Lip Balmed!

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity, as hubby had a doctor’s appointment 2 hrs away, which meant that I could make hay while the cat was away (I know, one of my mixed metaphors!) Many chores got tackled, including the making of lip balm.

I no longer need body moisturizer, since switching to Dr. Woods coconut milk soap, but lip balm I use all the time.  I had been using Sierra Bees lip balms, which are inexpensive enough and organic.  But with 2 empty tubes, I decide to Google to see if they are recyclable. I used to toss empty tubes into the recycling bin, but if hubby’s around, he catches me out on what can actually be recycled, as I want to toss *everything* into recycling.  So, this time, I decided to check first.

It turns out there’s apparently 200 million lip balm tubes removed to trash each year, as the tubes are too small - they clog up the machinery.  Egads.  So, these tubes will get reused until they no longer work properly.

I then checked online DIY recipes.  I had made a small batch years ago, which was also just about used up, but I’d forgotten how much of what I had used.  I do remember that the recipe was a bit of a hassle.

One recipe was super simple - 1 TBL each of shea butter, coconut oil, and beeswax into a microwaveable container, stir, then pour into jars or tubes.  Other recipes used cocoa butter instead of shea, some added raw honey, many added essential oil for scent/flavor, one recipe used a double boiler, but using the microwave makes it a quick process, with far less clean up.

As I was out of shea butter, and I have no sweet almond, avocado, or jojoba oil on hand, I substituted 1 TBL of grapeseed oil which I do have, but the mix ended up too oily - it wouldn’t set properly, so I scooped it all back out, and remelted it with an additional TBL of beeswax.  This blend turned out perfectly.  

So, 1 TBL each grapeseed oil and (solid) coconut oil, with about 2 TBLs of beeswax filled 2 small glass jars, which I use at home, and refilled 2 lip balm tubes, to use when going out.  When the tubes need refilling, I can remelt the mix in one of the jars.  

The cost was almost nil - the jars I had (one was a jam sample, the other was a face moisturizer sample), the grapeseed oil was a gift, the beeswax came from what was left of 2 handmade rolled beeswax candles I made 20 or 30 years ago!, and the coconut oil was here, as it’s the only oil I use for my occasional scrambled eggs. 

The microwave method is SO quick and easy, I will experiment with more formulas, and as small glass jars are easily available, they could make nice stocking stuffer gifts!
Onward!
Dawn