DIY: Vegan Minty Orange Lip Balm
Tuesday, July 03, 2018
In
my previous Minty Cocoa Butter Lip Balm
recipe,
I used beeswax as one of the primary ingredients. Beeswax-based lip balms are
very moisturizing and stay on the lips for several hours (seriously, even after
I brushed my teeth I can still feel the residue of the lip balm). However, if
you are formulating a vegan lip balm, beeswax is definitely out of the list
since it is an animal-made product (bees produce beeswax). Actually, whether
beeswax is vegan or not is still a subject of debate among vegan-friendly
cosmetic consumers. Some says that as long as the bees are not killed to obtain
the wax, beeswax can still be considered as vegan-friendly.
If
you really want to avoid beeswax in your lip balms, then don’t worry as there
are a lot of vegetable-derived waxes that you can use in place of beeswax.
Examples of vegan waxes are
- Candelilla wax
- Carnauba wax
- Soy wax
- Rice bran wax
- Sunflower wax
For
the recipe I’m going to share, I actually used carnauba wax. Carnauba wax is derived from the leaves
of the Brazilian palm trees known as Copernicia
prunifera (or Copernicia cerifera).
It is the hardest natural wax available and this is the reason why if you put
too much of it in a lip balm, it causes your lip balm to crack and affects its
spreadability. Carnauba wax is most especially known for its shine so if you’re
a fan of super glossy lip balms, this is a must-have ingredient.
Ingredients
(Makes one lip balm on 15g tin cans)
*** This is a soft balm recipe intended to be
packaged in a jar/pot/tin can
4.2
g Sunflower oil
1.5
g Castor oil
3.8
g Carnauba wax
3.0
g Cocoa butter
2.3
g Shea butter
0.2
g Vitamin E
0.1
g Peppermint essential oil
0.1
g Sweet orange essential oil
Special Equipment
Instructions
- Combine the vegetable oils (except the essential oils), butters and wax in a heat-resistant container. Place the container over a small pot of simmering water (a.k.a. double-boiler/water bath method). Over low heat, stir until the butters and wax have completely melted (be a little bit patient as the carnauba wax takes time to melt).
- Remove from heat then add the Vitamin E and essential oils. Mix well.
- Quickly transfer the mixture to lip balm containers and wait for it to solidify at room temperature before covering the containers.
Notes
The
resulting recipe is a soft lip balm. If you want to store it in a tube, then
you need to increase the amount of carnauba wax and decrease the oils and hard
butters (e.g. cocoa butter) used in the recipe.
Where to buy the materials
- I bought the 15g aluminum tin cans from ISLAS Aromatics.
- The carnauba wax, carrier oils and butters can be bought from Craftology Essentials.
- For essential oils, you may refer to this list of essential oil suppliers in the Philippines.
- Vitamin E capsule can be bought from any drugstore. I bought mine from Watsons pharmacy.
Conclusion
There
are pros and cons when it comes to using carnauba wax in lip balm formulation.
Carnauba-based lip balms have non-waxy and non-sticky feel unlike those made
from beeswax. However, it is the waxiness of beeswax that makes it long lasting
and extra moisturizing in the first place. On the other hand, carnauba wax just
adds a thin, glossy film on your lips, similar to how a lip gloss feels like.
So if you have extremely chapped lips, I don’t think carnauba-based lip balms
are sufficient to moisturize your lips. One biggest pros of using carnauba wax
instead of beeswax is that it has a higher melting point of 80-85C (176-185F)
which can definitely prevent your lip balm from melting during hot summer days.
Have
you tried making vegan lip balms? What vegan waxes have you tried to use?
P.S.
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Disclosure: This post contains
affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and
purchase the products, I’ll receive some commission.
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