Burt’s Bees Original Beeswax Peppermint Lip Balm was my gateway product into the world of natural living…really.
I was a devoted conventional makeup girl and had a drawer full of the latest glittery, scented, brightly colored lip glosses available. And my lips were chronically dry (wonder if it was from the chemical cocktail I was slathering on multiple times per day). One winter, tired of Carmex and other restorative lip treatments, I grabbed a tube of Burt’s Bees at a checkout counter on a whim.
I loved the light peppermint scent and how well it nourished my lips. I became an exclusive Burt’s Bees user for years…
And then, as most stories often go in the land of corporations, Burt’s Bees was bought out by Clorox and their formula now contains canola oil and soybean oil (which I don’t eat and also don’t want on my lips).
So as most stories go, in the land of Katie’s endless DIY projects, I decided to create a homemade copycat version sans industrial seed oils.
This was the result. I recommend this as an easy lip balm recipe and it makes a great gateway product into the world of homemade deodorant and toothpaste. Fair warning, once you start making some natural products, you are just a hop, skip and jump away from detoxing your armpits and mud shampoo (not that either of those is a bad thing…)
Homemade Lip Balm
I’ve shared my shimmer lip gloss and homemade lip balm recipes before but this recipe is specifically designed to look, feel and smell like Burt’s Bees.
Another bonus, besides avoiding the franken-oils, is that this version is much less expensive than buying pre-made options like Burt’s Bees (and you can even re-use the tubes to save even more). I also omitted the lanolin in this recipe, since it irritates my skin and I haven’t found that it is necessary, but feel free to add a small amount if you have it on hand.
Kids love helping with homemade projects like this (and they are really fun for adults too!). This DIY lip balm locket is another fun way to take your lip balm with you.
Before you start, make sure you have the ingredients and equipment on hand.
- Beeswax
- Coconut Oil
- Shea Butter
- Peppermint Essential Oil
- Lip Chap Tubes (can also make in a small jar and just use your finger for application if you don’t have these) I order 100 at a time since I give these away a lot. They cost $0.13 when I order this many.
- A plastic pipette (makes filling the tubes much easier!)
- A double boiler or a glass bowl on top of a small pan with boiling water
- A spatula
If you’re switching from conventional lipstick and want some color and shimmer naturally I recommend adding a tiny amount (1 tsp) of mica powder like this one. It has natural color and shimmer and blends perfectly. You can see an example in this post.
Imitation Burt’s Bees Lip Balm Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons beeswax pastilles
- 2 tablespoons shea butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 30+ drops peppermint essential oil
Lip Balm Instructions
- Melt beeswax, shea butter and coconut oil in a double boiler or small glass bowl over a small pot of boiling water, stirring constantly until melted.
- Remove pan from heat but keep over the still-hot water to keep the mixture melted.
- Add essential oils to your preference. I just added peppermint in this recipe. I recommend adding a few drops at a time and testing a tiny amount on your arm to make sure the scent is to your liking.
- Once you’ve added the essential oils, use the pipette or a dropper to fill the lip balm tubes. This must be done quickly since the mixture will start to harden as soon as it is removed from the heat.
- Let tubes sit at room temperature for several hours until cooled and completely hardened before capping them.
Notes:
Use an extra teaspoon or two of beeswax if you prefer a thicker and longer-lasting lip balm or slightly less if you prefer a smoother and softer lip balm. Since there are no water based ingredients, you can re-melt and add more of each ingredient during the melting process until you get the exact texture you want. When experimenting, I’ve put a few drops of the melted mixture onto a piece of parchment paper and let harden in the fridge so I could test it before putting the mixture into tubes. Have fun with it! This makes 12-14 tubes.
Another great DIY I love is my Mint Chocolate Lip Scrub for Deliciously Smooth Lips.
Ever made an imitation product? What was your gateway product into natural living?
Can you provide these measurements in ounces instead of Tablespoons? It makes for a far more accurate recipe. Thanks!
A tablespoon is equivalent to 15 ml and 2 tablespoons is 30 ml . 30 ml is equal to 1 ounce. HTH
But not all the ingredients will weigh the same for the same Tablespoon measurement.
Any home made lip balms that don’t contain beeswax/coconut oil? I have tried a couple and am still on the search. So far everything shreds my dry lips! I don’t think it is the peppermint oil either, this has been the care for the “typical” and natural lip products. Thanks for any ideas!
*been the case
Hi! I’ve had the same trouble & have no idea why. I’ve tried literally 30 different all natural recipes using various butters & oils, I’ve bought a ton of all natural lip balms but can not use any of them more than twice without my lips peeling all to heck. Does anyone know why this happens & recipes that will work? I so desperately want to not use chemicals on my lips. Thanks all:-)
Do you use essential oils? You could be having a reaction to that…
Is the coconut oil solid or liquid? I have yet liquid version as a carrier oil for my other essential oils but I know it is also sold in “solid” form as well.
Coconut oil is solid when cool, but melts when warm…
I have always had the same problem. I now only use coconut oil bees wax and peppermint EO for my homemade lip balms and at night I do a sugar scrub on my lips I make with coconut oil , sugar and sweet almond oil. This has kept my lips soft and smooth.
Thank you so much Nicole for your post. I tried your sugar scrub on my dry, chapped, flaky lips tonight and right away my lips are smooth and beautiful! Look out Hubby!!!!
I put the homemade lip balm on afterwards and I have to say WOW!!!! My lips have never been this soft in the dry winter before!!!
Thank you so much Katie and Nicole. You’ve saved my family from chapped, bleeding lips forever!!!
Lynn (Alberta Canada)
Try adding almond oil to the recipe. I use about a teaspoon and it does the trick for my dry lips.
Try the soy wax and mango oil. Not the same but works
I think my gateway product into natural living was a homemade anti bacterial/viral hand wash.
I still make it, and it’s actually a good non toxic general surface cleaner.
I use a spray bottle and add about 2 Tablespoons of Vodka and about a 1/2 tsp. of tea tree oil to filtered water to use for counter tops and anything else normally touched by everybody all day.
I’ll use a squirt bottle for the same recipe except add about 1/8 cup of Borax to it and that’s the hand wash. Supposed to kill all the nasties lurking under your nails and a good all around hand sanitizer.
When I was in college theatre we used “special febreeze” aka vanilla vodka in a spray bottle to remove smells from delicate vintage fabrics/furs. Fyi.
What should I use instead of the shea butter, we have allergies to peanuts, soy, eggs, seeds, dairy and grapefruit in our house?
Cocoa butter or mango butter can sub
I made two 1/2 recipes of this. One was with shea butter and the there with Mango butter. Mango butter is my fav and I do not use as much lip chap, but the shea butter is my daughter’s favorite. what a wonderful, easy recipe. it just takes a bit of patience to fill those little tubes. I have to admit, that I am on this site all the time and constantly looking for ways to remove chemicals from our bodies by reducing commercialized harsh crap. we have replaced lotions, soaps, deodorant (OMG this one amazed me!!!!) and working on shampoo, but that is not going well. i have super straight, shiny, fine hair. i need mega-light shampoos and anything really oil-based has been drying, sticky or leaves a hefty film in my hair. but if i find anything on my own that works, i will share it!
Try googling ‘MooGoo’ for your hair products. They’re totally natural products with no nasties.
Great recipe! I might try making my first lip balm!
I’ve made a shea butter moisturizer before and it was grainy. Have you experienced this with your homemade shea butter products? Any recommendations for preventing graininess in the lip balm? Thanks!
that would be great to know. because I have made moisturizers and it is grainy because of the shea butter. i thought maybe I put too much in
Cocoa butter wafers can be found online. Like beeswax pellets so much easier to use.
What size tubes are you using? I recently tried a recipe with 3 tablespoons each of wax and shea butter and 1 tablespoon coconut oil. It also said it made 12. I was using a .15 oz tube and it barely made 3.
Try adding the shea butter last and only heating it long enough to melt and mix with the other ingredients– sometimes it can get grainy if cooked too long! Hope that helps 🙂
Good tip. Thank you!
I have recently found a really nice raw shea butter that is not grainy on Amazon. It’s called Raw Apothecary Unrefined Shea Butter. Buy it by the one pound slab. I really like it and have used it in body butters and lip chap.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MPXP8AW/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00MPXP8AW&linkCode=as2&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=ZYWYBWQFFYNIVOZD
To keep your melted shea butter from becoming grainy when cooling, cool in the refrigerator. You can remelt shea butter and place in fridge.
I read “somewhere” when I was dissatisfied with grainy shea and was told to heat for a full 20 minutes once melted, low heat not high, and to immediately place in tubes and place freezer. I did this and it worked like a charm. Right now I just cannot remember where I read it:-)
Quick question, I’ve been following you for a bit, and love your recipes. New to the whole world or diy products. I love cocoa butter, refined, hate getting it out, any tricks???? My hand is killing me.
You can buy raw natural cocoa butter in a block form instead of in a jar. I get it this way and grate it when I need some for a recipe. I hope this helps!
You are amazing. I was just about to make your homemade lip balm when I saw this post! I love my Burt’s Bees chap stick, but not as much anymore knowing what happened. :/ Onto way better chapstick! And you are right.. one thing leads to another and then everything’s homemade. I can’t complain! Thank you for everything you do. 🙂
Can you use soy way VS the bees wax?
i did and it came out amazing!
I was looking for a vegan substitute for beeswax. Candelilla wax was OK but I’m always looking new ways. 🙂 Soy wax is my next test. I sell the candelilla ones but my reviews are mixed.
I guess i could say my gateway product into natual living was with the homemade toothpaste after learning more about sodium fluoride. The risks are not worth it if you know that it is a chemical used in rat poison and what not.
This got my curiousity into studying holistic aromatherapy and EOs as well when i saw a recipe requiring peppermint essential oil for a toothpaste recipe of yours. “What is peppermint essential oil?”
I also started looking into Mountian Rose Herbs and their products which further inspired me into a more natural and organic lifestyle. Next thing i started to make my own homemade soap bars and facial scrubs similar to the ones they sell.
I literally came on here looking for lip balm only to find it was today’s post! I’ve got your whipped body butter and sleepy foot rub recipes all printed out, and I’m about to start making all these wonderful body products! I did this last year for Christmas gifts, and these homemade versions are far superior to the store bought stuff in my opinion. And homemade lip balm is the ONLY lip balm I’ve ever used that only needs to be applied occasionally, not 16 times a day only to still suffer chapped lips!
Thanks for these great recipes! =D
WOW! fabulous recipe, thank you very much for sharing! I love how it stays on my lips for ages.
In the winter I get through commercial chapsticks like they are going out of fashion but my lips are still always sore. I really think that this is going to make a big difference to my dry lips this winter, I have just made six 15ml pots using wax from my own bees and I really love the finished product. Thanks again 🙂
Hi there,
For the immitation burt bee lip balm is there any shelf life?If so how long?
Thanks