How to Make your Own Lip Balm
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Making lip balm at home is a fun project for adults and kids alike – it is a great entry-point into making homemade beauty projects and can be individualized in so many ways. We love making beeswax lip balm with lots of all natural ingredients; it feels amazing on the lips and doesn’t add anything toxic.
Making lip balm can also take some finesse when it comes to ending up with a final product you’ll love. You want it to feel good going on your lips, do its job well, and – while you’re at it – taste and smell pleasing.
As a bonus, homemade lip balm isn’t always just for lips. We use our homemade beeswax and honey lip balm on cuts and scrapes too!
After much practice making lip balm, I’m happy to share this recipe that we think balances all of those goals!
Choosing your Lip Balm Ingredients
As with most home beauty or natural healing projects, it is important to start with high quality ingredients. After all, you’ll be putting these ingredients on your lips. You’ll want to know where they come from and how they are made.
Making good lip balm is all about balancing wax (in our case, beeswax) with the right amount of oils. Use organic, high quality beeswax that is safe for cosmetics like these pellets from Sky Organics, or better yet see if you can get beeswax directly from a local beekeeper or from an online seller by our friend Starla at Misty Meadows Apiary & Homestead!
You can use fancy oils that are more expensive, but I have had success using readily available oils like coconut and olive oil. You can buy high quality organic oils like these at the grocery store and start your project right away! I recommend neutral tasting coconut oil because I don’t love the smell of coconut competing with my beeswax but if you love the coconut aroma by all means go ahead and use it!
As beekeepers, we love a nice simple beeswax-based lip balm that has a faint smell of honey, and we add a touch of honey to take advantage of its medicinal qualities (too much can mess with the texture of your lip balm).
You can also consider adding cosmetic-safe essential oils like peppermint or even chocolate if you want to mix up your flavors.
Our Beeswax Lip Balm Recipe
(makes about 36 tablespoons lip balm)
- 1/2 cup beeswax (8 Tablespoons / 4 oz)
- 1 cup olive oil (16 Tablespoons / 8 oz)
- 1/2 cup Coconut oil (8 Tablespoons / 4oz)
- 2 T honey
- 2 Vitamin E capsules or a few drops of Vitamin E Oil (optional)
Lip Balm Tools and Supplies
You’ll need a few simple tools to make your lip balm. If you plan to make more than one batch you may want to consider dedicating some of your tools for this purpose, as beeswax can be a little bit hard to clean up (though not impossible). You may also decide to make other products, like this fun beeswax lotion bar.
The tools really are typical things you would find in your kitchen. You’ll need a double boiler to melt your ingredients, a spatula or whisk to stir them, and a kitchen scale to measure out ingredients (I use measuring cups to scoop out the approximate amount but use the scale to check my quantities and correct them if needed).
You’ll also need a destination for your final product – as in lip balm tins or tubes. Personally, I like slide tins because they are easier to open than round tins and I like the metal look of the container. However, some people would rather not use their finger to apply the lip balm and might prefer traditional tubes. If you do plan to use tubes, you might want to get a tray that holds the tubes for easy filling or a lip balm making kit that includes both tubes and the tray.
Be sure to pay attention to how much lip balm your chosen container will hold and get enough for the amount you are making. This recipe makes about 36 Tablespoons which roughly translated to 36 containers of the variety I was using. The recipe can easily be halved.
Homemade Lip Balm Directions
Making the actual lip balm is actually quite simple. Just follow these three simple steps.
Step 1: Prepare
Measure out all of your ingredients using a high-quality kitchen scale or measuring spoons.
Prepare your lip balm containers by either opening up your tins or placing your tubes into a filling tray. I like to put some paper towel under the containers in case of spills.
Step 2: Melt
Place your ingredients in the top of a double boiler (with an inch or two of water in the bottom section) or use a bowl place over a pan with water. Melt the ingredients, stirring occasionally until they are well incorporated.
Step 3: Pour
Pour or spoon your lip balm into your tins being careful not to spill too much around the edges of the containers or onto your counter. I like to use a teaspoon so that I know how much I am putting into each container and can keep them fairly uniform.
Step 4: Cool
Wait for your lip balm to cool before trying to move it or placing covers on. You’ll see it change from liquid to soft solid form. Once cool, you can place your covers and labels on.
For more tips on making labels for your homemade products, check out this article with tips and ideas!
What else can you make with Beeswax?
There are so many wonderful things you can make with beeswax. Personal care products take advantage of the health benefits of beeswax for your skin. Home products use the protective benefits of beeswax for leather and wood. And beeswax candles are healthier to burn in your home!
Try some of these products yourself!
- Beeswax Furniture Polish
- Beeswax Leather Conditioner
- Beeswax Pinecone Fire Starters
- Beeswax Lip Balm
- Beeswax Christmas Tree Ornaments
- Beeswax Lotion Bars
I made some for first time about month ago. Love it
Will try this next time we’re making lip balm. Looks like a great recipe.
My sister and I are planning to open up a cosmetic business made up of organic products. Thanks for pointing out in your article that balancing the beeswax with oil to produce a high-quality lip balm. I think I need to look for bulk comb honey suppliers for my online business project.