ChapStick, Burts Bees, EOS, Carmex, Blistex and every random promotional lip balm in between. I love it all. My daughter and I always have chapstick at an arm’s length – in the car, on the nightstand, next to the couch and even in front of my computer. The smooth creamy consistency of chapstick is the best part of this constant ritual. With all of this use comes a surplus of empty tubes. If you don’t believe how many chapsticks I have at once, consider that I thought of this blog post idea and immediately collected FOUR empty tubes from various locations through the house. 😂 No need to plan and collect. 🤷🏻 (I understand it’s probably becoming a problem 🙃).

With all these empty tubes and the endless inspiration that is Pinterest, I set off to refill my tubes and make a better, natural chapstick!

Ingredients

• Unrefined Shea Butter
• Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil
• Vitamin E Serum
• Essential Oils (of your choosing)
• Empty Tubes (you can recycle some of your own or  you can purchase new ones here)

There are a million different scent/flavor combinations you could use in your lip balm. Some of my favorites would be:

• Lemon-Lavender
• Grapefruit-Peppermint
• Thieves-Orange (Great for fall and cold/flu season!)

Tube Prep

If you are recycling your lip balm tubes it will take a couple of minutes to prep your tubes. Begin by removing the labels.

Next, clean out the tubes of all remaining chapstick. I first did this by using the tip of a butter knife. Then I rolled the tray all the way back to the bottom of the tube and soaked them in boiling water for a few minutes. Boiling the tubes got most everything else out of the tube. 

Recipe

This lip balm is a mixture of Shea Butter, Coconut Oil and Vitamin E oil. I found several recipes that called for beeswax and even one that used raw organic honey. I chose this combination because it is what I had on hand.

First I measured out the Shea Butter and Coconut Oil into a heat safe container. For this recipe, the ratio is 4:1 Shea Butter to Coconut Oil. Once my ingredients were in the bowl I placed it over a saucepan of boiling water to create a double boiler.

While the ingredients were melting I prepped two snack size baggies. For ease of use, I folded them over the tops of two water glasses. My main reason for doing this is because I wanted to try two different scents and I figured “piping” the liquid in the tube would be easier than any other method. 

One the mixture was completely dissolved I split it between the two bags. I then set a timer for THREE minutes – this is important! This allowed the mixture to cool to a temperature at which it was safe to add the essential oils. If you add the essential oils too early the heat can cause the oils to evaporate or even reduce their therapeutic qualities. 

After the three minute cooling period add 20-30 drops of essential oil to each bag.

To keep my tubes upright I utilized a foam insert that came with some roller ball bottles – it worked great!

Once my oils were added I carefully closed each bag and mixed the liquid around with my fingers. Next, I cut a very small hole in one corner of the snack bag. I then poured the warm liquid through the hole to fill each tube.

To help the liquid set up in each tube I first let them sit upright at room temperature and then threw them in the fridge until hardened. 

I did have excess product after filling my four tubes. Instead of trashing the excess (and losing my essential oils!) I had my husband hold additional snack bags while I poured the excess in. I now have two snack bags of reserve lip balm – for the next round of empties. 🙃

Labels

Lastly, I wanted to add a little something to my tubes to help me tell them apart so using my Cricut I cut 1.75″ x 2.25″ rectangles out of vinyl I had on hand. These fit the tubes like a glove!

If you have any questions leave them below! Anyone else have an addiction to chapstick?! 

Happy DIY-ing!

xoxo,

-C

5 from 2 votes

Print

Essential Oil Lip Balm

Non-beeswax recipe for homemade lip balm.

Course DIY

Keyword ChapStick, Essential Oils, Lip Balm

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Author Carolyn of Handrafted

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp Raw Shea Butter
• 2 tbsp Organic Coconut Oil unrefined
• 4 drops Vitamin E Oil
• 20-30 drops Essential Oils

Instructions

1. Prep and clean all empty tubes.

2. Measure ingredients into a heat safe container (DO NOT add essential oils yet).

3. In a double boiler heat the ingredients until they are completely dissolved and liquified.

4. Once dissolved remove from heat and pour into snack size zip lock baggies.

5. Set a timer for THREE minutes and allow the mixture to cool.

6. After the timer goes off add essential oils to each bag. Close the bags and mix together with your fingers.

7. Next cut a small hole in the corner of each bag and pour the liquid into each tube.
   

8. Refrigerate tubes after pouring to set mixture.

Recipe Notes

Custom Labels: 1.75" x 2.25" rectangles