Project 17: Peppermint Lip Balm

Making this lip peppermint lip balm has become a holiday tradition for me! I didn’t mean to do it annually and honestly every year I consider not doing it. Although it is amazing and I personally love using it myself, it’s also a bit tedious. But, each fall, like clockwork, a friend or family member will send me a text and say they’ve run out of the lip balm from last year and can’t wait for more. And, so I make the lip balm annually and I’m always glad I did!

Quick project summary: I’ve tried a few different recipes for the lip balm over the years but I typically use a variation of this one. That said, instead of the sweet almond oil, I use vitamin e oil because it’s so good for your skin and I think it adds a bit of a healing element to the lip balm during the cold winter months.

The recipe is great and easy to follow but here are a few tips and tricks from me:

-I personally prefer to make the lip balms in actual chapstick tubes instead of in the small round tubs. I think it’s easier to put on and you don’t have to touch the lip balm every time you want to apply.

-You may also want to have some tiny pipettes on hand to put the melted lip balm mixture into the tubes. I order these in bulk off amazon because I throw them out after being used (the lip balm mixture sometimes get stuck in the pipette and makes it a little icky) – there’s enough in the package that I am able to work through it for several years. I’m sure you could find smaller sets of them.

-You can flavor the lip balm almost any way you want to or apply tint, too. I haven’t found any tints I really like so I keep to the natural color which you can see above. Additionally, for the peppermint flavor, I like to add more than the recipe calls for – it gives it a nice refreshing feeling when you put it on your lips. I would use a cheaper peppermint oil – no need to splurge on something pricier for this project.

Things I loved about this project: This project with the pipettes and melting process takes me back to seventh grade science and I’m not mad about it. It’s fun to turn the kitchen into a science fair vibe every once in a while. Jokes aside – this is one of the most useful projects – for myself and as a gift. It’s also super cost efficient so I make it in bulk – probably about 120 balms at a time which I package in little bags of 3. With the larger quantity, I typically gift these to my coworkers at the holidays and then use them as present toppers/add -ons for family and friends.

What I would do differently: As you can see above, my packaging is not super snazzy. And honestly, it’s just because I’m a bit lazy. These lip balms could step it up a notch with labels (which you can easily print online) and some prettier wrapping! Because of the way I gift them, I haven’t tried that but hope to in the future. I also have a pretty lame double boiler situation which is basically just a pot with a glass measuring cup inside – it works fine but I could definitely amp up my set up.

Things I also enjoyed while doing this project:

-Listening to Christmas pop (I guess you could do this now for “Christmas in July”)

-Smelling the house full of a fresh peppermint scent