To continue the theme of DIY natural lip care recipes, I’m sharing this recipe for homemade healing lip salve. I really like homemade lipstick and homemade tinted lip balm, but sometimes I just want something to help with dry lips after gardening or being outside in wind/snow but don’t want color, shine, or scent.
This recipe is also great for guys and for kids as it isn’t brightly colored or strongly scented. This recipe incorporates optional healing herbs that help heal and protect the lips, but you can leave these ingredients out to have an unscented and simply moisturizing version. Homemade healing lip balm/salve also lasts forever, since a little goes a really long way.
Lip Salve Recipe
The herbal ingredients are naturally moisturizing, antibacterial, and anti-fungal, and some people have success with using it to speed the healing of cold sores. It doesn’t contain petroleum or chemicals like most commercial lip products so you can feel safe using it on yourself or your kids.
All ingredients, tins, and lip chap containers to store it in can be found online. (Storing in a lip-chap container makes it portable and easy to apply.)
Lip Balm Ingredients
- 1 cup of olive or almond oil
- 1 teaspoon echinacea root (optional)
- 1 teaspoon comfrey leaf
- 1 teaspoon plantain leaf (herb-not banana!)
- 1 teaspoon calendula flowers
- 1 teaspoon yarrow flowers
- 1 teaspoon rosemary leaf
- 1/4 cup beeswax pastilles
- 10 drops Vitamin E oil (optional)
- 5-10 drops of peppermint essential oil (optional)
Lip Balm Instructions
- Infuse the herbs into the olive oil. There are two ways to do this. You can either combine the herbs and the olive oil in a jar with an airtight lid and leave 3-4 weeks, shaking daily OR heat the herbs and olive oil over low/low heat in a double boiler for 3 hours (low heat!) until the oil is very green. You can also omit this step completely, or add just a drop of each of the essential oils instead.
- Strain the herbs out of the oil by pouring through a cheesecloth. Let all the oil drip out and then squeeze the herbs to get the remaining oil out.
- Discard the herbs.
- Heat 1/4 cup of the infused oil in a double boiler with the beeswax until melted and mixed. (save the extra oil for use on wounds/cuts or for another batch of lip salve).
- Remove from heat and add in the essential oil and vitamin E oil (if using).
- Pour into small tins, glass jars, or lip chap tubes and use on dry or chapped lips.
Another easy DIY I love is my Mint Chocolate Lip Scrub.
Do your lips ever get chapped? Have you ever infused an oil? Let me know below!
If somebody makes any products of your shared recipes, would you mind if he/she sells them without telling you in advance? Thank you.
I didn’t have a double broiler, so I’m trying to make the infused oil using a crockpot. I’m using all dried herbs and sweet almond oil. It’s been in the slow cooker on low for about 24 hours and still isn’t green. Any tips on how to get this method to work?
What proportions of each did you use? The amounts listed? Are they directly in the crockpot or in a jar in there and what is the temp? It may just take longer at a lower temp…
My lips seem to always be chapped! Very recently I have just started using pure jojoba oil, but this salve sounds great, I can’t wait to try making it!
Hi Sylvia,
For dry lips try rubbing any oil to your navel. This greatly helps me and is home remedy being used in my family from generations.
My kids always complain that most lip balms that I buy are “hot”. They really don’t like that medicated, tingly feeling! Does this recipe make balm that is like that, or is it more soothing? They will not tolerate any burning feeling on their lips at all.
It isn’t hot at all but you can omit any mint to make sure
And add lavender essential oil..very soothing
Any idea how the portions may change to make this a squeezable salve?
I just made an infused oil with calendula, plantain, rosemary, and yarrow. Now that it has been strained through coffee filters twice, it really stinks! I really don’t want to make an ointment or lip balm that reeks. Any advice please?
Does it smell strongly of the herbs or does it actually smell bad? It will smell stronger in a big jar like that, and the other ingredients you add will mellow it out a lot for an ointment. Essential oils can also help it smell how you’d like….
It is very dark green in color and I guess you could say it smells “green” like the herbs. I’m wondering if I should have fully dried the herbs first? I let the plantain dry out for a day and the same with the calendula, but I put the rosemary in right off the bush and the yarrow too. Let’s just say it’s a very, very strong smell/odor. I don’t know if I would want to rub it into my skin. Perhaps the essential oils would cover some of the smell. What do you think?
If you used all fresh herbs, it will be stronger and more green. It may look and smell weird, but it should work wonders for any blisters, bites, itching or cuts… The essential oils should really help with the smell too.
OK, I’m going to use it. Do you think I have a greater chance of spoilage with the fresh herbs? Or will the E oil or grapefruit seed extract be enough to cover that? Thanks so much for your help. I sincerely appreciate it.
You should be covered, as long as they were covered in the oil, they should be preserved…
Thank you very much.
I had found a lip balm specifically targeted for cold sores from Jenulence that really worked well. Very similar ingredients, they use Lemon Balm, St. John’s Wort, Comfrey, Calendula and Ravensara (all infused olive oils (except the Ravensara. that was essential oil)). Works great but the scent is not so awesome (fortunately it dissipates quickly). Seriously knocks down even a cold sore that has gotten out of hand. And after having used it just once, I will sometimes get that telltale tingle, but nothing ever comes of it (I would get a cold sore at the slightest sign of stress or minimal sun exposure). I still use it occasionally just as a lip balm since it leaves your lips seriously soft, but haven’t needed to treat another cold sore. I’ve been planning on trying to reverse engineer it and see if something can’t be done about that smell. It is pretty off-putting.
Hm. Just read through your recipe again, I’m thinking that peppermint oil is just the ticket! I was thinking of reducing some of the others, but overwhelming them might be better. All the benefits, none of the reek.
Oops, they have Manuka EO in it too. Both the Ravensara and the Manuka have anti-viral properties. And some shea butter, which is probably why it’s so luxurious feeling.
For specific cold sore treatment, I’d actually add Ora Wellness Brushing Blend. It has Manuka, cinnamon and peppermint and would be great.
Where do you get essential oils for plantain, comfrey, calendula, and echinacea? The directions say you can substitute one drop of essential oil for the herbs. You can get yarrow and rosemary oils from Mountain Rose Herbs but not the others. Thanks!
If you have a Whole foods or natural food store locally, you can probably find them there. Also, I haven’t tried them personally, but companies like Young Living and DoTerra sell a wide variety.
Mountain Rose Herbs has everything you can ask for and very reasonable . Check out the web site.
I think you can get a calendula oil, but plantain, comfrey, and echinacea do not contain essential oil, and therefore you won’t be able to purchase it.
Do you have recipe for soap…as in body soap…i live all of yoyr homemade stuff
can you use powdered herbs and just mix into the oil?
Powdered or just cut and sifted dried herbs, and then they get strained out before the salve is made so it is smooth. You could use powdered if it was fine enough, but you’d only need about half as much…
Quick question, I have just a solid pound of beeswax, do you know how much in weight the 1/4 cup of pastilles? Thanks!
I don’t know off hand… I would guess about 2 ounces, but with a block, just grate with a cheese grater and it should be about the same size/weight as the pastilles.