it is an addiction! http://www.kevdo.com/lipbalm/addict.html
I remember hearing many years ago (when I was a Carmex āaddictā) that the frequent use of lip balm actually reduces the lips own ability to self-maintain in a non-chapped state. That many women had problems with dry lips because of many years of regular lipstick use. I donāt know if thatās true, but it makes a bit of sense.
That website I linked to talks about a certain portion of the population who are just āliplickersā and those tend to be the balm addicts. I think that is definitely me. Iām always catching myself doing it, especially when I donāt have access to chapstick.
I have a book called Better Basics for the Home by Annie Berthold-Bond. It has lots of recipes for making your own beauty products with non-toxic ingredients. Iāve tried some of them, though I donāt think Iāve tried the lip balm recipe itself. But if you are looking for some basic proportions to start with here is the recipe she gives:
2 oz oil
1/4oz beeswax
1tsp honey
natural flavoring oil (optional)
combine the oil and beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat and cook until the beeswax has melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the honey. Blend with an electric handheld mixer until creamy. Add the flavoring oil to taste and stir to combine.
To make with aloe she suggests increasing the beesax by 1/4oz and adding 2 Tbl aloe vera gel to the mixture while it is cooling.
Iām almost inspired to go make up this recipe right now. Iāve had other peopleās homemade balms and many of them feel oily to me, rather than creamy/waxy, which is what I like.
Update: Okay, done and done
I followed the recipie above as exactly as I could with my kitchen scale, using coconut oil. I also used a hand egg beater rather than an electric mixer. It was hard to beat such a small volume, not sure how effective it really was, but everything mixed up nicely. I packed it into some empty film canisters and the texture seemed to be the dreaded āoilyā.
So I decided to do another batch with more beeswax and less oil, this time I actually used beef tallow because I happen to have some at the moment. I used .3 oz of beeswax and 1.5 oz of tallow, plus the honey and it came out much more to my preferred consistency. It was setting up hard while I was still packing it into the canisters.