Saturday 3 November 2007

Make Your Own Lip Balm!

Burt's Beeswax Lip Balm - How it works

"This natural lip balm moisturizes lips with ingredients like ultra-emollient lanolin, coconut oil and sunflower oil, and seals in hydration with beeswax. You can use it on healthy lips for a little peppermint tingle. Take your pick of an old-fashioned yellow tin or a recycled plastic tube. No wonder it is our most popular product.

Ingredients: Tube: beeswax, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, mentha piperita (peppermint) oil, tocopheryl acetate, lanolin, symphytum officinale (comfrey) root extract, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil, tocopherol"

The above excerpt was taken from the Burt's Bees website. I chose to use the ingredients list for their lip balm cause it happens to be insanely popular.

However, today we're going to formulate our very own honey and beeswax lip balm!

I'll tell you what we won't use in our recipe though. Lanolin. It is a greasy yellow, almost waxy substance that is obtained from the serbaceous glands of wool bearing animals such as sheep. No sheep are harmed when lanolin is extracted as it comes from the wool itself and not the animal. It is an excellent emollient and lubricant, absorbs readily into the skin and is wonderful in treating chapped lips among other dry skin conditions. So why am I omitting this wonderful ingredient? I'm not vegetarian, I just have this thing against using animal fat like beef tallow, lard or human fat from liposuction (think Tyler Durden in Fight Club!) in things like my soap. And I don't want to be licking off wool fat from my lips. So all my creations are vegetarian (includes eggs) and mostly vegan. Do incorporate it if you like though!

Fact: Lanolin is a key ingredient in Oil of Olay.

One thing we will add though: honey! Honey is a humectant, meaning it draws moisture to the skin and it keeps it soft and hydrated. Vegetable glycerine works similarly and you can use that if you are allergic to honey, it even tastes sweet! However, we use honey here because of the beeswax, because it tastes yummy and because its all-natural! Glycerine is a sugar alcohol and depending on how you look at it, it is either nearly natural or natural. It is a by product of the oils from soapmaking and biodiesel production.

Regarding peppermint essential oil, there have been contradicting reports . Some experts claim that peppermint oil can be drying for the lips and the tingling sensation is addictive. On the other hand, some claim that peppermint oil is moisturising. Lip plumpers contain peppermint oil sometimes as it is a mild irritant causing blood to flow and the lips to swell temporarily. What do you think?

Now what oils do we use! Desicions, decisions. Okay! I leave the decision up to you! Olive oil, jojoba oil, macadamia oil, shea butter, cocoa butter. In this recipe I use cocoa butter for its emollient properties and the light chocolatey scent and macadamia oil because its nice and rich, doesn't absorb as readily so you get a nice glossy layer on your lips.

However, for the pictures I was experimenting with a different oil and used avocado oil because the avocado is an amazing fruit and so good for you in so many ways. I was worried the green oil would colour the balm and I was right. Yellowish green, umm not very attractive. Still it felt divine on my lips and stayed on well despite my constant licking. You know, I think extra virgin olive oil may colour the lip balm as well so use a lighter coloured olive oil if that's what you plan on using.

Beeswax and Honey Lip Balm

  • 3 tsp macadamia oil
  • 2 tsp beeswax
  • 2 tsp cocoa butter
  • 1 capsule of vitamin E
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 5 drops of vanilla extract (optional)




Heat the beeswax, cocoa butter and macadamia oil in a double boiler or a saucepan on low heat.



When the beeswax and cocoa butter have melted, add the oil from the Vitamin E capsule. Just prick a hole with a knife and squeeze out the oil. Add the honey then remove from heat. Take the top pot out of the bottom pot if you're using a double boiler. Keep stirring and add the vanilla extract. Continue stirring until it has cooled somewhat or thickened slightly (I let it thicken a little too much).



This way you can make sure the honey and vanilla wont separate. Really, it's not meant to as the beeswax is an emulsifier (helps bond water and oil). Spoon it in to a lip balm pot.

I used up all my lip balm pots for my various lip balm recipes so in a pinch, I used empty contact lens cases which I sterilised in boiling water. See!



Well I had to use something! And I'm recycling :)

That's it! Experiment, it's always fun! Enjoy!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so cute, I will definitely be trying it! I just ran out of my Burt's Bees lip balm, so perfect timing! x]

Now, I actually have a question for you. I have gotten quite a lot of red marks on my face from old acne. For the past two and a half weeks, I've been using Meladerm Pigment Reducing Complex, since it seemed the most natural pigment fader I'd come across. It says to practice diligent sun care while using the product, but I'm so afraid that any sunscreen I use will clog my pores and cause more zits! Any suggestions? I have fair skin and generally avoid the sun (I've probably gotten little more than five minutes of direct sunlight in the past two weeks), but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thank you, your tutorials are fantastic!
- Lauren (lapuskas@yahoo.com)

P.S. I already posted this message this morning, but it didn't go through. If you just need to approve your comments before they show up, then I'm sorry for the double post!

Michelle said...

Hi, Lauren!

Thanks for dropping by! Well, you know what? I have the most perfect sunscreen for your face.

I use it myself and let me just describe it to you. It's called Sun Play Clear Water Sunscreen and is a japanese brand.

It contains a "Watery Liquid" formulation that is light, non greasy and will make your skin super smooth. Think of liquid foundation that goes on and has a powdery feel. Best of all, it's non-comedogenic meaning it will not clog your pores! Also, they offer up to 130 SPF, perfect for your fair skin!

It's fantastic and you only need a little so a small bottle will last you. I googled the internet for it and here are a couple of reviews from other people about the product.

http://leftoverluncheonmeat.blogspot.com/2007/09/product-review-mentholatum-petit.html
http://prettybeautiful.net/sun-play-perfect-shield-spf-130/

Now, I've only ever seen them sold in Malaysia. You can view their site here basically just to look at the bottles because it's in chinese and I can't read it either lol.

http://www.mentholatum.com.tw/products/product_item.asp?series_id=8

I have found a seller selling some on ebay here http://cgi.ebay.com/MENTHOLATUM-SunPlay-Powdery-White-Sunscreen-SPF47-PA_W0QQitemZ140137345752QQihZ004QQcategoryZ95216QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

Or another alternative is you can wait 15 days as I will go back to Malaysia then and if you like I can arrange to have one sent to you if you do wish to purchase any.

There are many different kinds so I'll have to take pics and email them to you.

Or better yet, find a friend who knows how to read chinese and go to the site as they may ship overseas!

Sorry for the long winded reply but I absolutely love their sunscreen. I would never use another.

Hope that helps you somehow!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for the reply! That sunscreen looks perfect!

I found that Sasa.com has Sun Play Petit Sunblock Gel SPF 50 available for relatively cheap (with shipping, it's $10.40), but is it as good as Sun Play's Clear Water or Powdery White Sunscreens? I have a feeling the gel would be worse for acne-prone skin. If it is, then I think I'll go with that EBay link you sent me.

In a couple days I'll be visiting family in Florida for a week, so I'm hoping to find something with rush shipping, so I can receive it while I'm there. I think only SaSa has that option, but I could probably ask the Ebay seller whether they could ship in 2-5 business days or not.

Rush shipping or not, if the Sun Play Powdery White SPF 47 is better for my skin, then I'll order on Ebay. ;)

Again, thank you so much!
- Lauren

Michelle said...

No worries! I haven't tried their Sunblock Gel but in my experience, gel based cosmetic products are suitable for oily skin types and more commonly used by people who have sensitive skin.

However, I look at the SaSa website in the US to see the type of sunblock you are talking about.

They do have more choices by the same brand of you'd like to take a look!

Anonymous said...

Oops, I totally forgot about looking at the other products, haha! Now that I see the wide selection, I think I'll order the Powdery White SPF 47 and try it out in Florida. Thank you much, Michie!

Joanna Schmidt said...

I love your thinking! Contact lens holder. Brilliant! I have also used film canisters, water and soda tops, caps.... Thanks for reading my blog. I love to peek in here and see what you are up to. I would LOVE to make bath bombs, but I just haven't tried it yet....

Thanks for the tutorials :)

Michelle said...

Hehe, thank you! I love your blog too and I read it quite diligently :) Baht bombs are fun to make because you can let your imagination run wild with them. I bet if you have kids around they will fight to help you! Thanks for dropping by! :)