Remember my excitement just a few weeks ago about the cool weather in Florida?
Well, that cool weather only lasted two days. Yep, two days!!
Talking about the weather is usually considered “a topic to talk about when there’s nothing else to talk about,” so I apologize for this random weather discussion in advance. There’s a point to this weather chat, and it’s going to end with homemade lip balm.
I’ve never been one to watch the news or weather reports, but, lately, I’ve been checking my weather app every single morning, just waiting for the consistent 80 degree readings to change. And guess what?! I have good news.
My daily checking has finally paid off. This weekend, just in time for the kids’ fall festival at school, the weather is going to drop to the low 60’s at night and the high 70’s during the day. My booties are ready!
By November, I’ve usually made several batches of homemade lip balm. Living in a state that enjoys 100% humidity, nearly year-round, means that even a few days of drier weather sends my lips into full panic mode.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been making and using a simple peppermint lip balm made with shea butter, beeswax, lanolin, jojoba oil, and peppermint essential oil. That simple lip balm always provides such a cooling and soothing relief to my moisture-loving lips.
This year, I’ve decided to venture out of my lip balm comfort zone, and use a lip balm that’s made with similar ingredients, but also includes, honey.
Why honey?
I’m so glad you asked…
First, honey is just an all-around amazing ingredient, and it’s pretty inexpensive when you consider the versatility of this ingredient. In my personal life, I use honey to wash my face, calm acne flare-ups, soothe my kids’ boo-boos, and make muffins and bread.
Honey is a natural humectant. This means that honey is able to hydrate the skin. Honey also contains antioxidants, which is a huge buzz word in the beauty industry. Antioxidants may help repair damage, which is an important factor for chapped lips and stressed-out skin.
Honey is a very sticky ingredient, so I was a bit concerned about using a lip balm containing honey. To my surprise, the honey in today’s lip balm recipe blends perfectly with the oil, shea butter, and beeswax, creating a non-sticky lip balm. The lip balm goes on smooth, and, thanks to the peppermint essential oil, has a cooling sensation that feels so good on my lips.
Cooling Honey Lip Balm
Ingredients
- 1 TB coconut oil this is the same stuff used for cooking
- 2 tsp beeswax pellets or grated beeswax, 7g
- 1/2 tsp shea butter 2.5g
- 1/4 tsp honey
- 3 drops peppermint essential oil
Instructions
- In a glass bowl, combine the coconut oil, beeswax, and shea butter. Place the glass bowl on top of a saucepan partially filled with water over medium heat. Heat the mixture until the beeswax is melted, stirring occasionally. Fill a larger bowl with cold water. I place a few ice cubes (3-4) in the water. Set this bowl aside for later.
- Once the beeswax is melted, remove the mixture from the heat. Let the bowl rest away from the heat for just a minute. Place the bowl, with the coconut oil mixture inside, in the larger bowl (the one with cold water inside). This is meant to rapidly cool the mixture so the honey may be added without it separating from the other ingredients. The rapid cooling will also prevent a gritty lip balm, which can happen to shea butter. The coconut oil mixture will immeadiately begin to solidify. Pour in the honey, add the essential oil, and stir to combine.
- Spoon the solidified mixture into a container. I used a 1-ounce metal container. Alternatively, you could use a mini Altoids container. This recipe will make just about 1-ounce. The ratios for a larger quantity lip balm (roughly 4 ounces) is included in the ingredient notes. This lip balm will last about 6-8 months (or longer).
Video
Ingredient Notes
For a larger quantity (roughly 4-4.5 ounces): 1/3 cup coconut oil + 3 TB and 1 tsp beeswax, pellets or grated + 1 1/2 tsp shea butter + 1 1/4 tsp raw honey + 12 drops peppermint essential oil. Follow the instructions in the recipe.
If you’d like to use something other than coconut oil, I think jojoba oil (or another nourishing oil) would be lovely.
Thanks so much for the recipe! Question please. I made this a few weeks ago and used it a few times at that time. Now (a few weeks later) I just opened my tin again and see tiny green specs all over it. Not sure if it’s mould and should be tossed or if this is normal from the peppermint eo? I’m new to using eo’s but purchased mine at plant therapy so I’m not concerned about fake eo’s. Any other thoughts? I’d greatly appreciate your help. ❤️
Hey Rose, I would toss it. Sounds like some sort of mold or a growth. Did water come into contact with the formula or in the container?
Thanks. I just looked again and even more spots so seems the be mold. I tossed it out. And yes, now that you mention it, I do recall spilling water and thought I got it out but I guess not. Too bad, I’ll make more today. Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.
You’re most welcome, Rose. Yes, always better to be safe when it comes to growth in products.
Great recipe!!
I made this in bulk for gifts. Here is 24 oz. conversion. I omitted Essential oil but it would be less than half a teaspoon (36 drops). This fills 24 of the 1 ounce containers.
3/4 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cup beeswax, pellets or grated
1/3 cup shea butter
1 T raw honey
Follow directions above!
This is awesome, Danielle. Thank you so much for sharing.
I would like to do this with jojoba oil instead of Shea and add vanilla instead of peppermint to the mix : also dispense in tubes, any suggestions?
Hey, You could do this, but will probably need more beeswax to make it solid.
Whats the shelf life of this ?
Hey Michelle, About 6 months.
HI Kristen, can i use wax pellets instead of beeswax pellets?
Hi Eden,
Not sure about wax pellets, wouldn’t have the dawn benefits.
LS Team.
Hi, is there an ingredient I should add less of to make a more solid lip balm? I would prefer for the lip balm to be a bit more firm. 🙂
Hi Anne,
You can add more beeswax. That should help. Also, here is another post that can help: https://livesimply.me/how-to-make-a-simple-ingredient-lip-balm/
LS Team.
So, would 3 teaspoons be okay?
Hi! Can you use this on the face? And also, can you do without the beeswax with Shea butter and still get the same consistency?
Hi Genesis, I have never tried it on the face so I cannot tell you if that would be a good idea or not. The consistency will be different if the beeswax is not added. It binds everything.
LS Team.
Thank you! It is a wonderful recipe, works great! I also tried a version with more honey (1 tsp) and it is also nice – you have to stir a bit more though…
That’s great Anja! I’m so happy it worked well for you. Thanks for commenting.
Well it’s nice of Maggie to go on your website and then refere to a recipe in humble Bee and me. The reason why don’t like humble b is because you start adding all these unnecessary ingredients that you really don’t need and of course your expence will be much more to make a few little tubes of lip balm. At that point you’re better off just buying them so those are my thoughts . I’ve seen so many recipes in your eyes is by far the best all natural
Hi Kristin,
Wanna know if I could use Geranium essential oils instead of peppermint?
Sure, Adam.
Kristen, this stuff is fantastic! I was planning to make two lip balm recipes tonight (this one and another one I found off of a different blog). I made this one first and stopped there. Thank you so much for this post!
Ooops, I did mean to ask if there would ever be a need to add Vitamin E or if the honey takes care of that. Thanks!
Hey Meredith, You could add a small amount (maybe 1/8 teaspoon). It wouldn’t hurt to add it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and lip balm, Meredith. Yay!!
When making a product, you need to check the science. Honey is a water soluble ingredient, which means it shouldn’t go in an oil based product without an emulsifying ingredient. At first, it may work, but over time the honey will probably bead out of the lip balm.
Humblebee & Me is an awesome blog that has tons of great recipes and talks about this scientific component of DIY beauty, you should check it out.
http://www.humblebeeandme.com
Hey Maggie,
Thanks for sharing your concerns. All of our do-it-yourself projects are well researched and tested over and over again by multiple testers.
When a very small amount of honey is combined with the now-solid ingredients using a specific method (as described in the recipe), the honey can be used without an extra emulsifier and doesn’t separate over time.
Thanks for sharing Marie’s website. I very much enjoy her blog and have worked with her on a couple of projects for Live Simply.
Hi,
This is an amazing lip balm recipe! I made it and loved it! Not just me but my friends too loved it! Have you made any tinted lip balm? If yes, please share your recipe on that.
Thanks.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the lip balm! I have a few other recipes on the blog. My favorite is the peppermint lip balm: https://livesimply.me/2014/11/13/diy-homemade-peppermint-lip-balm/.
Hi,
That sounds great! I can’t wait to make it, but is it possible to use cacao instead of shea butter?
Hey Hrisi, You could definitely try cocoa butter instead of the shea butter. You may not need as much beeswax.
The recipe is awesome! I love using honey in diy beauty products.
Thank you, Milena.
Hi!
I love your original lip balm and gave it as Christmas gifts last year. Do you like this one just as much?
Andrea
Hey Andrea, I love this lip balm, but it’s not as pretty as the tubes (the original lip balm) if you’re giving it away for Christmas.
Just made this, and I am really liking it! Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Julie, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the lip balm!
HI Kristin,
I have made quite a few batches of peppermint lip balms the last couple of years, but was hoping to find a recipe with a different EO. I wanted to steer clear of Citrus EOs (which are my favorite) because of the photosensitivity concerns, but I didn’t know what else to use. Have you tried any others?
Thanks! 🙂
You could use bergamot fcf, or red mandaran they are lovely citrus oils without the photosensitivity.
Thank you, Bethany! I apologize for missing your question, Laura. Bethany’s provided some great options.