Simple Things: Homemade Lip Balm

I whipped up a new batch of lip balm last night. It's not the first time I've blogged homemade lip balm but it's been a while. It's been years now since I bought any commercial lip balm and I really couldn't bring myself to do it any more. Even when my own pots of balm have run completely dry and there's not a sliver of balm to be found, I'll put up with dry lips for a few days until I get a chance to make up a batch rather than buy a commercial product. I probably need to work on keeping my supplies up before I run out but that's for other days.

There are so many good things about making your own (if you're a lip balm addict). For starters, you know exactly what goes into your balm, and that usually means no nasty chemicals (I have seen recipes around that suggest putting some favourite lipstick in for a colour tint, but to my mind that just introduces chemicals which are what we're trying to avoid). Then there's the cost difference, which is huge. I produce five small pots of balm for a couple of dollars, max. I don't even know what a lip balm costs these days, last I saw they were around the $4 mark for a tube. So for five of them, that's roughly $20. I mean, it's probably not going to break the bank but still, paying a lot more for a lot more chemicals is not a win in my book. Then there's the packaging side of things. Making balm at home, you can use pots and lids that you just wash and re-use - no waste. Buying commercial usually means buying plastic that ends up in landfill somewhere. All good reasons to do it yourself!

There's millions of lip balm recipes online but this time around I used my recipe that I adapted from one in the book Down To Earth by Rhonda Hetzel. The only sticking point for me with this one is the use of beeswax and honey - and I say that as I'm tending towards vegan living these days, and well - bees. This time around I just went with it as I was desperate for lip balm and I had all my ingredients on hand, but perhaps next time I will look for some non-animal-source ingredients. Which is one of the important things that helps make the shift from buying commercial to making your own with lots of things, having the ingredients on hand. It's so easy to just keep doing what you do, keeping the status quo and promising 'next time' to yourself (as I have done here). Having the ingredients you need within easy reach just means there's no excuses. And from there it's literally a 5 minute job to whip up a batch of lip balm. Anyway I'll share this simple recipe as a starting point, it does make a lovely balm (don't ever be tempted to use coconut oil in lip balm - I thought it would be great but no, it's not so great in warm weather).

Simple Homemade Lip Balm (makes 5 small pots like those pictured)

3 Tbs beeswax
3 Tbs Sweet Almond oil
1 Tbs honey
2 drops lavender essential oil (optional, or whatever you like that you're comfortable with)

Melt the beeswax in a small saucepan over very low heat. When it's melted, remove from heat and stir in Sweet Almond oil, honey and lavender oil. Pour into clean pots and pop on lids. Allow some time for it to cool and set, and that's it. Super easy!

There's something so completely rewarding in making your own products, whatever they may be, rather than buying them. And each little product that you make feels like only one small thing, and it probably is, but over time and as you make more and more of your own needs at home, you start to rely less and less on companies and manufacturing, and more and more on yourself. And that is always a wonderful thing.