Vegan Lip Balm

I might have mentioned it before, but Thursdays are days I set aside to do craft projects with a good friend of mine. We instituted this schedule about 6 weeks ago and have stuck to it, spending at least all afternoon on Thursdays crafting, and often dedicating the whole day to our crafty projects. We have been very organized about the projects we want to accomplish for holiday gifts and have a schedule written down (somewhere) for what we plan to make each week between now and December 15. This process is making the holiday gift giving so much more affordable and personal! Yesterday was a sort of big day–we made candles and lip balm. But before we got started with that, we had to run some errands around town to procure some of the supplies we needed. I will post the directions for the candles we made soon, but first the lip balm. This was so easy to make once we had the supplies and I don’t know if I will ever buy lip balm again. Plus, this tastes great–like a peppermint/vanilla cookie, with a hint of chocolate (from the cocoa butter).

The Recipe

Makes 36 0.25 oz tins. You will need:

1 microwave safe glass container (we used a Pyrex 2 cup measure) OR a double-boiler set up

tins or lip balm containers of your choosing

wooden skewer for stirring

small funnel

dropper

2 Tbls candelilla wax

2 Tbls soy wax

4 Tbls cocoa butter

2 Tbls shea butter

1/2 cup avocado oil

1/4 tsp vitamin E oil

60 drops peppermint essential oil

30 drops pure vanilla extract

Note on supplies: You can order all of these supplies online. We have a great store called Zenith Supplies in Seattle that sells candle-making supplies, soap-making supplies, etc. in bulk at wholesale prices (you can order from them on their website). We procured all of our supplies from there, except those we already had at home. You can use any number of waxes and oils in this recipe. For waxes, options include candelilla, soy, carnauba, you name it. For oils, you could use avocado, jojoba, etc. It didn’t make sense for us to buy vitamin E oil just for a 1/4 tsp, so we pierced a few vitamin E supplement capsules and squeezed out the oil.

 Instructions: Cover your workspace with newspaper to make clean-up easier. Remove the tops and lay out your tins or containers on top of the newspaper in preparation.

Melt your wax and butters first before measuring. Measure out the quantities listed above, first the waxes, then add the butters. Heat these either in a double boiler or in the microwave (we used the microwave since the stove was tied up with candlemaking). Use a wooden skewer to stir the mixture. If using the microwave, heat in 30 second increments until no solid bits remain. Once the butters and waxes are completely melted, add the oils (vitamin E and avocado) and heat again to ensure the mixture is completely melted. It should be perfectly transparent with no bits of stuff floating in it:

Add the vanilla extract and peppermint essential oil and stir to combine. Test a dot of the hot mixture on your skin (warning: it’s hot!) to see how it feels. It should solidify a bit and at this point, you can try that little test dot on your lips. It should feel great! Now, you’re ready to pour. This is really done most easily with two people–one person to pour, the other to watch the funnel and place a (clean!) finger over the spout when each tin is full (to prevent overflow).

 Fill to just below the top of the tins. Do not over fill. You want the tops to be able to slide on easily. Wait for them to cool completely and solidify (about 1 hour).

Replace the lids and they are ready to use. If you accidentally overfilled some of the tins (as we did), use the flat side of a butter knife to scrape off the excess (these ones won’t look as pretty, but at least you can get the tops on!).

These are such great little tins and will fit nicely in your pocket or purse. Plus, they are great for both women and men to use and carry around.

If you’re inclined, you can make little stickers/labels for the tops of the tins. I think we plan to do this before giving them as gifts. There you have it. Vegan lip balm from start to finish in under 2 hours! What crafts would you love to do leading up to the holidays?