DIY Vanilla Coffee Lip Balm Recipe (Using Only Natural Ingredients)

Lip balm is one of those products that almost everyone uses, whether to actually heal cracked lips or because you love the different flavors.  I use lip balm year-round, so it ended up being one of the first things I started making instead of buying.  Making your own lip balm is fun and simple, and compared with the prices of most natural lip balms, it is cost effective too!  With a cute label, this vanilla coffee lip balm also makes the perfect gift.

A friend of mine recently suggested that I should devise a recipe for vanilla coffee lip balm.  I loved the idea, but since I don’t use fragrant oils, I wasn’t sure if I could make it naturally (which meant I wouldn’t make it at all).  But then, I formulated this recipe, and we love it.  It’s almost as popular as our vanilla peppermint lip balm (Stacy’s favorite)!

If you’ve never infused oils before, please check out this post before continuing with the recipe.  If you don’t want to purchase vanilla oleoresin, you can also infuse some coconut oil with vanilla beans or vanilla powder to get a similar effect.  The following recipe can also be doubled to make more lip balm.

You’ll Need:

• 1 heaping tablespoon beeswax pastilles
  
• 1 tablespoon twice strained coffee infused coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon shea butter 
• 1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla oleoresin (see note at bottom)
• 6 empty lip balm tubes or small container
• clean medicine dropper
• double boiler or small crock pot

These items can be purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs, Amazon, or a local natural health store.  If you have extra ingredients consider making our Soothing Balm or Eucalyptus Chest Rub!

What You’ll Do:

1.  Place beeswax, twice-strained coffee-infused coconut oil, and shea butter into a double boiler or small crock pot (my crock pot came with a tiny crock for dips).  You can create a double boiler by placing a glass bowl over a small pot of boiling water.

2.  Heat on low until everything is melted.  Stir with wooden skewer to combine.

3.  Remove from heat and add vanilla oleoresin.  Do not add too much of this because it doesn’t completely combine with the oils.  You’ll need to stir it really well, and you’ll probably still have small droplets of vanilla floating around – that’s normal.

4.  With your medicine dropper and a steady hand, fill the empty lip balm tubes or small container.  If you spill, just put it back in the crock pot to melt back down.

5.  Place caps on your lip balms and label them.  Enjoy!

Cleaning tip: Beeswax tends to harden quickly, and it can make a mess on your containers and utensils.  So, it’s a good idea to wipe down your glass container or crock pot with a paper towel immediately after pouring.

Note about lip balm consistency: To change the hardness and softness of this lip balm, just add more or less beeswax. For warmer climates, add more beeswax.  For cooler climates, add less beeswax.  If you do not like the consistency of your final product, melt it back down and add either more beeswax (to make it harder) or more coconut oil and shea butter (to make it softer).

Note about vanilla oleoresin: This is sometimes referred to as Vanilla Essential oil or Vanilla 10 fold.  There isn’t technically such thing as a vanilla essential oil, but most oils labeled this way will work.  You can also infuse the coconut oil with a vanilla bean while you are infusing the coffee.  I’ve never used vanilla extract with this recipe, but I’m confident it would work just as well.

What’s your favorite lip balm combination?