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.
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.
Ingredients
- 4 tbs grated bees wax
- 2 tbs coconut oil
- 2 tsp Manuka honey
- 1/4 tsp food grade peppermint oil
- 2 tbs coconut butter or shea butter
- Remaining scraps of organic lipsticks to add colour to the final product (optional)
Instructions
Melt all of the ingredients on the stove top using a double boiler (no need for any fancy kitchen equipment, just place a metal bowl over a small pot of boiling water). Heat & stir lip balm until melted and thoroughly mixed and pour into small containers. Lip balm will harden and be ready for use in under 20 minutes and will keep for 6 months.
References:
![Diet research update [article linked in profile]: new studies are confirming that one-size-fits-all nutrition guidelines are completely out of date & out of alignment with best practices for optimal health.
In a recent study 13,000 twins were given the exact same diet for a period of time and monitored for things like blood sugar levels and weight. From this information, researches concluded that genes account for about 50% of risk factors for obesity and blood sugar instability, while lifestyle factors like sleep, stress, exercise and the gut microbiome account for the rest. This means that you can be following the exact same #vegan/#keto/#paleo/low calorie/etc. diet as your family & friends and see very different health and weight loss outcomes depending on your lifestyle, gut health, hormones and genetics. Health is complicated and there is no "one size fits all" panacea diet for optimal health and weight loss. Every body is unique. If you've been struggling with your weight despite trying every fad diet your best bet is to check-in with a practitioner that can help you optimize your environment (internal & external) and determine which diet is best for YOU. In my practice I help people loose weight by looking at their specific genetic profiles (did you know that services like 23&me provide the raw data for thousands of diet, nutrition and obesity genes? They don't report this as part of their health summary but your ND can use specialized software to provide recommendations based on these genetic variations), optimizing their gut flora (certain bacteria strains are associated with obesity while others can actually promote weight loss), balancing their hormones (studies show us that high estrogen levels without enough progesterone will lead to weight gain in women via a reduction in metabolism) & by helping my patients create daily health habits that work for their lifestyle. 🌱 #hormonebalance #weightlossupport #foodismedicine #guthealthmatters](http://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/1098f1e7264972703dad78c49220dd3b/5DC1471D/t51.2885-15/e35/s320x320/61681721_120666392239068_5938332968570714774_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com "Diet research update [article linked in profile]: new studies are confirming that one-size-fits-all nutrition guidelines are completely out of date & out of alignment with best practices for optimal health.
In a recent study 13,000 twins were given the exact same diet for a period of time and monitored for things like blood sugar levels and weight. From this information, researches concluded that genes account for about 50% of risk factors for obesity and blood sugar instability, while lifestyle factors like sleep, stress, exercise and the gut microbiome account for the rest. This means that you can be following the exact same #vegan/#keto/#paleo/low calorie/etc. diet as your family & friends and see very different health and weight loss outcomes depending on your lifestyle, gut health, hormones and genetics. Health is complicated and there is no \"one size fits all\" panacea diet for optimal health and weight loss. Every body is unique. If you've been struggling with your weight despite trying every fad diet your best bet is to check-in with a practitioner that can help you optimize your environment (internal & external) and determine which diet is best for YOU. In my practice I help people loose weight by looking at their specific genetic profiles (did you know that services like 23&me provide the raw data for thousands of diet, nutrition and obesity genes? They don't report this as part of their health summary but your ND can use specialized software to provide recommendations based on these genetic variations), optimizing their gut flora (certain bacteria strains are associated with obesity while others can actually promote weight loss), balancing their hormones (studies show us that high estrogen levels without enough progesterone will lead to weight gain in women via a reduction in metabolism) & by helping my patients create daily health habits that work for their lifestyle. 🌱 #hormonebalance #weightlossupport #foodismedicine #guthealthmatters")
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