A Shimmer & Shine Lip Balm

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shimmering lip balm
shimmering lip balm
shimmering lip balm

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Throughout winter, lip balms are often the one skin care product that stands between us and chapped lips. So itโ€™s important to make sure youโ€™re using something that is deeply nourishing and packed with great ingredients.

But, we also want to look our best too. So, I thought about how you would take a lip balm to the next level, and I came up with this glossing lip balm recipe.

shimmering lip balm

Introduction

Of course, this has nothing on an actual DIY lip balm recipe. But the choices of waxes, as well as the inclusion of a few choice cosmetic ingredients give this balm more of a gloss-like look to it.

So, be careful when substituting any of these ingredients. Youโ€™ll still likely end up with a lovely lip balm, but thereโ€™s a chance it wonโ€™t be glossing.

About The Ingredients

Letโ€™s take a look at exactly what goes into this formula.

Cosmetic Waxes

Youโ€™ll notice weโ€™re using two waxes for this recipe. Thatโ€™s a little unconventional, but letโ€™s discuss why. Candelilla provides an excellent shine to the product. It does provide good skin protection and hydrating ability, but it pales in comparison to beeswax. So weโ€™re using both! 

However, this does mean that unfortunately, this balm isnโ€™t vegan. However, if you want to make this an all-candelilla recipe. 

To do this, simply use 6g of the candelilla wax and omit the beeswax completely. Then, up your mango butter to 8g. This should balance things out, as candelilla is a much stiffer wax. 

wax and butter for a glossy lip balm

Cosmetic Butters

Weโ€™re using another combination here, because sometimes you wanna throw everything and the kitchen sink at your chapped lips! 

Shea butter is deeply moisturizing. Perhaps the most moisturizing of all of the cosmetic butters. Mango is also good at this but is a little drier and less greasy feeling that her shea cousin. 

Together, they provide fantastic protection for the lips, as well as the ability to soothe irritation and provide excellent staying power for our product.

Do not try to use just shea butter on its own. Shea is perhaps the softest of all cosmetic butters. You might find it a little too soft, and much too greasy too. The mango really balances it all out. 

Carrier Oils

Itโ€™s not unusual to use more than one carrier oil in a DIY skin care product, because there is a massive variety and many potential avenues for formula synergy between ingredients. So weโ€™ve selected coconut and argan oils to use here. 

Coconut oil provides amazing shine, slip and glide for this product. Itโ€™s also a fantastic moisturizer that is receiving well-deserved attention from DIY skin care fans the world over. 

Iโ€™ve also found coconut oil to be quite soothing. Itโ€™s great for anyone with sensitive skin too, which is surprisingly not very common among natural skin care ingredients. 

The argan oil is a fantastic allrounder. Itโ€™s one of the best carrier oils for your skin (as well as your hair), and is known for possessing some anti-aging benefits. Itโ€™s absolutely packed with antioxidants and fatty acids. 

However, weโ€™re using it here because itโ€™s amazing at locking in moisture against the skin. This is highly desirable for a balm formula, as this will synergize with our waxes to prevent moisture from the lips being lost into the atmosphere. 

adding argon oil for a lip balm recipe

What On Earth Is Bisabolol?

You might get frustrated with how to pronounce this ingredient, but trust me itโ€™s fantastic here. A very small amount is needed for this recipe, and thatโ€™s fine because itโ€™s more than enough to transform a bland balm into the glossiest skin care product youโ€™ve ever seen! 

Iโ€™ve used this in my body butters and body lotions a lot in the last few years. I do this because it adds a shine to the skin when applied, which in my opinion looks absolutely amazing. It adds a touch of luxury to your products.

But itโ€™s also one of the main active components of chamomile essential oil, and if you know anything about this EO youโ€™ll know itโ€™s deeply and intensely soothing. 

It will help alleviate that painful throbbing we get from our lips chapping, as well as preventing and healing chapped skin that is cracked or flaking away. Itโ€™s the perfect ingredient for this formula. 

Everything Else

Weโ€™re using lip flavoring because we thought that would be fun. You can leave this fragrance out and go flavor-free completely, or you could also make use of a lip-safe essential oil if you prefer a natural scent. But imparting both a scent and flavor can be a great way to make your products stand out and appear more interesting. 

Because weโ€™re also adding a touch of mica to make this balm a bit more fun, we wanted to pair these together so they made sense. This is something that is very easy to do and will make sense to anyone who uses your products. 

Blue mica paired with a blueberry flavoring oil could be super fun. Alternatively, a little green mica paired with a lip-safe and distilled Lime Essential Oil can be super effective also. 

how to make a glossing lip balm

Weโ€™ve gone for a mixed berry flavoring oil with a dash of purple mica for a nice โ€˜fruits of the forestโ€™ effect. What kind of cool and fun combinations can you think of? Let me know in the comments below!

Getting the right amount of mica into your balms can be tricky, and depends entirely on what kind of shade youโ€™re trying to achieve. 

We recommend starting with 2g of your mica, but you can add less for a more pastel hue. Then, up to as much as 5g for a deeper, richer tone. Try to avoid using more than that. 

OK Letโ€™s Make Glossing Lip Balms

shimmering lip balm

Shimmer & Shine Lip Balm Recipe

Iโ€™m loving this balm. Itโ€™s kind of like a cross between a skin care product and a cosmetic. A cosmeceutical, as some people call them. Either way, my lips are super soft and look gorgeous too.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 50 grams
Author: Angela Wills

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Ingredients

Video

Instructions

  • Add the Candelila, bees wax,shea and mango butter, and coconut oil to a heat safe beaker.
    4 grams Beeswax, 9 grams Shea Butter, 6 grams Mango Butter, 10 grams Coconut Oil, 4 grams Candelila Wax
    wax and butter for a glossy lip balm
  • Make up a waterbath by adding a couple of inches of water to a shallow saucepan and bringing it up to a gentle simmer.Place the beaker containing the waxes, butters and oil into the water bath to melt.
    water bath
  • Once melted, remove from the waterbath, but keep the water bath close as you may need it again.
    Once melted, remove it from the water bath
  • Add your argon oil and give it a good stir. It it starts to harden you can pop it back into the water bath to re melt.
    12 grams Argan Oil
    adding argon oil for a lip balm recipe
  • Add your mica stirring it in well. Once you are happy with the color, add the flavor oil, vitamin E and Bisabolol, stirring after each one. Remember, you can pop it back into the water bath at any point if it starts to solidify.
    2 grams Shimmer Mica, 0.5 grams Vitamin E Oil, 0.5 grams Bisabolol, 2 grams Flavor Oil
    how to make a glossing lip balm
  • Transfer to five 10g lip balm containers, leave the lids off and put them into a cold place to solidify. A fridge is a perfect place for cooling them quickly, they shouldn't take much more than 30 to 60 minutes.
    When they are completely cool and solid, pop the lids on and leave for 24 hours before using.
    5 Small Lib balm jars
    Transfer lip balm to five 10g lip balm containers

Notes

Shelf Life: Providing youโ€™re using a good quality antioxidant like vitamin e, and you donโ€™t expose your lip balms to a significant amount of water your balms should be good for at least 12 months
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How To Use

Using this balm is super easy. Just scoop up a little on the finger and massage into the lips. As weโ€™re using a little mica, try not to add too much at once, and resist applying it more than once per hour โ€“ itโ€™s unlikely youโ€™ll get much more benefit. 

If you apply too much at once, there is a chance youโ€™ll look a little odd covered in a thick layer of tinted balm in and around your mouth. Apply it like you would a lip gloss, and youโ€™ll have no problems at all. 

Donโ€™t forget that in a pinch, lip balms can be used anywhere on the body. The lips are not the only area of skin that can be flaky and crusty. The feet, knees and elbows are also at risk, and you can use this balm on these areas too. 

Consider making an extra balm that is pigment-free, for use on a variety of different areas of the body. This will help you keep your lip balms free of contaminants. 

How To Store 

A cute lip balm tube is usually the perfect choice for storing a lip balm. However, this balm is much too soft, and will not work properly in a tube. Therefore, you want to use a glass, PET plastic or aluminum cosmetic pot to store this balm. 

Providing youโ€™re following our instructions your balm should keep for 6-12 months depending on how fresh your ingredients were when you made it.

Final Thoughts

Iโ€™m loving this balm. Itโ€™s kind of like a cross between a skin care product and a cosmetic. A cosmeceutical, as some people call them. Either way, my lips are super soft and look gorgeous too. 

I love when you guys take a product and try to make it your own, and this one is no different. The best place to start is to select your own essential oils, flavoring oils, and shade of mica. 

You have complete control over this, and donโ€™t need to worry about the product destabilizing. So experiment until your heartโ€™s content! 

Let me know if you have any problems using the comments section below. I can help troubleshoot too if youโ€™re really stuck. I also love to hear about your successes, and what you truly think about my formulas. So let me know! ๐Ÿ˜€

Try This Vegan Lip Balm Recipe

This lip balm recipe is made without beeswax, I compensated by selecting wonderful carrier oils, butter, and vitamin E, itโ€™s just as good as my other balms.

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Angela Wills

Angela is the founder and driving force behind Savvy Homemade. With over fifteen years experience in DIY home crafts, and a Diploma in skincare formulation, Angela brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to every post she writes. She is fearlessly dedicated to creating tried, tested recipes & products that will work for everyone, and she infuses each DIY product with her passion and expertise.

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