# adventures in lip balm...plz share advice and recipes



## riverbee1

Want to venture out and make some lip balm. Would like feedback on how you fill your lip balm tubes, your best selling recipes, and also tips, hints and tricks anyone has learned from experience. Thanks much.


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## sleddingdennis

1 part beeswax,2 parts cocoa butter,2 parts sweet almond oil. I use the lip balm 1/3 oz. lip balm jars.


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## riverbee1

the lip balm jars would seem easier to fill, are these more popular than tubes? also, do you use plastic or tin?


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## sleddingdennis

I use the clear plastic 10 ml jar with black lid @ http://www.elementsbathandbody.com/


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## TwinkieBee

Does lip balm have to be regulated and approved by the fda? On one site I looked at it said it did, but I know a lot of people sell it as well as soaps, lotions, etc


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## riverbee1

thanks sledding dennis for sharing your recipe and the link, those are cool looking jars, how do you pour your lip balm recipe? 

twinkiebee, don’t know the fda guidelines yet, will follow wisconnie state law and any requirements. In my opinion, If the fda police want to spend their time buzzin' around and nailing all the beekeepers producing a great U S OF A product of any kind, they are wasting their time, when the USA is flooded with illegal, foreign imports of what is sadly and mistakenly called ‘honey’ and wax with properties in it that the fda will never control, or seem to get a handle on.:no:

that said, i appreciate your comment. i am not burt’s bees…but I plan on putting a label on any lip balm i ‘produce’, with the ingredients listed, and how to contact me. have you tried making some lip balm yourself?


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## TwinkieBee

Riverbee, I completely agree! No, I haven't made any yet but I was considering it, mostly just for fun but then I thought about maybe selling a little, THEN someone came along and burst my bubble with the fda thing. I was just trying to find out if anyone knew the guidelines on it.


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## riverbee1

twinkiebee,
don't let anyone burst your bubble or discourage you! find out what the regs are in mississip, go from there, you will do okay.


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## TwinkieBee

Just wanted to let you know, I FINALLY found all my info, and the FDA does not regulate cosmetics as long as you don't poison people. Lol. Oh and from a females perspective, while the tubes are easy to carry in your pocket and less messy they really suck as far as beeswax chapsticks. They tend to be too soft and just mush when you use them. Plus the jars look more stylish.


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## bees in ballard

Hi all,
the mix i have used is, 4 parts beeswax, 2 parts shea butter, 4 parts sweet almond oil. you can adjust the oil part to easily change the firmness.
i like the tubes.
i melt it in a 1 cup pyrex measuring cup, it works great for pouring.
heated in a small pan of water (double boiler idea) if i let the handle hang over the edge of pan i can usually hold it without trouble. you may need to use a pot holder or mitt, just be careful 
have fun experimenting


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## riverbee1

Lol twinkiebee on the fda as long as you don’t poison people thing…..

bees in ballard, thanks for sharing your recipie and the tip on the pyrex cup. have two questions, do you use the pyrex cup to pour into the tubes? And do you have problems with the shea butter being grainy? i have read a lot of mixed stuff on shea butter, but everyone seems to use it.


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## bees in ballard

riverbee1,
i do use the cup to fill the tubes, a little slow but it works well for small batches.
i have not had any issue with grainy shea butter so far, but good to know it may be a problem. i wonder if that could be a quality control thing if buying in bulk


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## riverbee1

thanks bees in ballard for the reply. i will try this as i want to make small batches at first, and will also try your recipe out. i liked the tip about hanging the handle off the edge of the heating pan, i would have just put the whole thing in and fumbled around with a mitt trying to pour it….:doh:

if you have not had a problem with shea butter, then i will take what i read and file it……
i have been having fun melting years of wax through a solar wax melter i built and am looking forward to trying different methods and recipies for lip balms provided here from those who have been there, done that.

BTW, been to seattle a few times and liked it.


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## DeeAnna

"...not had any issue with grainy shea butter so far, but good to know it may be a problem. i wonder if that could be a quality control thing if buying in bulk..."

Nope, not a quality control thing at all. You just got lucky.  

The graininess is caused by some of the fats in the shea butter crystallizing out when the temperatures are right. It's exactly the same as chocolate that has a fat "bloom" or honey that has crystallized. 

To fix this issue, see http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?216196


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## riverbee1

gee i hope i am lucky too!
thank you for the link and tip on the shea butter!


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## dmpower

I've made several batches and I use the microwave to melt my wax and butters. Just make sure you set your microwave on 50% power or less and remove the ingredients just before the wax has finished melting. It will continue to melt after being removed from the microwave.


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## riverbee1

DeeAnna said:


> "...not had any issue with grainy shea butter so far, but good to know it may be a problem. i wonder if that could be a quality control thing if buying in bulk..."
> 
> Nope, not a quality control thing at all. You just got lucky.
> 
> The graininess is caused by some of the fats in the shea butter crystallizing out when the temperatures are right. It's exactly the same as chocolate that has a fat "bloom" or honey that has crystallized.
> 
> To fix this issue, see http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?216196


i found this on majestic mountain sage's website about shea butter: "_Please note:_ Recently we have become aware that other vendors are suggesting you heat shea butter to 170 degrees F for a period of 45 minutes to prevent graininess. This can be very damaging to the shea butter and will drastically reduce the shelf life as well. Worst of all, it will not work! Shea butter will become grainy, or fractionate, with the addition of heat. Body temperature alone will start this reaction. When shea butter is refined the prevention of graininess is achieved by quick cooling. Our recommendation is to heat the shea butter with your other ingredients just until everything is melted and can be mixed thoroughly. Then cool lip balms and body butters quickly. Quick cooling can be accomplished by pouring your butters into cool containers, pouring shallowly, and cool room temperatures or the use of the refrigerator. Do not use the freezer to firm the products you have just made. Once the shea butter has been made into a smooth fat again freezing will not harm the butter. Graining of shea butter has not been a problem in soaps and lotions." http://www.thesage.com/catalog/FixedOil.html#SheaButter.

also, shea butter is kinda smelly stuff ?


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## TwinkieBee

Shea butter has a kinda chocalatey or nutty smell. Not taste, but smell. I don't find it to be very pungent at all. From what i've read it's smell can be covered by adding a scent or flavor or you can use the white odorless shea butter. You can also use unscented coconut oil or cocoa butter (which of course has a chocolate smell).


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## riverbee1

thx for this info, i received a lip balm kit from a friend as a gift 2 or 3 years ago, and the shea butter definitely does not smell like chocolate or nutty....sorta has a faint oldish funky smell to itinch:

so i googled it and am thinking i need to find another use for it, seems it can go bad? anyway not going to use this, you couldn't cover up this smell, and wouldn't want to.


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## TwinkieBee

Lol! It does have an expiration though i'm not sure how long that is. I think I may try cocoa butter. It doesn't seem to get grainy (from what i've read). I also thought about making one batch with lanolin too.


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## riverbee1

yeah, the shea butter in this kit i described as funky, actually smelled rancid, i ditched it. i looked through past posts for lip balm recipes and tips and found some great advice. i have two recipes i am going to try, and one is similar to a popular and well known company, known for their lip balm and other products. i'd like to email them for their recipe, but i don't think they'd give it to me!

when i try these two recipes, i will post here.

might be off topic, but now i would like to know where you all get your supplies? have some suggestions, but would like some additional input on reputable companies to purchase supplies from.


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## HONEYDEW

riverbee1 said:


> sorta has a faint oldish funky smell to itinch:
> so i googled it and am thinking i need to find another use for it, seems it can go bad?


 Remember they found honey in the pyramids and it was still good, Not shea butter....


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## berkshire bee

I use the tubes and get those as well as jars for hand salve and shrink wraps from SKS supplies. prices and service are good. I use beeswax, almond oil, vitamin e, a touch of honey and essential oil for the flavor. Be sure to check on oils you plan on using. You can also buy flavorings. I used to pour into individual tuber lined up in a stand I made, but when you spilled it was quite messy. Then I got one of those plastic trays that the tubes pop into and I wouldn't be without it now.


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## riverbee1

thanks berkshire bee, what did you mean by "checking on the oils"? where do you purchase your oils and butters? i have the tools to make my own stand but spilling would be messy on anything but some sort of plastic.


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## berkshire bee

just rediscovered this thread and never answered the last question. I was talking about using essential oils for flavoring. You have to read up on which ones you can and can't use. For example citrus can cause photosensitivity.


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## virginiawolf

Does the honey keep the lip balm from hardening? I am new to making lip balm. The first batch I made had coconut oil, beeswax, vitamin E and a little peppermint and spearmint oil. People love the smell and the lip balm but I have some concern about the peppermint and spearmint not being the greatest for lips. I may change it to a touch of honey instead. Thanks for any insights. I may make some today.


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## virginiawolf

I will let you know how I made out adding honey to my lip balm today. 
I melted my bees wax and used a formula of 2 parts oils to one part bees wax so It came out to 4 oz beeswax to 6 oz coconut oil and 2 oz shea butter. I then dripped 3 globs of honey into it and double boiled it for a while. When I eventually poured it into the tubes it seemed fine but I found after more careful inspection that a few of the tubes appear to have what looks like straight honey in the bottom half of the tube. So I got a few tubes that the honey didn't seem to mix right in but the rest came out okay. It is very soft and I think it will work well to soothe lips. I purposefully avoided flavoring this batch and using vitamin E. I wanted to see if my lips respond differently. So far so good.


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## My-smokepole

I often I the past, have honey that leaks from tubes. One the the way I compat this is the last of the pour I pour in to a tin the I give to freinds and family that have demanding hand needs and don't care if their is a touch of honey in it. Every time I make them I try a little bight differently. The last time instead of pouring as soon as it all melted I waited till it cool to the temp was around 120 deg. Will not do that again. For me melt all ingredients and as soon as I get everything in and stirred in then pour.


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## virginiawolf

It is interesting how even when I mixed it thoroughly the honey separated. I save some of the tubes that have honey in the bottom and I will follow your lead My Smokepole and give it to friends and family. My main thing is I don't want to make lip balm that can irritate lips. I am not sure what my final recipe will be but I read that Vitamin E and Pepperint and on one website people even claimed that coconut oil dried their lips. Jojoba oil was recommended. I am still working through the developmental phases of becoming a lip balm creator.


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## WBVC

What did you use as an emulsifier? Honey is like a water phase.


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## virginiawolf

I didn't use an emulsifier I just went ahead and figured some of the honey would mix into the oils and wax if I stirred it enough but a bunch of it didn't. I know water and oil don't mix. I suppose I was using wishful thinking but denying reality. Do you know what the solution is to get the honey to merge with the lip balm?


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## WBVC

I use lethicin.


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## virginiawolf

I used lecithin once and have a bunch of it left over. Can you please explain how I would emulsify the honey before I add it to the oils. That would be helpful. Thank You! I'm new at lip balm.


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## WBVC

Mix honey, melted wax and lethicin...mix well. Don't add honey to wax until cool enough not to denature the enzymes in the honey.


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## virginiawolf

Thanks, I will do some experimenting with the ingredients.


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## My-smokepole

Kalamazoo bee club did a nice talk on all of the last Wednesday. They are supposed to put it up on there web site eventually.


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## virginiawolf

The lecithin I have is in a granular form. I found a couple cosmetic links that mention a liquid form of lecithin. I may have the wrong form.
I found a couple recipes for lip balm that mention adding a small amount of honey that didn't mention using an emulsifier. 
I may have to look up the Kalamazoo bee club's website down the line. Thanks for mentioning that. My-smokepole.
t:
Whenever I see the name Kalamazoo I think of vintage guitars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Kalamazoo_Electric_Guitar


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## rweakley

Ever since going to using an immersion mixer for making my lipbalm I don't have any separation issues. Here's a blast from the past, a video of my first batch of lip balm.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc5lLGtxaQI


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