Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Homemade Lip Balm and Sugar Scrub




For some Christmas gifts the last few years, I've made homemade lip balm and sugar scrub to give to various people.

The lip balm I've found to be somewhat addicting and extremely moisturizing. Bottom line....it works.

A lot of lip balms and lipsticks out there sold in stores contain petroleum.

I've adopted a good rule of thumb over the years in regards to what I put on my body as well. If you can't drink it or eat it (as in, not die from it....who would enjoy eating lip balm??), it's probably not safe.

A good resource to look up the toxicity level in the products that you use on your body is the Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database. You can look up virtually any product that is out there for hair, face, body, and baby. You will be amazed at the things you learn about common products you use every single day.

Did you know that your body absorbs 60% of what you put on your skin? That is a crazy number. If you put a clove of garlic between your toes, you would taste the garlic in your mouth in just a few short minutes.

The recipe I used for the lip balm was surprisingly found on Martha Stewart's website. I liked all of the ingredients that were used so I decided to give it a go.


Homemade Lip Balm:

3 teaspoons of grated unbleached beeswax (ordered mine from Majestic Mountain Sage)
5 teaspoons of carrier oil (sunflower, avocado, jojoba) I used avocado oil...has a longer shelf life and doesn't go rancid easily (see link below for a carrier oil resource)
6 drops of essential oil (I was going for "minty" so I used peppermint oil from Young Living)
1 teaspoon of honey

Melt the beeswax and carrier oil in the top of a double boiler. This is basically a metal bowl sitting on top of a saucepan with water boiling in the saucepan underneath the bowl. Stir really good so that the two combine. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients. Pour the balm into your container to cool. It will solidify back again once its cooled. I also purchased my containers from Majestic Mountain Sage.

For a good article that explains carrier oils and their shelf life along with storage, CLICK HERE.


The sugar scrub is also wonderful!

Cane sugar naturally contains glycolic acid which is a natural alphy hyrdroxy acid that exfoliates the skin.

Farmer Jason uses this stuff on his hands and it cleans all the dirt out the nooks and crannies leaving his skin smoother....not smooth, just smoother because he has really rough hands. I love em' though.

I adapted my recipe from this one and added a few things I knew that were good to moisturize and heal the skin.

Sugar Scrub- pictured above

50 % turbinado sugar or sugar in the raw (love the bigger sugar granules)
50 % vegetable glycerin (this can be bought at a pharmacy, I didn't have this so I used avocado oil)
small amount of aloe vera gel
7 drops of lavender essential oil
7 drops of neroli essential oil (rejuvenates the skin and has calming effects)

Mix everything together in a bowl, and put in a jar. How simple is that???? Really!

19 comments:

Jen said...

Wow, Thanks for the recipes. I am going to have to try this.

Gail said...

These look so awesome! I am a total healthy skincare buff and would love to try these out. My only question is...how long do they last? If you keep them in the container, can you leave them out on your bathroom counter, or do you have to refrigerate them?

-Gail

The Farmers Nest said...

Now you have me wanting to try putting a clove of garlic between my toes.

Michelle said...

I had the same question as Gail - does this need to be refrigerated or is the avocado oil shelf stable?

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

Great questions! Thanks for the comments ladies:).

In regards to the avocado oil, its recommended that you do not refrigerate as it will change and important component of the oil. Its chock full of trace minerals and vitamin A. I believe it also has a shelf life of about a year.

With the sugar scrub, same thing. We leave ours out at room temp.

Gail said...

Thanks! I'm excited now. :) I was hoping you'd say that.

-Gail

Shannan Martin said...

I'm all over this!! Thanks for the ideas.

mandi said...

umm, excuse me? wanna hook a girl up???

Diana Ferguson said...

Sounds wonderful!

Enjoyed my visit.

Connie said...

Lynsey, have you ever made your own moisturizer before? As of now I am simply using Vitamin E oil. I love it but I wanted to use some other beneficial essential oils to, you know, get the frown off my face due to wrinkles right between my eyes. Gah. Hate that.

Anyway...I looked into adding the oils to pure shea butter but i dunno.

Thanks for the recipes!

Shawna said...

Hi! This is the first time to look at your blog. I linked to it from ShaUna's. I am her neighbor ShaWna. Anyway, for years I have made lotion, soap, scrub and lip balm. In my experience if it takes you a while (i.e. more than 3 months) to go thru the lip balm it is benefitial to 'preserve' it with a drop a Vit E. The Vit E prevents the oil(s) - avocado, shea, etc. - from going rancid (getting that funky smell and taste). Happy lip balm making!

Williams Five said...

Hey Lyns,
Been thinking about you alot lately. I want to change the way we eat but don't know where to start. I want to come hangout and pick your brain on how y'all started eating healthier. Email me with a good day and time. PLEASE!! choctawwilliams@gmail.com

5 Chicks and a Farmer said...

good point shawna! i meant to write in my post why i used avocado oil. avocado has a much longer shelf life than most carrier oils. and it typically does not go rancid within its 12 month shelf life. i also like the fact that you aren't suppose to refrigerate avocado oil also.

if you used lets say, sunflower oil, this can go rancid fairly quickly.

a good drop of Vitamin E would be a very nice addition to this lip balm.

a really good resource that explains the shelf life of carrier oils and which ones go rancid quickly see this site below (i don't know how to do links so cut and paste. i will go back and put this in the original post).

thanks ladies!

http://www.aromaweb.com/articles/whatcarr.asp

Kimberly said...

thank you so much for the sugar scrub - I love this stuff - but refuse to buy it in stores because it has too many additives - I'm definitely blowing this 1 out.. I can see already what people will be getting for Christmas 2010 LOLOL

Kelly said...

thanks for the lovely comments on my blog! i still love reading yours! have a lovely weekend, lynsey

Heidi said...

OH! I have made those before myself and LOVE THEM!!! nothing beats home made!!!

Anonymous said...

What is the shelf life of the scrub? I have been wanting to make some for family. Thanks, Nicole

Anonymous said...

Wow - I'm so excited to use your recipes for gifts! One question - is the lip balm solid enough to put in chapstick type tubes to push up or are little jars the only way to go? Thanks, Beth

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