Continuing with the theme of DIY natural lip care, here’s a simple recipe for homemade herbal lip balm. While I enjoy my homemade lipstick and tinted lip balm, sometimes I just need something to soothe dry lips, especially after spending time gardening or being out in the wind or snow. This balm is perfect for those times when you don’t want any color or shine.
This recipe is also suitable for men and kids since it’s not brightly colored or heavily scented. It includes an optional nourishing herbal infusion that helps heal and protect lips, but you can skip these ingredients for an unscented version that still provides hydration. You can also enhance the healing properties and add a pleasant scent with essential oils if you like.
One of the great things about this herbal lip balm is that it lasts a long time because a little goes a long way. It also makes a thoughtful stocking stuffer or small gift. The herbal ingredients are naturally moisturizing, antibacterial, and antifungal. Some people have found it helps speed up the healing of cold sores. Plus, it’s free from petroleum and synthetic ingredients, making it safe for you and your kids.
For this balm, I use a mix of echinacea, comfrey, plantain leaf, calendula, and a few other herbs. Chamomile and lemon balm are also great additions, with lemon balm being particularly helpful for cold sores.
The base of the herbal lip balm is a liquid oil thickened with organic beeswax. Oils like almond, apricot, and avocado seed oil work well. Apricot and avocado oils are thicker, so they might need to be diluted with something like olive oil, sweet almond, or coconut oil. You can also swap some beeswax for shea butter or cocoa butter, but remember that shea butter is softer, so you might need to adjust the amount of liquid oil.
I usually keep this balm unscented, but you can add essential oils for fragrance if you prefer. Sweet orange, lavender, and frankincense are good choices, and sometimes I add peppermint. For a chai twist, try a tiny bit of cinnamon leaf (not bark) and cardamom essential oils. Avoid phototoxic essential oils like bergamot and lime.
There are a couple of ways to infuse the herbs into the carrier oil. The longer method involves combining the herbs and oil in a glass jar and letting it infuse for 2-4 weeks, shaking the jar occasionally. For a quicker method, use a double boiler to heat the herbs and oil over low heat for 1-3 hours until the oil turns a deep green.
Once infused, strain the herbs out by pouring the mixture through a cheesecloth, letting all the oil drip out, and then squeezing the herbs to extract the remaining oil. Compost the herbs afterward.
Store your finished balm in a tin or use a lip balm tube for easy application. Another fun DIY project I enjoy is my Mint Chocolate Lip Scrub.
Do your lips ever get chapped? Have you tried infusing oil before? Let me know!
