Homemade Lip Balm With Shea, Coconut and Orange

This is the latest of my homemade beauty experiments and I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the results.

I used to think making my own beauty products would be time consuming and just add to everyday stress. But in fact, it's the opposite. It's a bit like baking cakes and is very therapeutic. The hardest part is getting your ingredients together.

I've heard a lot of bad reports about petroleum jelly, so after already making my own Homemade Moisturiser, I thought I'd give lip balm a go.

This one involved a little bit of "cooking".

What you need:

• A small pan - a non-stick one worked well for this
• Containers/pots

Ingredients:

• Shea Butter
• Beeswax
• Coconut Oil
• (Optional) - esssential oil of your choice. I used Orange

These ingredients are really easy to source on the internet. I got mine from Amazon and got the Coconut Oil in Holland and Barratt.

I wasn't too strict about amounts, but as a general guideline, I tried to use about a tablespoon each of shea, beeswax and coconut oil .

I grated the beeswax and added it to the pan. Turn the heat on the lowest possible setting. You only want to melt the ingredients so that they are easier to mix together.

Once the beeswax has melted, add your shea butter and coconut oil. Once melted give the mixture a stir. Then add about 8 drops of essential oil.

Begin spooning the mixture into your containers. Some people prefer to use a little funnel for this part, but it worked fine for me to just spoon it in.

Leave the mixture to cool and voila, you have your very own homemade lip balm. This recipe made 4 lip balms.

If you prefer your lip balm softer, you can add more oil to soften it up or less beeswax. The lip balm has a lovely coconut/orange smell and is very nourishing for the lips. I left it on overnight and woke up with lovely soft lips.

It's also possible to buy empty chapstick tubes on ebay if you prefer that.

The great thing is, they make great presents for family and friends :) Have you experimented with lips balms? Let me know if you gave this receipe a go?