DIY Organic Essential Oils Lip Balm Essential Without Beeswax or Vaseline Free

I will be honest. I was oddly intimidated to take on DIY chap stick and lip balm before… I have no idea why… but I was! I had heard of so many people who made their own lip balm and / or chap stick, but for some reason, I thought it was going to be way more difficult than it actually is. I also was very frustrated that it was so difficult to find a recipe or version that was beeswax free AND vaseline / petroleum jelly free.

I have a small allergy (I guess I’d really call it a sensitivity) to beeswax – basically, with a lot of use it irritates my skin like crazy. I can use a product that has beeswax a couple of times, but if I’m applying something regularly that has beeswax in it, my skin gets irritated. With something like lip balm and chap stick that I apply regularly, it’s REALLY, REALLY hard to find any without beeswax in it. Even on the internet… ALL the DIY recipes I could find all had beeswax in them.

If you’re allergic to bees, you’ll be allergic to beeswax.

And then, when I’d find a recipe that was beeswax free, it would have petroleum jelly or vaseline in it… which I was really trying to avoid, too!

After doing some research, I came across a vegan alternative to beeswax – caranuba wax! It comes from the leaves of caranuba palms and has a BUNCH of different uses… one of them being it’s very moisturizing so it’s great in DIY cosmetic products – thus making it a great alternative to beeswax. HOORAY! Now, you can definitely use beeswax if you’re not allergic to it or have a sensitivity to it like I do… and I include the ratios for it in the recipe just in case. I just, personally, wanted to make some chap stick without it.

So, I set out to make my first lip balm and it was a success! It is also INCREDIBLY economical to make. No more $3-$5 organic chap stick at the store for me… not when I can make my own for $0.38 cents a tube! BOOM!

And just think… how awesome would it be to make a big batch of this and give it to friends, family members, teachers, etc. as a sweet homemade gift this holiday season?

Enough rambling. Let’s get to the recipe!

DIY Organic Lip Balm / Chap Stick with Essential Oils (Beeswax & Vaseline Free!)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil (get it here)
• 2 tablespoons organic raw shea butter (get it here)
• 2 tablespoons of caranuba wax (get it here – if you want, you can substitute the caranuba wax with 2 tablespoons of organic beeswax)
• 5-8 drops of essential oils, your choice (I’d stay away from citrus oils as they are photosensitive (meaning you don’t want to be out in the sun having applied a citrus oil to your lips). Personally, I used Lavender and Geranium! Learn how to get started with essential oils here.)
• 12 empty chap stick / lip balm containers (I get mine here)

Directions for Your DIY Lip Balm Without Beeswax:

In a pot on the stove, first melt the caranuba wax (or beeswax) on low to medium heat. Once the wax is melted, add in the coconut oil and shea butter and let all of that melt.

Once the wax, coconut oil, and shea butter is melted, turn off the stove and add in your essential oils. Using a medicine dropper, a turkey baster, or something like that, carefully pour the liquid mixture into the empty chap stick containers. You want to do this slowly and carefully because the mixture will be hot!

Let the tubes cool – the mixture will harden as it cools and eventually become fully solidified. You may need to top each tube off a little as it hardens because the lip balm will shrink down a little.

And voila! That’s it! SUPER easy! Feel free to make cute labels or use stickers to decorate the tubes if you want to give them away as gifts.

Here’s the breakdown of the approximate cost:

• Coconut oil – $13.66 for 320z.
  • Using 2 tablespoons = 1oz. = ~$0.42 cents
• Raw shea butter – $5 for 8oz
  • Using 2 tablespoons = 1oz. = ~$0.63 cents
• Caranuba wax – $16.89 for 1lb. / ~16oz.
  • Using 2 tablespoons = 1 oz. = $1.05
• Empty chap stick containers – $10.80 for 50 tubes
  • Using 12 containers = ~$0.21 cents a container = $2.52 for 12 empty containers
• Essential oils – This is going to totally depend on what oils you want to use… since I only used 5-8 drops, you’re looking at less than $1 total for the drops of oil if you use something like Lavender… here’s a great graphic below that shows a basic breakdown of a few of the oils…

Total Cost = ~$4.62 for 12 containers = ~$0.38 cents a tube! You seriously can’t beat that!

*I adapted my recipe from this recipe here (which contained beeswax).

What do you think? Will you give this DIY lip balm without beeswax a try? Have you made your own chap stick or lip balm before? Got a favorite recipe? Leave it in the comments! I’d love to try it!

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Looking to get started with essential oils? Visit my essential oils page for more information on how!