Making lip balm

Lips do not have oil glands, so they can become dry and chapped faster than the rest of your face in extreme weather conditions. That's why your lips need to be lubricated. Oils soften the skin and prevent moisture from escaping from your lips.

Lip balm made from natural ingredients can also be used under tinted lipstick to soften lips.

Below you will find six recipes for making lip balm. Using different oils, butters, and waxes, you can create endless variations based on these recipes.

All of the recipes here are of the softer type and are meant to be poured into a cup and applied with your fingers. These mixtures will be too soft for a lipstick base. You can find the lipstick recipe references at the bottom of the page.

What oils to use?

The recipes below do not mention a specific oil. All vegetable oils have skin-softening properties, so they are all suitable for use in lip balm. Popular oils used in lip balms are sweet almond oil and jojoba oil. If you wish, you can also use olive oil or other vegetable oil that you have at home. By using carrot oil, you get a nice orange lip balm and, as a bonus, a light tint to your lips.

Scenting and tinting lip balm

If you want to give your lip balm a slight shimmer, you can add a pinch of mica. 

Among the plant dyes, alkanna root powder is suitable for tinting lip balm. First, an oil extract is made from the powder, the resulting bright red oil can be used in lip balm recipes instead of regular oil. Alkanna root gives the lips a light, blushing redness, not an intensely covering tone. You can read more about its use

Lip balm containers

All the lip balms listed here are soft and suitable for pouring into small jars and applying with your finger. The recipe quantity is approximately 50 ml.

Lip balm with beeswax

Difficulty Easy: Perfect for a first attempt.

Preparation time Up to 30 min + time required for solidification.

To make lip balm you will need:

25 g liquid oil

8 g beeswax

8 g coconut oil or shea butter

small glass or heat-resistant plastic melting container (approx. 200 ml)

electronic kitchen scale

Making lip balm:

To make the lip balm, weigh the beeswax, oil, and fat into a bowl. Melt them in a water bath or microwave.

When melting in the microwave, be careful not to overheat the product. If any individual beeswax granules have not melted, continue heating in 30-second intervals.

When heating in a water bath, it is more efficient to use a narrow and deep container - this way the contact surface with the hot water is larger and the melting is faster. If you are afraid that water may get into the melting container, use a glass jar with a lid and screw the lid on while melting, because if water gets into the mixture, it creates a favorable environment for the growth of bacteria and later there is a risk of mold.

Let the mixture cool slightly and pour into the cups. If you pour the mixture into the cups right away while it is still hot, the cups will shrink and leave a hollow in the center. If you wait a little longer, the hollow will be smaller or not appear at all. However, do not let the mixture sit in the melting pot for too long, as the beeswax will thicken quite quickly.

It is best to put lip balm containing shea butter in the refrigerator to solidify quickly so that the shea butter does not crystallize.

Use and storage:

To use lip balm, apply it to your lips using your fingers as needed.

Since the product does not contain water, it can be stored without a preservative for at least 6 months at room temperature and away from direct sunlight.

Lip balm with candelilla wax

The vegan lip balm recipe uses plant-based candelilla wax. Candelilla wax is harder than beeswax, so its amount in the balm is smaller.

30 g sweet almond oil

4 g candelilla wax

8 g shea butter or coconut fat

Make this balm just as you did in the previous recipe.

Two-ingredient lip balm

10 g beeswax

32 g liquid oil

Measure the ingredients into a heatproof bowl and melt them using a water bath or microwave. Allow to cool slightly, then pour into a cup.

Coconut oil lip balm

22 g coconut oil

11 g cocoa butter

11 g beeswax

Weigh the beeswax and cocoa butter into a melting bowl. Melt them in a water bath or microwave. Add the coconut oil to the melted mixture. The beeswax may start to solidify again as the temperature drops as you add it. If this happens, heat the mixture again until the mixture is smooth and transparent. Pour the mixture into cups and let it solidify.

Chocolate balm

20g oil

15 g chocolate

6 g cocoa butter

6 g beeswax

This chocolate balm is made with real milk chocolate, giving it a lovely, sweet flavor. While the taste is delightful, the chocolate scent doesn’t linger in the finished product.

To make it, melt the oil, cocoa butter, and beeswax in a water bath or microwave. Stir in the chopped chocolate until fully melted, then pour the mixture into cups.

Shea butter lip balm

15 g shea butter

30 g liquid oil

Melt the shea butter in a water bath or microwave, then mix it with the liquid oil. Pour the mixture into cups and place them in the refrigerator to set.

This lip balm is softer than most. Without wax, it doesn’t form a thick protective layer on the lips, but instead focuses on softening and nourishing the delicate skin.

Castor oil and beeswax lip gloss

20 g

2 g beeswax

0.5 tsp mica

Weigh the castor oil and beeswax into a bowl. Melt them in the microwave or in a water bath. Once the beeswax has melted, add the mica. Stir until smooth and pour into a cup.