I believe Owen was around one year old the last time I made homemade chapstick. We were living in Vermont, the land of the perpetually long, dry winter, and making a soothing balm for our lips seemed quite necessary. The batch I made while in Vermont yielded around 30 tubes of chapstick, which was a LOT. I gave some away for Christmas presents, but we slowly widdled through the remainders over the next three years. If I’m honest with myself, I likely washed or lost at least half of the remaining tubes. Either way, it’s time to make more!
I wanted to share my homemade chapstick recipe for a number of reasons:
- Who doesn’t love an easy DIY stocking stuffer for the holidays? Homemade chapstick is also a great, thoughtful mini-gift for friends when you’re not committed to spending a lot of money. Unlike many DIY projects, homemade chapstick is a pretty safe bet; most people use chapstick.
- I love experimenting with essential oils (check out this post for some brand recommendations) and this homemade chapstick recipe is a great way to use two of the more common and affordable essential oils, peppermint and lavender. If you’re new to essential oils, homemade chapstick is a great place to start.
- Homemade chapstick is economical… very economical. While the ingredients for this homemade chapstick are an initial investment, the actual cost per tube is very low. The beeswax that I bought will last for years, while the other ingredients are things that I already keep on hand for other purposes.
- Personal care products are often loaded with chemicals and making your own products in a great way to control what goes on and into your body.
This homemade chapstick recipe took around 20 minutes from start to finish. While I used essential oils, you can substitute peppermint extract and eliminate the lavender all together. Personally, I love the lavender addition, but it’s entirely up to you.
Be sure to let me know if you love it!
Homemade Chapstick Recipe
Yields: 15 tubes of homemade chapstick
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp beeswax pellets
- 2 Tbsp jojoba oil (you can also substitute almond oil)
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 20 drops peppermint essential oil (use this link for an Aromatics International $10 credit)
- 10 drops lavender essential oil (use this link for an Aromatics International $10 credit)
What You’ll Need:
- Small pot with a couple inches of water in the base of the pot
- Glass jar such as a mason jar
- measuring cup with an easy pour side or large dropper for dispensing into empty lip balm tubes
- 15 empty lip balm tubes
Directions:
- Combine the beeswax, jojoba oil, and coconut oil in the jar. Place the jar inside the pot with water and heat on medium-low heat. Do not allow the water to boil or enter the glass, but occasionally swirl the contents of the jar to mix. Continue to heat and swirl till all ingredients are melted together.
- Remove the jar from the pot, add essential oils, swirl to stir and start dispensing into empty tubes. You can use a large medicine dropper, but this seems to take quite a while. I prefer to dispense the warm oils and wax using a measuring cup with a small pouring spout. Either method will work, just know that you have to work relatively quickly or the oils and wax begin to harden.
- Scrape hardened chapstick from the inside of the glass jar and measuring cup and melt again using the heated pot. Dispense remaining chapstick into empty tubes.
- Allow chapstick to harden, cap, and enjoy!
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