Easy Homemade Lip Balm Infused with Essential Oils

How to Make Your Own Natural Lip Balm

Who ever would have figured that your lip gloss or lip balm would be a hazardous health risk? Well, believe it or not, it can be!

​Please consider this 2013 report:

Researchers purchased 32 lip products and applied optical emission spectrometry to determine their metal content. All the products contained manganese, titanium, and aluminum, with the latter two metals showing up at the highest concentrations. Three-quarters contained detectable amounts of lead, and in nearly half the samples, lead levels were higher than the FDA standard

Researchers were hoping that this report would encourage cosmetic companies to pay more attention to the ingredients found in their lip products. To determine whether or not there was an impact, another study of 25 lip products was done in 2017. Here is what that report concluded:

Lead was present in all 25 lip balms analyzed in this study.

Our Journey

Health is very important to me. So much so that, as many of you know, I decided to become a health and physical education teacher. My husband is a physical therapist. You might say that we are a fairly health-conscious couple.

We have come to heavily scrutinize the labels of the products we buy. We have become increasingly cautious with store-bought items. The two reports mentioned above are reasons why we have grown to distrust large commercial companies and many store-bought products. We value natural ingredients, but the thing is, the FDA has stated that "natural" and "hypoallergenic" means nothing to them!

So what do you do about it. Well, my strategy is to continue learning how to make my own products. You see, if I make them, and they are all from single ingredient items, then I have improved control over the product.

​Think of a salad as an example. Does anybody think that a restaurant salad has the same ingredients in it than a homemade salad from local, farm-fresh produce? Hopefully my question has led you to be skeptical. The answer is, they are not the same! That restaurant salad likely has additional salt, hydrogenated oil, added sugar, and high fructose corn syrup, among many other hidden ingredients. 

I bring up the salad analogy because it is often how I share about how store-bought cosmetic items and beauty products are no different. The only way you can be confident about your products is if you put them together yourself!

It is not as hard as it seems! Trust me. I used to struggle cooking dinner for the family and now I am a regular DIY and homemade kind of gal. It is easy. Just take it one step at a time!

Making Your Own Lip Products

Over the last few weeks several people have been asking about lip balm. While some of these people are seeking natural ingredients because they are interested in removing chemicals from their home, others may have an interest in just finding the “best” lip balm for support and protection of the delicate skin on the lips.

It’s important to know that lip balm is no different than other personal care or cleaning product that we dissected a few weeks ago. Previously on the blog, we took a deep dive into the dirty secrets of the cosmetics industry. If you haven't gotten a chance, check out that post for some motivation to start replacing your household and store-bought products!

I have found that many of my previous favorite lip products are filled with harsh chemicals and harmful ingredients such as: fragrance, parabens, petroleum, synthetics, and coloring to name a few. For those of you unfamiliar with these ingredients, read our article on 5 concepts for a healthier home. Let’s consider each and every single personal care product used daily on our body has the potential to have many insidious and untested ingredients contained inside.

If you are really starting to get scared, please, do not be nervous about this. We have made a super simple post on how to immediately start eliminating toxins from insidious sources in your home!   


A Quick Word on Skin
When considering your skin, please remember that the integument (skin) is the largest organ in the human body (if you have heard this all before from us, please skip ahead to the DIY lip balm section). It regulates body temperature, controls moisture levels, and serves as the bodies first line of defense when considering immunity. The “skin also functions as a large storeroom for the body: the deepest layer of skin can store water, fat and metabolic products, and it produces hormones that are important for the whole body” (National Library of Medicine).   

Further, many of the ingredients that we are finding hidden in cosmetic products are believed to be endocrine disruptors. This is a problem when considering the endocrine system is responsible for hormone production and regulation. Hormones serve as vital messengers to control and regulate important body functions such as growth, metabolism, cellular activity, and reproductive health to name a few. They further serve as communicators to assist with regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and have interactions with our cells all throughout our body.

The skin is an organ which does allow entry of external substances via dermal absorption. Dermal absorption is “the transport of a chemical from the outer surface of the skin both into the skin and into the body” That said, it only makes sense to try our best to avoid conventional, store-bought, chemical-laden products. Instead strive for products with plant-based, known ingredients that are not listed as synonyms or more global terms such as "natural fragrance". 

The products we choose to use impact the structure of our cells, signals to our hormones, and our DNA (genotype). Please consider that the dictionary definition of phenotype is "the set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment".  See folks, our environment matters. Genes are only part of the story. What gets expressed (the traits that we observe such as onset of disease) is not only determined independently by our genotype. Rather, the traits observed is a combination of genotype and the environment.
Phenotype​ = Genotype + Environment.


Dermal Absorption 
In our home, we use caution when considering what products we use as many of these chemicals will be subject to dermal absorption. As we now know, dermal absorption has a very high likelihood of significantly impacting our phenotype. We only want our body to be exposed to natural ingredients that have no harmful effect on the system. The only reasonable way to accomplish this goal is to either make your own products or to purchase quality products that have been subjected to high rigors of testing and hold strict policies regarding labeling. 

We found an excellent read directly from the CDC regarding skin, chemical exposure, and dermal absorption. Check it out if you want an even deeper dive into the hazards of chemical exposure as it relates to dermal absorption.

One of the greatest parts of changing to a largely plant-based lifestyle- via essential oils- is the fact that you can start making all of your own products. Improved health and definitely more cost effective for you frugal folks out there!

There are two options when considering healthier lip products:

Option 1. Let Young Living Make it for You!
This is the "premade" option for those of you not interested in DIY. I trust this product and the company has very strict Seed to Seal standards which significantly improves quality control and product development!

They have the following products:

• Lavender Lip Balm- Infused with Lavender essential oil,  jojoba oil & vitamin E.
• Grapefruit Lip Balm- Infused with Grapefruit essential oil & wolfberry seed oil
• Cinnamon Lip Balm- Infused with Cinnamon Bark & Peppermint essential oils 
• Lip Gloss - Savvy Minerals by Young Living offers a variety of lip gloss
• Lipstick - Savvy Minerals by Young Living offers a variety of lipstick 

During the holiday catalog or other special events, Young Living Essential Oil offers my favorite lip balm, Vanilla-mint. I always order the four pack special when its available.  ​

Another tip is to use these items to create a thoughtful care package or gift for your friends and family.

​Option 2. Make it YOURSELF! 
​
This is the fun part!
​
When I first thought of the idea of making lip balm, I honestly thought it would be a really long process and a big messy project in the kitchen. I should have known by now that essential oil DIY products are rarely all that difficult.

All you need are some supplies and a little bit of time. We have listed all the ingredients and instructions below. They also make for awesome gifts for holiday's or special occasions!   
​
Ingredients for the Lip Balm:

• 1 Tablespoon Grape Seed Oil or Almond Oil
• 1 Tablespoon solid Coconut Oil
• 1 ½ Tablespoon Beeswax
• 1 Tablespoon Shea Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Butter
• 10 - 20 drops of Young Living Essential Oils. 
• Double Broiler or use a pot of water and with a glass measuring cup over the side
• Lip balm tubes or lip balm tins

Instructions for making your Lip Balm:

1. Set up your double broiler or pot of water with a hanging glass measuring cup. Then your going to melt down the solid Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Shea Butter, and Cocoa Butter to liquid form. Be patient! Let them melt down slowly with occasional stirring. Be careful not to burn them with too high of heat or forgetting to stir!
2. Once they are melted, I remove from the heat.
3. Slowly add in the Grapeseed Oil and the essential oils. I typically use Lavender or Peppermint in my lip balm recipes, but there are many other combinations that would work. For this recipe, I use about 10-20 drops of essential oil total. I often test the potency of the lip balm by spooning out a sample to test on my lips, if more essential oils is needed just add the extra drops. 
4. While still in liquid form, I carefully pour the lip balm into tins. It is not a bad idea to allow a little bit of cooling first!
5. Then leave them uncapped to cool and solidify.
6. Once the lip balm has hardened it is time for finishing touches, I cap and label them with decorative vinyl or stickers.  

My Favorite Essential Oil Combinations for the Lip Balm: 

• Lavender & Peppermint
• Thieves &  Lavender
• Thieves & Peppermint
• ​Spearmint & Grapefruit
• Citrus Fresh & Peppermint 

In Conclusion
I hope you enjoy this recipe on your quest for a more natural environment. Please make use of the search feature to look for more of my favorite DIY recipes. Please take a minute to share with me in the comments below your favorite essential oil combination for your DIY lip balm! ​

​As always, if you are new to essential oils and do not have any of your own, consider a premium starter kit from Young Living. This is widely regarded as the simplest way to get started with essential oils. When signing up for your first kit, you will have the opportunity to choose one of our leaders. This is an important step as they will provide you with ongoing support for the lifetime of your Young Living journey at no added cost to you! You can do this simply by visiting the our team page and selecting the individual you would like as your direct upline.

Further, by signing up as a member you will also receive tons of additional promotions such as saving 24% off retail pricing on future purchases of Young Living products.
 
If you have not done so already, please subscribe below for the latest updates, offers, and promotions exclusive to our essential oil community!

Related Essentially Well Blog Posts:

• Top 5 Natural Recipes to Transform Your Home!
• Discover a New All-Natural Skin Care Routine
• 4 Great Essential Oil Recipes for Summer

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Young Living products are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. Please see our disclaimer.