Kissing The Cook

Hey good lookin', what'cha got cookin'? Making your own natural lip balms at home kind of blurs the line between cooking and crafting. Think about it: They're made with good-for-you edible ingredients like honey and olive oil, and they're cooked up right there in your own kitchen... only you don't eat them. Well actually, I've seen plenty of stats over the years about how much lipstick and lip gloss the average woman ingests over her lifetime (eek!). All the more reason to know what it's made from, eh?

The post that inspired all this kitchen-lab cosmetic cookery features three different lip balm recipes, each one yummier than the next. Normally I'd have had a really hard time choosing, but I only had all the ingredients on hand for one of them: Luscious Lavender Lip Balm. It didn't hurt any that I'm a sucker for anything with lavender (or alliteration) in it, so Luscious Lavender Lip Balm it was... did I mention that it has cocoa powder and honey in it too? Lavender-Cocoa-Honey-liciousness... it really is good enough to eat (but it probably works better as a lip balm).

Make some Luscious Lavender Lip Balm from Crunchy Betty and kiss chapped lips goodbye

My Notes:  

• The clear lip balm tubes were purchased locally, but since I didn't really know how many I would need, I had a couple little sample-size cosmetic pots and an old lipstick tube ready just in case. As you can see, I needed them all... and then some. In fact, what you don't see in the photo is a little glass tea-light holder that is now home to a sizable puddle of leftover lip balm.

• I doubled the amount of beeswax called for in the recipe but it was still not enough to make a swivel-tube-worthy lip balm. This consistency is definitely more suited to cute little pots or tins. Next time, I'll play around with adding even more beeswax. I really love the light texture and flavor of this lip balm though. 

• Don't be afraid to use a really dark lipstick to tint this with. My lip balms look quite dark but are very sheer, with barely a hint of color.

• While it didn't make a huge mess, it was a bit tough to clean some of the implements afterward. Learn from my mistake here and read about cleaning up after beeswaxy cosmetic crafts before you start cursing my name to the very heavens above.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Sensational Sweetie)
I am super excited about this stuff and can't get over how awesome it is... it's a full 10 on the Sense-Of-Accomplishment Scale. So bring on the wind, heat, cold, and any other harsh weather conditions... there'll be no chapped lips here.