small heat-proof container sitting in a warm water bath (bain marie). For this type of recipe, I often use a small glass canning jar to hold the fats and immerse it in a small saucepan of warm water that's as deep as possible. The deep pan of water warms the glass closer to the rim, so the balm remains more liquid as I pour it.

Warm the water in the bath to about 180F / 80C and let the beeswax melt, stirring occasionally. When fully melted and the mixture is clear, stir in the essential oil blend or other fragrance. Immediately pour into lip balm tubes or other containers. Let the balm cool undisturbed until the product is firm.

A 275 gram batch will fill about 50 regular-size (0.15 oz) lip balm tubes. A 90 gram batch will fill about 16 tubes.

This recipe as written passes my "pocket test" -- the balm in a regular lip balm tube doesn't melt in my pants pocket. It also passes the Iowa winter test -- the balm remains soft enough when it's cold to glide smoothly over sore chapped lips.

Your results may be different than mine, however, so plan to test and adjust the proportions to get the consistency you want. More wax (or less oil) will make the balm firmer and more melt resistant. Less wax (or more oil) will make the balm softer and more melty.

This recipe can be used on the face or other skin -- "Egyptian Magic" is one commercial product like this and another is Cindy Joseph's "Boom" sticks. To adapt this recipe to be more similar to the Boom and Egyptian Magic facial sticks, I'd replace the sunflower and jojoba with mildly-scented olive oil. If the beeswax is from a local beekeeper, the wax will naturally have propolis and pollen in it -- the lemon to butter yellow color is proof of that. If the beeswax is a nearly white product from a B&B supplier, it's most likely been filtered, deodorized, and bleached, so none of the propolis or pollen (or the wonderful scent) remains.

Boom sticks also have honey in them (not sure about the Egyptian Magic, speaking from memory.) You're on your own if you want to add water-soluble ingredients such as honey. Without an emulsifier, the honey may separate out unless you use only a tiny, tiny amount of honey. Also, adding a lip-safe preservative is mandatory if using honey, because honey will not function as a preservative when diluted. I want my balm simple to make and safe to use, so I never include water soluble ingredients.

Also see Boomsilk moisturizer dupe

WHERE does one find high oleic sunflower oil?

 

[artemis]

WHERE does one find high oleic sunflower oil?

I picked up a bottle to experiment with at the grocery store. It says on the label.l wether or not it's high oleic.