What do you need?

Let the fun begin:

1. Prepare Phase 1 in a cup: Cacao butter, beeswax, coconut oil and jojoba oil.

2. Melt Phase 1 using a water bath or double boiler. I advise you not to use the microwave.

3. When everything has liquefied, remove the mixture from heat and cool.

4. Now you’re ready to add Phase 2, step by step: vitamin E and peppermint essential oil.

5. Mix well and carefully pour the mixture into lip balm tubes.

6. Let them cool for several hours - first at room temperature; later on, you can store them in the fridge.

FAQs + tips and tricks:

• What do emollient, occlusive, and INCI mean?

  Emollient – to smooth and soften your skin.
  Occlusive – a characteristic of an ingredient that provides a physical barrier to block water from escaping from the skin.
  INCI - International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. This is a universal, worldwide system of formal names for cosmetic ingredients, and it’s based on the Latin or scientific name. An essential reason for using this INCI name is that there may be several different trade names for an ingredient. By using INCI name, you can be 100% sure of the actual ingredient that you use.

• Can I replace or leave out any of the ingredients? 

  Of course, there is still a lot of room for you to be creative with the ingredients you have. I’d advise you to keep the proportions of butters, waxes, and oils the same to maintain firmness. 

  • You can replace beeswax with candelilla wax, leave it out completely, and add cacao butter. The firmness of your lip balm may change, though. 

  • Instead of jojoba oil and coconut oil, you can use avocado oil, hemp oil, or sweet almond oil. 

  • A suitable replacement for solid butters would be a mango butter. 

• Is it ok to use it all year round? 

  For the summer or temperatures above 25°C, I recommend increasing the amount of wax and decreasing the amount of oils to maintain the lip balm’s firmness. However, don’t use wax above 30%w/w* because the balm might feel too waxy. 

• Which essential oils should I use and why? 

  Essential oils give a product a wonderful natural fragrance and flavor.

  • You can replace peppermint essential oil (EO) with: lavender EO, sweet orange EO, grapefruit EO.

  • Be careful when using citrus essential oils (grapefruit, bergamot, lemon, lime), since they are photosensitive - meaning they may cause oversensitivity of skin to light. If you have a very sensitive skin, you may avoid the essential oils - don’t worry, cocoa butter already gives it a hint of chocolate flavour. 

• Is the product vegan? 

  No. But a slight change - replace beeswax with candelilla wax – will make it vegan. However, your final product will be slightly harder because candelilla wax is a little harder than beeswax. 

• How long does it last? 

  This lip balm should last at least 6 months. Even longer, if you store it in a dark and cold place. In the recipe, we also added vitamin E, which acts as an antioxidant, meaning it prevents oils from oxidising and going rancid. Thus, it prolongs the product’s shelf life. Vitamin E also contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.1

* weight for weight" or "weight by weight", the proportion of a particular substance within a mixture, as measured by weight or mass.
1. EU Register on Nutrition and Health Claims