Make your own elderberry lip balm! This homemade lip balm is colored naturally with alkanet root & elderberries. The rest of the balm is made up of beeswax and nourishing plant butters and oils.

This lip balm is intentionally a little softer, which helps me through winter, as it leaves a little more balm to help protect my lips (and knuckles) against the cold.

Why This Lip Balm Is So Nourishing

• Shea Butter: Shea butter is naturally rich in fatty acids (like stearic and oleic acid) and vitamins A & E. These help to deeply condition dry lips while helping reinforce the skin’s protective barrier.
• Jojoba Oil: Jojoba is technically a liquid wax ester, very similar in structure to our skin’s natural sebum. This allows it to readily absorb and nourish.
• Coconut Oil: High in lauric acid, coconut oil contributes smooth glide and helps soften rough skin.
• Castor Oil: Exceptionally rich in ricinoleic acid, a unique fatty acid that gives castor oil its thick, cushiony texture and natural shine. It helps the balm cling to lips longer for lasting moisture.
• Olive Oil Infused w/ Alkanet & Elderberry: Olive oil is abundant in oleic acid and antioxidant compounds. These make it nourishing and softening for delicate lip skin.
  • Alkanet root: Alkanet root contains natural pigments (alkanin derivatives) that were traditionally used as plant-based colorants.
  • Elderberries: Dried elderberries contribute deep purple plant pigments (anthocyanins) and skin-supportive antioxidants.
• Rosehip Oil: Rosehip oil is naturally rich in linoleic acid and pro–vitamin A compounds.
• Beeswax: Beeswax contains natural esters and fatty acids that form a breathable protective layer over the lips.
• Essential Oil: A touch of essential oil, diluted in the rest of these ingredients, adds a subtle scent and is skin-safe.

It’s Worth It to Make Your Own!

I love making my own cosmetics, and especially lip balm. When you make your own, you can use higher-quality ingredients, you know there aren’t harmful ingredients or cheap fillers (dyes, petroleum-derived bases, fragrances, flavors, additives, silicones, texture agents, film-formers, etc), and you can customize your lip balm to whatever you like: win, win, win! Oh, and of course it’s a lot cheaper to make it yourself than to buy an equivalent when you are using ingredients like these butters and oils.

I like this recipe for winter knuckles too. Although I do currently live in beautiful Southern California and I know I’m not allowed to talk about the winter cold, I don’t turn on my heater and here at 1400 ft, it gets down to 60-ish inside my house. So I get cracked knuckles if I don’t take care and I love this balm for helping me prevent that!

Shea Butter and Beeswax Lip Balm

These lip balms get their gentle rosy tint from alkanet root & elderberries infused in olive oil, a traditional botanical method that creates a naturally blushed hue while keeping the formula deeply nourishing.

The recipe below makes about twelve lip balm tubes, or a few mini jars' worth (around 2oz of balm).

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Prep Time 14 days d

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Cooling Time 1 hour hr

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp unrefined shea butter I like unrefined shea butter, which has more benefits for your skin but also has a distinct, nutty, shea smell.
• 1 tbsp unrefined coconut oil
• ½ tbsp jojoba oil
• ½ tbsp castor oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil I infused my olive oil with alkanet and elderberries for two weeks!
• 1 tsp rose hip oil
• 1 ½ tbsp beeswax
• 10 drops essential oil I used peppermint.

Equipment

• heat-proof jar
• lip balm tins or tubes

Method

 

1. Combine all ingredients, except the essential oil, in a heat-proof jar.
2. Fill a small pot with a few inches of water and place your jar inside, allowing the water to go up the sides of the jar. Gently heat until the beeswax, shea, and coconut oil are completely melted.
3. Stir in the essential oil.
4. Pour into your tins or lip balm tubes. The balm solidifies quickly!