Homemade Beeswax Lip Balm

What better way to protect your lips from harsh, dry conditions than to wear a little lip balm? Of course you could buy a 0.15oz tube for 1 or 2 dollars but, then you expose your lips to harmful and environmentally hazardous chemicals. Another option is to buy the more expensive “natural” kind but, what a ridiculous price to pay for less than 1 oz. of something that you could make yourself for half the cost! Well, that leaves you with the option of making your own. Good news is…it’s easier than you might think.

Basic beeswax lip balm obviously requires beeswax. If your new at all this beekeeping stuff then now is a great time to learn how to render your own wax. Beeswax is extremely valuable, so even if you don’t plan on using it for yourself you can sell it and earn a little extra cash. The other alternative is to purchase beeswax from a local beekeeper, craft store, website, or wherever you can find it. There are a lot of different distributors that sell beeswax and are looking for customers so, you should be able to find quality beeswax for a decent price if you look around a little.

The next thing you will need is some kind of oil. Almost every recipe calls for a different oil, so I would suggest finding a recipe with some you already have or that you can easily obtain. Grocery stores and craft stores usually carry more oils than you normally use anyway, so this shouldn’t be difficult either.

You will also need a container to put the finished product in. These can be purchased from a craft store as well or you can use a small glass jar you might have already. Then you can experiment with adding other things like essential oils, vitamins, flavors, scents, or just follow a recipe that already contains some similar things that you would like to have in a lip balm.

The basic steps for homemade lip balm are… 1) melt the wax 2) add the oil 3) add the extras. Take off the heat and stir while the mixture cools to prevent the ingredients from separating later.

Caution: make sure that you melt the beeswax at a low temperature, even if it takes longer. You really don’t want it to boil because, when beeswax boils it will spit hot wax out of the pan and will burn you. It is not easy to clean off of stove tops or out of clothes either. Please don’t let that scare you, I just had to mention it because the recipes sometimes don’t.

Here’s one very easy recipe to follow:

Honey Lip Balm

1. Melt 2 teaspoons of beeswax with 1 teaspoon of honey.
2. Add 2 teaspoons of almond oil.
3. Stir until well combined; then remove from the heat.
4. Continue stirring while the mixture cools.
5. Once cool, pour into a small container and let it harden before using.

Then, smile and nod your head the next time someone complains about the price of lip balm.