Herbal Lip Balm Recipe
Make these herbal lip balms with natural wax, nourishing oil, and healing herbs. The ingredient ratio is 1 part hard wax, 1 part creamy butter/oil, and 4 parts liquid infused oil by volume. This recipe is flexible, though, and you can use your preferred mix of herbs and other ingredients, or leave out the essential oil if you wish.
Servings 10 lip balms
Cost $15
Equipment
- 7 lip balm containers 10 ml / 0.34 oz
Ingredients
Herb-infused Oil
- 1 cup carrier oil sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, apricot kernel oil, or rice bran oil
- 1/2 cup dried herbs peppermint, lemon balm, calendula, plantain, chamomile, and/or lavender
Herbal Lip Balm
- 1 TBSP beeswax or 2 tsp candelilla wax
- 1 TBSP shea butter (refined) or cocoa butter, which will create a firmer balm
- 3 TBSP herb-infused oil
- 7 drops peppermint (mentha piperita) essential oil * optional - use organic, if possible
Instructions
Ensuring hygienic practices
- When making this recipe, work with clean, dry, and sterilized equipment. Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly, and consider wearing gloves. Please also clean all surfaces, containers, and utensils used. Doing so will help keep your homemade lip balms hygienic and ensure they have a long shelf life.
Make the Herb-infused Oil
- Herb-infused oil is the foundation of this recipe. You can make it with a single skincare herb or several of your choice. Choose types that taste nice, are non-toxic, and can help heal and protect the skin. You can use homegrown or purchased herbs for this recipe.
- Place the dried herbs in a clean, dry glass jar*, then pour the liquid carrier oil over them.
- Seal the jar with a lid and place it in a warm, dark place for four weeks. Over that time, come back and shake the jar every few days.
- At the end of a month, strain the herbs from the oil. I use a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Discard the herbs and use the infused oil to make herbal lip balm. You will likely have more oil than you need to create a single batch of this recipe.
Make the Herbal Lip Balms
- Measure the wax, shea butter, and infused oil into a small saucepan.
- Melt them completely using the double-boiler method to ensure the oils melt evenly and don’t overheat. To do this, place/float the pan containing the wax and butter inside another larger pan filled halfway with simmering water.
- Once fully melted, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the essential oil, if using it.
- Pour the oil into the clean lip balm containers, then let them cool and harden*.
- Seal the herbal lip balms with their lids once they are at room temperature.
- You can use the herbal lip balms immediately after they cool. Use by the closest best-by date of the ingredients you used, or within 1 year of making them. If you make these as gifts, label them with their ingredients and best-by date.
Notes
This is a fairly flexible lip balm recipe, and you can use the oils and wax you'd like. However, different choices may impact how firm/soft the final lip balm is and how it tastes. One popular lip balm oil is coconut oil, and if you wish to use it in this recipe, you can replace up to 1/3 of the infused oil with it.
* You can also use pure calendula-infused oil or another skin-safe herb-infused oil if you already have it on hand.
*Air, even inside a jar, can cause oil to oxidize and turn rancid. Choose the smallest size jar that the contents will fit in and aim for no more than an inch of headspace. * Do not use any more peppermint essential oil than what is called for. The recipe includes one drop of essential oil per 10 ml lip balm pot, which is under the 1% maximum for lip balm and other leave-on skincare products. Please also test for skin sensitivity before committing to using it in your lip balm. Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts and may cause sensitivity or allergic reactions for some people. *If you use lip balm tubes, fill them about 90% full, then allow them to harden. Remelt the remaining lip balm that's still in the pan and top them up. This two-pour method will ensure a clean, smooth finish with no visible heat tunnels.
*Air, even inside a jar, can cause oil to oxidize and turn rancid. Choose the smallest size jar that the contents will fit in and aim for no more than an inch of headspace. * Do not use any more peppermint essential oil than what is called for. The recipe includes one drop of essential oil per 10 ml lip balm pot, which is under the 1% maximum for lip balm and other leave-on skincare products. Please also test for skin sensitivity before committing to using it in your lip balm. Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts and may cause sensitivity or allergic reactions for some people. *If you use lip balm tubes, fill them about 90% full, then allow them to harden. Remelt the remaining lip balm that's still in the pan and top them up. This two-pour method will ensure a clean, smooth finish with no visible heat tunnels.