Mother’s Day Lip Balm – Color & Divots

On a recent Mother’s Day Lip Balm post, commenter Spankinart, asked:

“I notice is there are holes in the lip balm tubes..I always get this and can’t figure out why..I top it off after it cools a little and still get those holes..Any tips on how to avoid those holes in the lip balm tubes?”

When you make lip balm or home made lipsticks, a main ingredient is wax (typically beeswax). Beeswax contracts as it cools down. This means that the total volume of balm shrinks in size. If you have poured product into a lip balm tube, the contraction is especially pronounced because of the small opening.

Additionally, the design of chapstick tubes exacerbates this shrinking tendency. Lip balm tubes work by “screwing” the lip balm up and out of the container. There is a little cup at the bottom of the lip balm tube that runs up and down a center screw-like pole to force the balm out of the tube. As the balm settles and cools, it fills in the circumference of the screw, causing more of a drop in the middle of the balm.

While you cannot get rid of shrinkage entirely, there are a few ways to minimize shrinkage:

1. Cool Temperatures – The cooler your lip balm base is when you pour it, the the more dense it will be. Cooler temperatures help to prevent the divot in the top of your lip balm pots and tubes.

2. Use a knife – In the photo below, we used a knife to cut the top of the lip balm for a smooth even look.

3. Use a lip balm tray – allows for easy pouring of 50 lip tubes at a time. Because the tray allows for overfilling and scraping, the divoting will not happen.

4. Top-Off – When you make a custom color of lip balm, save some of your colored balm for topping off the hardened chapstick tube with a dropperful of melted balm.

Bramble Berry has the labels pictured above available for free download here. Over on the MetaFilter forum, there is an interesting discussion labeling your lip balm. Click here to go see it. If you want to make lipstick like the photos above, click here and here to go to the multiple part tutorial on making your own lipstick.