Lip Balm Recipe: Ten Tubes in 20 Minutes
A lip balm is wax for structure, butter for body and oil for glide, melted together and poured into tubes. The recipe below makes about 50 g, enough for roughly ten tubes, and takes about 20 minutes. It is anhydrous (water-free), so there is no preservative to calculate and no pH to test.
The formula: Classic Beeswax Lip Balm (50 g)
| Phase | Ingredient | INCI | % | 50 g batch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Beeswax | Cera Alba | 25 | 12.5 g |
| A | Shea butter | Butyrospermum Parkii Butter | 20 | 10 g |
| A | Castor oil | Ricinus Communis Seed Oil | 20 | 10 g |
| A | Sweet almond oil | Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil | 33.5 | 16.75 g |
| B (cool-down) | Vitamin E | Tocopherol | 1 | 0.5 g |
| B (cool-down) | Peppermint essential oil (optional) | Mentha Piperita Oil | 0.5 | 0.25 g |
| Total | 100 | 50 g |
The castor oil adds gloss and body. You need a scale that reads to 0.01 g for the cool-down additions, because 0.5 % of 50 g is only 0.25 g.
Method
- Sanitise the lip tubes and stand them upright in a tray.
- Melt the beeswax, shea butter, castor oil and almond oil in a water bath.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vitamin E and the optional essential oil.
- Pour into the tubes with a small pipette and let them cool completely before capping. Fill slightly over the top, because the balm shrinks as it sets.
Test the texture before you pour
Dip a cold spoon into the melted mix and leave it a minute. If it feels too hard, re-melt with a little more oil. If too soft, add a little more wax. Change one thing at a time and write down what you did, so the next batch is better.
Make it without beeswax
Beeswax is not vegan, and some people want to avoid it. Candelilla wax is the standard plant-based swap, and it is stronger by weight, so you do not swap 1:1.
- The formulary's ingredient guide describes candelilla as about two thirds the weight of beeswax.
- The substitution cheat sheet in the book suggests using 50 % of the beeswax amount for a harder, glossier, vegan result.
For this recipe that means a starting point between about 12.5 % and 17 % candelilla in place of 25 % beeswax. Start at the lower figure, test on a cold spoon and add more if the balm is too soft, topping up the oils to keep the total at 100 %. The full method is in candelilla wax as a beeswax substitute.
How long does it last?
The planned shelf life is 9 to 12 months. Keep tubes out of hot cars and sunny windows, since heat and light speed up rancidity. If a balm starts to smell like crayons or paint, it has oxidised and it is time to make a fresh batch. More ranges are in how long homemade skincare lasts.
Safety notes
- Lip products are partly swallowed, so keep fragrance minimal. The guideline is no more than 0.5 % total essential oil, and peppermint should be avoided for young children.
- Patch test a small amount on your inner forearm for 24 hours before regular use, and stop if irritation appears.
- Every formula in the book works without fragrance. If you are unsure about an oil, leave it out. The table in the essential oil dilution chart shows the maximum by product type.
Variations
- Replace the peppermint with a lip-safe vanilla oleoresin.
- Try the Cocoa Butter Lip Balm, another 50 g formula in the book.
- For a larger, softer product, see the whipped body butter recipe.
Where this formula comes from
Both lip balms are in The Natural Skincare Formulary, along with the other 58 formulas, a 46-ingredient guide and the 150-swap cheat sheet. A separate bonus booklet covers eight tinted lip balms and glosses, with a section on choosing lip-safe colorants.
