‘Tis the season for chapped lips, and if you’re looking for unique, homemade wedding favour ideas, a batch of lip balm is surprisingly easy to make. 

Whether you choose waxes or butters, homemade lip balms make an amazing and unique gift for your friends and family. It’s not hard to do, they’re cheap to make, and the very fact that you made it will add to your all-around fabulousness. You can also customize to your taste or wedding theme. All you need is a base of beeswax or coconut oil, a flavor, a tint, and some tubs or tubes. Here’s a quick how-to for the basic balm.

You will need:

Empty tubes or tubs, wax, coconut oil or butter base (you can find recipes online to make your own base if you’re feeling adventurous), your choice of flavour oil,  melting/pouring pot, plastic chopstick (for stirring), and labels (to fit your tubes or tubs). Most of these items can be purchased online or from Soapmaker/Candlemaker supply stores. 4oz of base should give you about 20 tubes (or 8 screw top containers). Flower petals are optional. 

Step One

Melt base in pot until completely liquid. Use the plastic chopstick to stir. (Wood may splinter and ruin your base, so stick to plastic.) A glass measuring cup in a pot of boiling water also works if you don’t have a dedicated melting pot.

Step Two

Remove base from heat and add flavour oil. The normal ratio for adding flavor oil is 1% – 3% by weight. (If you’re making 10 oz of lip balm – add 0.25 oz of flavour oil. If you’re making a 4 oz batch – add about 0.10 of an ounce.) Start with a little and do the sniff test. If you can’t smell it, add a little more.

Step Three

Fill tubes or tubs with your new liquid, flavoured base. Let cool and harden.

Step Four

Clean the outside of your tube/tub with rubbing alcohol prior to affixing labels. If there is any residue on the outside from the pour, the label won’t stick. (Click the image below for a free label template.)

Step Five

Revel in your awesomeness. 🙂