DIY Small Batch Natural Lip Balm

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We've made natural lip balms over the years and one thing I've learned is that most recipes on the internet make a huge batch. Seriously, the last one I looked at made 18! Unless you are making lip balms for Christmas gifts (good idea!), you  probably don't want that many. This recipe will make 3 tubes of lip balm, which is likely all you need for a while. But by all means you can double or triple the recipe if you want to make a larger batch. 

What I particularly love about making my own lip balm is knowing exactly what is in a product that is going directly on my mouth. Most lip balms you buy are petroleum based and that's pretty nasty stuff to be on your mouth. Also, it is rumored that petroleum based lip products dry out your lips more than they actually help. My anecdotal and somewhat scentific evidence is: When I was 16 I had to have my jaws wired shut for 6 weeks, and as a result my lips dried out terribly. My doctor told me to find a lip balm that did not have petroleum in it because it would make my dried and cracked lips even worse. So do with that with you will :) Now onto making your own lip balm...

Ingredients & Supplies: 

- 1/4 Tbsp. Beeswax pellets ** if you want a firmer lip balm you can add a few more pellets 

- 3/4 Tbsp. Shea Butter

- 1/4 Tbsp. Coconut Oil

- 2 Drops Vitamin E Oil

- 4 Drops Essential Oil(s)

- Lip Balm Tubes

- Pipette

Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil on the stove. 

Measure out all your ingredients except the essential oil and put them all in a glass heat safe bowl. 

The amount of ingredients used for such a small batch seem insignificant, but I promise it's enough to fill 3 lip balm tubes with a little to spare.

Place your glass bowl on your pot and you now have a double boiler! Let all the ingredients melt then turn off the heat and add your essential oil drops. Stir to combine.

Use a pipette to squeeze the liquid from your bowl...

and then release into your lip balm tubes. The liquid should go right to the top of the tube.

The lip balm will start to harden up pretty quickly. If you're really impatient you can put them in the freezer. And voila! You've made your very own lip balm. 

If you like making your own self-care products you should check out our blog posts where we make calendula salve and a hand scrub that leaves your hands feeling so soft (and also makes a great gift). 

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DIY Nourishing Calendula Salve

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Calendula salve is a great herbal remedy to always keep on hand and it would make a great gift for anybody! It's not overly complicated to make and has lots of benefits. It has anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. Which make it great for applying it on minor cuts, scrapes, and burns but it's great for many other things too like chapped lips. 

Speaking of chapped lips... if you are looking for a way to make your own lip balm, look no further. 

Ingredients & Supplies:

- 2 Tbsp. Calendula Oil**

- 1/4 Tbsp. Shea Butter

- 1/2 Tbsp. Beeswax pellets

- 1-2 drops Essential oil(s) (optional)

- 1 oz. Tins

- Pipette

**If you want to make your own calendula oil, you will need to make it at least 3 weeks before you wish to make your salve. You can buy some already made if you don't have the time to wait. Our preference is to make it ourselves so we know exactly what is in it.  Making the calendula oil  is very simple, but you do have to think ahead a little. All you do is steep dried calendula flowers in a carrier oil. You can use sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, or argan oil. We used sweet almond oil in one and argan in the other. We made a very large batch in a 32 oz. mason jar for a class we were teaching, but you can do something smaller like the 8 oz. jar we did on the right.

Add dried calendula flowers so that your jar is 3/4 full of flowers and then pour over your oil. You can use whatever size jar you want. The key is to fill it 3/4 full and then add your oil of choice. No heat is necessary and it's great for this oil to get some sun as it will help the calendula infuse into the oil better. Let this flowers soak for 3 weeks to a couple of months. If you are really thinking ahead, you can grow and dry your own calendula. 

After you have let it sit for the appropriate time, then you will run the oil & flowers through a cheesecloth to strain out the flowers and be left with only oil. No big deal if a few calendula bits are left. Now your calendula oil is ready to use! 

Melt the beeswax, shea butter, and calendula oil over a double boiler. You don't need a special double boiler, we just used a glass bowl over a pot. Add water to a deep enough pot that a glass bowl on top won't touch the bottom and then put the glass bowl on top. Bam- double boiler. Let the water get up to a boil and the mixture will start to melt. The beeswax will take the longest to melt, but stir as it melts to keep everything incorporated.

Once the mixture is melted, turn off the heat. At this point you can add whatever essential oil you would like to use and then mix it in.

Pour the mixture into whatever container you would like to use. We love these metal tins but you can also use these glass jars. We also used a pipette which made "pouring" less messy and more accurate. If you are making multiples, you could pour the hot mixture into a measuring cup with a spout and then pour from there. 

We made these stickers to put on our salve tins. This is great if you want to give this as a gift. You can get these printed at a print shop or office supply store and it's a nice little touch. If in the end you feel like you'd like your salve to be a little softer, reduce the amount of beeswax and if you want it to be a little more solid, add a little more beeswax. 

Store your salve in a cool, dark place. If stored properly the shelf life of the exact recipe in this post is up to 6 months. Your salve will smell like an old box of crayons if it has gone rancid. 

If you like making your own self care products, check out our blog post on making your own lip balm and making your own hand scrub. 

Thanks for stopping in :) Happy DIYing! 

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DIY Small Batch Natural Sugar Hand Scrub

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Making your own hand scrub at home is so easy and you likely already have the ingredients at home to make it. You can easily make a large batch for gifts or you can use our recipe for a small batch just for yourself. You can easily use all organic ingredients if that's something that interests you, but whatever you already have works just fine!

There are so many great tins and jars to store the scrub in and you can even print out your own labels like we did to add a little something special to the end product.

Ingredients & Supplies:

- 1/2 cup Sugar

- 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

- 3 drops of any Essential Oil (optional)

- 1 drop Vitamin E oil (also optional)

- 6 oz. Tins

First pour the sugar into the bowl. If you want to make more than one tin, just multiply the ingredients.

Then pour in the olive oil and whatever essential oil you'd like. We find that 3 drops is enough to provide scent but you could do a couple more if you don't feel like 3 drops is fragrant enough. And again, essential oils are optional and not needed for the scrub to do it's job.

And all you do to combine everything is stir. It may seem like there isn't enough oil at first, but trust me, it will all blend together just fine.

Just keep mixing and then scoop your mixture into your tin.

And add a label if you have one...

And just like that you have yourself a hand scrub that rivals expensive ones that you can buy in the store. This will leave your hands feeling so soft and moisturized, no lotion needed.

We like to keep ours by the sink for anyone to use. This hand scrub should last up to 6 months, and adding a drop of Vitamin oil when mixing can help preserve the scrub for longer. 

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