Make Your Own Lip Balms
Written by sally_in_wales
We did this as a session at the Downsizer Skillshare 2012, and I promised to summarise the stages for those that wanted to try it again later.
Homemade lip balms, lipgloss, lipstick are all essentially wax and oil balms with additional tints or fragrances to suit your purpose. When making these at home, go for small amounts and aim to use up the results within a year of manufacture.
General tips: Buy cosmetic grade ingredients wherever possible, especially in relation to colouring material. Lips are sensitive and fragrances and pigments you can tolerate elsewhere can be irritating on the lips. Keep it simple, and trust your judgement if you feel an ingredient or blend doesn't work well for you. Remember also that selling any cosmetics in the UK/EU involves some fairly complex regulations, but you are fine making products for yourself or for gifts.
Equipment: A small heatproof container (a cup maybe) and a suitable heatsource. We used the microwave and disposable espresso cups at the skillshare for convenience, but at home I use a mug and a pan of hot water to melt everything.
A stirrer and something to measure ingredients.
Small pot for your finished product
Ingredients:
Beeswax
Oils: I favour almond oil as a light, mild oil that sits well on most lips, If you like a thick, glossy balm, try some castor oil, for very dry lips, maybe jojoba oil, or for thick cream balms, cocoa butter is nice. Some people use things like shea butter.
You can make these balm mixtures really complex, but I like one part almond and one part of one of the other oils above for a good everyday mix.
Optional:
Cosmetic colours, we used natural red and yellow ochre (iron oxides) plus some cosmetic mica for sparkle.
Flavours/scents: Be very cautious with these, aim for no more than one drop of a food safe oil or flavouring near the lips. Consider mandarin, peppermint, or dilute rose oil, others that can be nice are myrrh or lavender. One drop max, and use cautiously at first in case your skin doesn't like the blend.
Method:
Mix one part wax and two parts oil in a heatproof container.Warm gently until it all melts.
Stir well, then wave the stirrer in the air until it cools enough for you to test the consistency.
If you need a firmer salve, add a little more wax, for a softer salve, more oil. Warm and stir until you are happy with the texture.
Add colour if desired. Just a tiny amount will make the lipsalve pretty without tinting the lips, more will create a noticable effect. Add no more than one drop of fragrance if desired.
Stir well, warm briefly if necessary and pour into a small pot to set.
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