Homemade Chapstick

I am a chapstick feen!  I apply it to my lips probably way too often and probably more out of habit than out of necessity, but I basically always have it with me and love it!

Because of my love for chapstick, I find myself in a whirlwind of decisions when it comes to what to buy.  My two favorites are Carmex and Burt's Bees.  With my desire to go natural and green, Carmex has become something that I really would like to give up... and Burt's Bees is lovely but somewhat expensive, not to mention there's the whole idea of really not knowing for certain what is in it and what I'm putting on my lips.  When I stubbled upon the idea of making my own chapstick, I was obviously more than excited!!!

What you need:


2 tbsp beeswax (about 1 oz)
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp shea butter
optional essential oil of your choice
14-15 lip balm containers
dropper
crock-pot







What you do:

• Melt the beeswax in your crockpot on low heat

• When wax is completely melted, add coconut oil and shea butter and melt completely
• Add in any essential oil, if you wish.  
• I added peppermint essential oil.  I don't believe I added quite enough (I put in 1/2 tsp of oil... next time I will try 1 tsp) for flavor, but the light scent is nice.
• Stir liquid

• Using the dropper, fill each container with the melted chapstick mixture
• Add a few more drops to the tops of each chapstick to "top it off" as the mixture shrinks as it cools.  To keep the tops looking nice, add these additional drops while the mixture is still liquid, rather than waiting until it cools too much.

• Allow to cool completely before capping
• Label and decorate as desired!  :)

I only purchases 12 lip balm containers, but had more wax than that.  I quickly found an empty container around my condo and filled it up.  I, personally, don't really like lip balm that you have to use your finger to apply, but it's just what I had to do.  I definitely think 14 or 15 containers would be enough.

So far, I really like the chapstick.  It isn't as 'wet' as the store bought chapstick, but I actually think this is probably a good thing.  I believe that the store bought chapsticks actually dry out your lips, hindering your lips from producing their own natural moisturizer.  I am hoping that this natural, homemade chapstick will be better for this and will encourage my lips to produce their own moisture.  We'll see!

I also think it would be fun to add in some different essential oils and try different flavors and maybe try adding color by adding pureed or juiced fruits or something!  I am also hoping to make cute little labels for them... just for fun!

Hope you all enjoy!

... I almost forgot!  The cost of these homemade chapsticks are approximately $0.68 per stick.  This was a rough estimate on my part... I actually suspect that the cost is less than that, but it's around there.  Compared to the cost of the store-bought lip balms, I think the $0.68 is much more appealing!