By Kevin Mechelmans
Ingredients
1 ½ tbsp. beeswax (45gr)
6 ¼ tbsp. cocoa butter (90gr)
1 ½ tbsp. grape seed oil
1/8 – ¼ tsp. chocolate flavour oil (not to be confused with chocolate essential oil)
1 tsp. glucose (optional, only to add sweetness)
Method
Melt the beeswax and butter in a bowl over boiling water, mix in the oil, allow to cool a bit, add in the flavouring and the glucose, and put in lip balm jars.
I used 10 small jars, which was all I had, and still had enough mixture left over for another 5+ jars.
The jars I used were 10gr jars, easily hidden in back packs, hand bags, man bags, pockets, etc.
The intention wasn’t really to save money as you can buy lip balm for a dollar or less, but I wanted to come up with a recipe that would allow me to easily make and use a balm, and know exactly what ingredients were used because unlike Nev, who was a chemist in his former life, I, like most have no idea what most ingredients they put in such things are.
So, the question is, did I achieve my goal of making a nice spreadable lip balm or did I end with up with something akin to concrete? I’m happy to report it is soft enough to apply to your finger and then spread it on your lips, and tastes like chocolate!
Unfortunately though I did hand out some jars to the in-laws but it seems none have used it, whether they do not trust me or are aware of the arsenic I added to their mix I do not know.
NOTE
I have used chocolate essential/flavour oils for most of the recipes to make it simple and who doesn’t want their partner to smell/taste like chocolate, but you could use any essential/flavour oil you like the smell off. You could also add tea tree oil to most of the recipes.
Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic, anti-fungal and anaesthetic, adding a drop or two could be beneficial. Might change the fragrance though.
Use brown coloured glass jars or bottles for the aftershave oils and shaving oils, and keep them out of direct sunlight.
A word of caution - use of some essential oils are not advised when you have particular medical conditions such as Hypertension or if you are pregnant. Make sure you always check first.
