My DIY Lip Balm Recipe

Homemade DIY Lip Balm is a my favourite holiday gift idea. I’ve been working on perfecting my basic recipe for years and I finally feel like I’ve created a true winner. These lip balms are firm to the touch but soften beautifully upon contact with your lips.

I’ve been creating my own homemade lip balms every since I discovered that store-bought lip products actually contain ingredients that dry out the lips, causing you to need to reapply constantly in order to keep your lips soft and smooth. They also typically contain ingredients than can cause irritation and even some that are suspected carcinogens. Here’s my list of the worst ingredients to look out for when purchasing a lip product:

• Synthetic Vitamin E: A dermatologic study found that over 30% of patients experience contact dermatitis from applying topical vitamin E. It is also considered to be one of the most prevalent allergens commonly found in cosmetics. If you have symptoms of perioral dermatitis, or redness around the lips, your lip balm ingredients may be to blame.
• Petroleum: Many people don’t realize that petroleum jelly is actually a by-product of oil refining. The problem with petroleum jelly is that it is water-repellant and not water-soluble. This means that it seals the skin but does not actually penetrate the skin barrier to provide moisture to the lips. Additionally, petroleum jelly is often contaminated with other chemicals. A recent study found that over 20% of all petroleum-containing cosmetics contain a contaminant called 1,4 dioxane,which is a known carcinogen.
• Mineral oil: Like Petrolatum, mineral oil coats your skin and  prevents moisturizing ingredients from penetrating into the lips. There is also strong evidence suggesting that mineral oil hydrocarbons are the greatest contributor of toxic contaminants to the human body, amounting to approximately 1g per person.
• Synthetic colours & fragrances: Red dye no. 6 and yellow dye no. 10 are the two colours most likely to be found in your store-bought lip balms. These synthetic colours are yet another by-product of petroleum refining and evidence suggests (but does not prove) that these dyes cause cancer in animal studies. Synthetic fragrances should also be avoided since they can disrupt hormones by acting as estrogen agonists, leading to heavier periods, PMS and even some types of hormonally influenced cancers.

This homemade lip balm is seriously cheap and easy to make (I promise) and contains real ingredients that actually moisturize dried-out winter lips. This recipe also happens to be incredibly delicious thanks to a touch of honey and peppermint essential oil.

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DIY Manuka Honey Lip Balm

This natural homemade lip balm recipe is easy to make, tastes great and uses completely natural ingredients. Try my DIY recipe as an alternative to commercial lip products that can actually be drying to the skin.  

References:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10417589
• http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/703977/MINERAL_OIL/#.Wh9H4bQ-dsM
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21970597
• https://cspinet.org/resource/summary-studies-food-dyes
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3404651/