It’s another throw-back Thursday video on Soap Queen TV! This video was originally filmed in 2009 (check out the background on the set). This recipe is still a favorite and the label templates are remain cute and functional. The label template will be free to download for the next week and after that will be available for purchase.
Too early for Christmas? If you are like me, every year you say you are going to make gifts for the holidays and every year you run out of time (or like me, end up pulling an all-nighter). So let’s make this the year we plan ahead. The trick is to get your supplies now and make your projects in those few hours here and there. Before you know it, the holidays will be here and, you’ll have no stress because you’ll have a wonderful gift for everyone on your list.
This video features two recipes. One for a small batch and one for a large batch of lip balm.
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Recipe for the small batch:
- 2 tsp. Coconut Oil
- 2 1/4 tsp. White Beeswax
- 1 1/8 tsp. Sweet Almond Oil
- 2/3 tsp. Avocado Oil
- few drops Peppermint Essential oil
- Red Mica ( 1 teaspoon for a light pink 2 tablespoons for a lip stain)
Recipe for the Large Batch:
- 2.7 oz. White Beeswax
- 3.8 oz. Coconut Oil
- 1.7 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
- 1.2 oz. Avocado Oil
- .25 oz. Buttercreme Flavor Oil
- a few mini scoops of Apple Moss Green Mica
Note: this recipe was made with Shamrock Green Mica, which was reformulated and no longer lip safe. It’s now made with Apple Moss Green Mica.
Tools and Containers:
Hey Guys
Hi from Dubai!
I made the small batch recipe but something is still not right .. the balm is very hard
the recipe i made is
2 tsp Coconut Oil
2 1/4tsp White Beeswax (pellets)
1 1/8 tsp Sweet Almond Oil
2/3 tsp Avocado Oil
few drops of peppermint EO
Red Mica
Aha the balm still came out hard 🙁 help
Hi Mary!
The balm may need a bit more liquid oil! I would recommend melting it down and adding more sweet almond and avocado oil. You can start with another 1/8th teaspoon. That will help make it softer! Before remelting the balm, place a spoon in the freezer. Then, dip that cold spoon into the balm and it will harden instantly. You can check the consistency to see what you think. If you want it softer, you can add more oil then. 🙂
Learn more about The Spoon Trick here: https://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/spoon-trick/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi Soap Queen! Thank you for sharing. I love your recipes and Your products!!!
Can you please tell me, how much is the small patch and how much is the big patch. Thank you
You’re welcome Elena! Glad you love the recipes and products.
The small batch fills about 2-4 lip balm tubes or slidey tins. The large batch fills about 50 lip tubes. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I started making lip balms this summer after reading one of your lip balm blogs. I’ve had so much fun with it! Lately I’ve noticed a few of my balms have started turning almost a bright yellow. Does this mean it has gone bad? Would it be from a particular flavor I added, because most of them are fine. I have started selling them and I would hate for them not to last long. I’d love any information you could give me. Thanks!!
Hi Emily!
So glad you’re having fun making lip balm! Doesn’t handmade lip balm feel amazing on the skin? I can never go back to store bought!
I’m thinking that color change may be flavor oil discoloration. While it’s a sure thing in soap, it can be a bit inconsistent in other products. For instance, I’ve seen a candle turn yellow, and a few bath bombs, but it doesn’t happen all the time. That may be what’s happening here! In that case, the balm is still totally fine to use. You may try some on your hand just to make sure that color doesn’t transfer.
Can you tell me a bit more about your recipe, including the ingredients and flavor oil you used? Let me know and we’ll get this figured out. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hi! Thanks for your reply. All of the main ingredients I bought from Brambleberry. They are: coconut oil, avocado oil, beeswax, Shea butter, sweet almond oil, vitamin E oil. I also include red raspberry seed oil and a pink frosting flavor oil, both bought elsewhere. Initially, the color was fine. But the few that have turned the bright yellow color were made probably around July. It doesn’t smell funny and the consistency is the same as always, it’s just the odd color. Thanks for your input!
Thanks so much for that recipe! Are you using the white beeswax? If so, I think it’s that flavor oil. Those balms are absolutely fine to use! If you like for your next batch, you can use a flavor oil with no vanilla content. You can also add a bit of color to offset the yellow tint. Find a list of lip safe colors here: https://www.brambleberry.com/Lip-Safe-Micas-Colorants-W37.aspx
Just a little bit of color tints the balm but doesn’t color your lips! This video talks more about adding color to your balm: http://www.soapqueen.com/personal-ramblings/making-lip-balm-soap-queen-tv/
This post talks more about adding color and flavor as well: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lip-products/how-to-create-lip-product-recipes/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thanks Kelsey! Yes, I am using the white beeswax. I will try adding a tiny the next time, thanks for the links! I have two other questions since you have been so helpful. I used brambleberry’s cucumber melon as a flavor. A few of them over time have developed something like crystals. Again, besides the crystals it seems to be fine. What causes that?
My other question is unrelated to balms. I didn’t see a way to email you directly so I hope it’s ok that I ask here. I’m waiting on an order of Shea body butter. Can you add distilled water to make different consistencies? I’d like to make a thick lotion and a body mist as well. Is that possible? And if so, any recipe ratios you could suggest would be great!
Emily
Hey Emily!
You can definitely ask questions here! We are happy to help. 🙂
I’m not quite sure why that balm is forming crystals! Are you using the same recipe as above?
Also, you can definitely play around with shea butter in your lotions! It’s very versatile.
For a nice thick body butter, you can add the shea butter and other oils to a bowl and whip them together. It is super moisturizing and feels great on the skin. We did that in the Whipped Champagne Shea Butter Recipe: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/12-days-christmas-whipped-champagne-shea-butter/
You can also add shea butter to a traditional lotion, which has water, emulsifying wax, etc. This post talks about how to make your own lotion recipe: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lotion/how-to-create-homemade-lotion-recipes/
As for a body mist, we haven’t done a lot of experimenting with that! You can increase the water in your lotion to 80%, which does make it thinner. However, it may be too thick to spray onto the skin. You can up that water amount even more and do some experimenting to see if you can get a nice sprayable consistency. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
What about using butters? Can I replace the sweet almond oil with cocoa butter?
Hi Kristie!
You can definitely add butters to your balm! They will give it a nice smooth feeling. The cocoa butter is more firm than sweet almond oil, so the balm will be a bit more firm overall. I would recommend making a small test batch to see how it feels. 🙂
Cocoa butter: https://www.brambleberry.com/Cocoa-Butter-Pastilles–P3218.aspx
This post has some great information on what you can add to your balm and what properties each ingredient has: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lip-products/how-to-create-lip-product-recipes/
You may also like this Vanilla Latte Lip Balm, which uses cocoa butter for a nice silky feeling: http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lip-products/vanilla-latte-lip-balm/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
In the video you mention that most lip balms are “flavored” with fragrance oil and some sweetener (who knew?!) and that we can add a bit of stevia to sweeten our handmade lip balms.
So, how much stevia does one add to a lip balm recipe?
Thanks!
PS: Your recipes and videos are great!
PPS: Your outtakes crack me up 😛
Hi Lacey!
So glad you like the recipes, videos and outtakes! We have a lot of fun during Soap Queen TV filming. 🙂
With stevia, a little bit goes a long way. You only need about 1/4 teaspoon per 50 ounces of balm. If you’re making a smaller batch, I would recommend adding just a tiny pinch. You can also use our mini scoops to measure out small batches: https://www.brambleberry.com/15-CC-Scoop-P4088.aspx
You can also add Lip Smacking Sweet Flavor Oil. You can use it at 1-3% with another flavor oil or 6% on its own. 🙂
Lip Smacking Sweet Flavor Oils: https://www.brambleberry.com/Lip-Smacking-Sweet-Flavor-Oil-P4679.aspx
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Hello!
I need your help. I want to make a lip balm but without any shine. When i make it it always turns out glossy. I dont like that. Is their a way to make it less glossy?
Hi Prerana!
You may like this lip balm recipe! It has nice hard ingredients like beeswax and coconut oil, making it soft and luxurious without a lot of extra gloss.
If you want something even less glossy, you can add more waxes and hard oils and less soft oils. However, while soft oils add gloss, they also add some great moisturization properties. I would recommend making a small test batch to see if you like the way your recipe feels. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Love the tutorial! Would using olive oil be a problem instead of the sweet almond and avocado oils? Last question, how much stevia would you recommend using for this recipe? Thanks! Becky
Hi Becky!
So glad you like the tutorial! Olive oil is a little heavier than sweet almond or avocado oil, so it will change the texture of your lip balm slightly. I would recommend making a small test batch to see if you like that texture. 🙂
For the small batch, you would just need a very tiny pinch of the stevia. For a large batch, one .15 CC mini scoop should be plenty!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Stevia: https://www.brambleberry.com/Stevia-White-bleached-P3853.aspx
Mini scoop: https://www.brambleberry.com/15-CC-Scoop-P4088.aspx
I’m allergic to almonds so I probably would want to stay away from the sweet almond oil. What could I use in its place?
Hi Tiana!
Instead, you can use avocado oil or canola oil. They’re both lightweight oils like the sweet almond oil. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Avocado oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Avocado-Oil-P3198.aspx
Canola oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Canola-Oil-P5548.aspx
Hoping to learn something: How come in the small batch there is more beeswax than coconut oil, but in the large batch there is more coconut oil than bees wax?? I guess I assumed the proportions would remain the same.
Thank you for the clarification 🙂
Hi Emily!
We adjusted the levels slightly to have a slightly softer product for the large batch. However, you can keep the proportions the same if you like a harder balm. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Thanks Kelsey! That clears it all up 🙂
You’re welcome. 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Tried to get the template, but it wouldn’t load the page
Hi Lee!
That link should be working now. Sorry about that!
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
I can’t get the template to download either. I’d love to buy the stuff to make these as gifts.
Here’s the correct link: https://www.brambleberry.com/Holiday-Lip-Balm-Template-PDF-download-P5994.aspx
yikes…would love to make these for gifts,, but could get the free template down load…will try again!…thanks for all your tutorials!!!!
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Here’s the correct link to the template: https://www.brambleberry.com/Holiday-Lip-Balm-Template-PDF-download-P5994.aspx