lip care

Lip Balm is very important for taking care of your lips. As you use lotion or moisturizer for body and cold cream for face, lips also need to be moisturized. Today, I am posting a recipe for lip balm with sunscreen properties.

Ingredients:

– Vaseline / Petroleum Jelly / Beeswax / Shea Butter / Cocoa Butter (can be used in combination also)

– Coconut oil

– Sesame oil

– Almond oil

– Essential oil

– Grated Chocolate / Honey

Method:

• Melt Vaseline / Petroleum Jelly / Beeswax / Shea Butter / Cocoa Butter in a double broiler ( put a pan inside a pan). The butters or the waxes would melt and becomes liquid. At this point, remove the heat. The present heat would be enough to make the balm. (I used a 25ml vaseline jar so the measurements are according to that quantity. Vary them according to the quantity you are using.)
• Pour 20 drops of  sesame oil and 10 drops of coconut oil. Sesame oil and coconut oil have sunscreen properties. Sesame oil blocks 60% UV and coconut oil blocks 20% UV.
• Pour 5 drops of almond oil. Almond oil keeps your lips soft and moisturized for a long duration.
• Remove the container from the broiler or heat completely now.
• Prick two capsules of vitamin E and empty the contents into the container.
• Wait for three minutes (do not let it get too solid, just wait for it to cool down a little) and put 5 drops of your favorite essential oil.
• Stir all the ingredients together. It will begin to solidify in a matter of 5 minutes. Leave the mixture for  an hour to solidify properly and then scoop it out and store in a small glass jar.
• Do not use food flavorings because they irritate the skin and cause dryness.
• If your balm becomes too soft, add a bit more of vaseline / butters and if it is too hard, pour more of almond oil.

Variations:

• For chocolate flavored lip balm, melt grated chocolate in the broiler along with the butters or jelly. Remove from heat and add oils. Mix all ingredients and your chocolate flavored lip balm is ready.
• You can put a tea spoon of honey into the mixture for a more glossy and sweet smelling balm.