https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/vegan-lip-butter • Posted by Lady Wurlitzer
It's taken me quite a while to find the recipe for what I think is the perfect lip butter. Thing is, depending on whether you prefer a sturdy, hardy balm or a softer, oilier balm your recipe will need to be tweaked as necessary! Really, this just requires some patience and experimentation. However, here I will give a very basic fail-safe recipe that you can use as the basis of your experiments!
It's taken me quite a while to find the recipe for what I think is the perfect lip butter. Thing is, depending on whether you prefer a sturdy, hardy balm or a softer, oilier balm your recipe will need to be tweaked as necessary! Really, this just requires some patience and experimentation. However, here I will give a very basic fail-safe recipe that you can use as the basis of your experiments!
Gather your ingredients together in the kitchen. Make sure you're working with squeaky clean utensils on squeaky clean surfaces.
Pop 2 table spoons of unrefined shea butter into your little mixing bowl.
To that, add 4 tablespoons of Apricot Kernel Oil.
Add a pinch of olive wax pellets (less is more at this stage - we can fix a runny lip butter a little easier than we can fix a rock hard lip butter!)
Cover over the neck of the bowl with microwave friendly cling film - leave a little gap on one side.
Pop the mixture into the (squeaky clean) microwave on a low/medium setting. Check the mixture at regular intervals (every 15 seconds or so?) until the mixture has completely melted.
When your butter and oil and wax has blended together to make a liquid substance, allow it to stand for just a few seconds (careful your mixture doesn't begin to set!)
Add a couple of drops of essential oil to fragrance/flavour your balm and stir. Lady Wurlitzer's favourite balm flavourings are rose, violet and lavender. Be careful when choosing which essential oil to add though. Some citrus-y oils make skin photosensitive so do be sure to do your homework first! There are also a number of very good quality synthetic flavourings on the crafty market. You'll be able to source anything from Cola flavour to Lemon Pie if you look hard enough! Ensure that the oil you are adding is a certified FLAVOUR oil though - don't EVER add fragrance oils to lip butter!
Once you have a sweet smelling liquid mixture infront of you, lay out the bases of you jars/tins. Transfer your liquid mixture with a pipette and fill up each tin/jar. (When I was first learning to make lip butters and balms, I spent ages trying to find the perfect teaspoon to transfer my mixture with!! I do not recommend this! Pipettes are definitely the way to go!)
Once you've filled up all your jars or tins (I prefer tins) pop the lids on carefully and lay the butters in a flat, sturdy surface in the fridge to set.
Leave the butters to set for a couple of hours. Bring out your balms and give them a trial run! Smooth some on your lips and kiss your honey! If he recoils in horror, maybe you need to refine your version of the recipe! EXTRA TIPS: You don't always have to use these ingredients. You could use Avocado Oil? You could use Mango Butter or Cocoa Butter? You could use a mixture of these? If you prefer a softer, glossier lip butter, then add more OIL. If you prefer a sturdy, hard balm use more olive WAX. Hoorah! Pucker up my pretties! :o)