All-Natural Peppermint Lip Balm Recipe

Summer is one of the worst seasons for your lips. The high heat, humidity, and sunburn can cause redness, drying, and damage to your lips. This all-natural recipe I created leaves your lips healthy, soft, and hydrated. The best part is that I had all of the ingredients for this lip balm recipe already in my kitchen cabinet. A few months ago, I made my own lip balm and the recipe yielded about 4 lip balm sized tubes and 1 small jar. I had so much lip balm that I gave away lip balm to family and friends, and I haven’t had to restock. Lip balm is a very easy and quick to make!
 
I began making my own lip balm after I read about the harmful chemicals in beauty products. Many common lip balms contain several endocrine disruptors (parabens, BHT, and chemical sunscreens), coal tar dyes linked to cancer, artificial fragrance and flavor, and petroleum-derived oils that can lock in all of these chemicals. Since lip balm goes directly on your lips, you ingest the ingredients of the lip balm this is especially harmful because you drink and eat with lip balm on you lips. Many people reapply lip balm multiple times and are exposing themselves to harmful chemicals numerous times a day. My all-natural lip balm is a great alternative to the chemical-filled lip balms commercially sold. 

EQUIPMENT:
Glass dropper
Double boiler or pot and sauce pan
Lip balm containers (either small glass jars or lip balm tubes, which you can find on amazon)
 
INGREDIENTS:
½ Tbsp beeswax
1 Tbsp. shea butter
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
¼ teaspoon honey
10 drops of peppermint essential oil
 
DIRECTIONS:

1. Use a double boiler or fill a pot about 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil, then put a sauce pan on top of the pot with boiling water.
2. Place all ingredients, except the peppermint essential oil, inside the sauce pan or double boiler and slowly melt, making sure not to get any water in the pan. Stir honey very well and realize that much of it will settle to the bottom of the sauce pan. Don’t try to incorporate this extra in, just discard it.
3. When all ingredients are melted, stir well and turn off heat, but leave pan on top of the water to keep warm.
4. Stir in the peppermint essential oil.
5. Use a glass dropper to quickly fill the containers. Leave the pan in the water but turn off the heat to keep the ingredients liquid.
6. The mixture will settle slightly as it cools, so re-top the containers after about 2 minutes as they start to harden.
7. Let sit without touching for several hours or until completely hardened.
8. Store in a cool dry place (they will last for at least a year if stored correctly).
9. Enjoy!