Creative Ways To Use Beeswax: How To Make Lip Balm

What is Beeswax?

• Beeswax comes from honey bees who produce it in their hives to build their honeycombs.
• These honeycombs are where the bees store their honey and pollen.
• Baby bees are also raised in these honeycombs.
• Beeswax is mainly made up of fatty acids produced by worker bees.
• Freshly produced beeswax is almost white in colour, but it changes to a yellowish or brownish colour when mixed with pollens and honey in the honeycomb.
• It is usually extracted when the beekeepers collect the honey from the honeycomb cells.

Beeswax has many popular uses for skin care products and is also used in the production of cosmetics, food, candle wax, polishes and lubricants.

Benefits of Beeswax

• Beeswax is known for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
• It is often used as a natural moisturizer and treatment cream for people who are sensitive to all other artificial skin care products.
• It can be found in some commercial products for the treatment of acne, chapped lips, stretch marks, cracked heels, dry skin, and other skin conditions.
• As an anti-inflammatory substance, it also relieves pain and inflammation.

When it comes to skincare, most commercial products contain substances that can cause serious allergic reactions in people with sensitive skin. Nowadays, substances like parabens and alcohol are used in many beauty products. Parabens are used as preservatives, and there are claims that parabens and alcohol have health risks that are yet to be proven. You can avoid these potentially harmful substances, however, by making your own beeswax products at home.

Propolis and Beeswax

Even though beeswax is anti-fungal and anti-allergenic, there have been cases where people suffered allergic reactions after using products containing it as an ingredient. It is possible that certain beeswax contains traces of propolis that could have caused the allergic reactions.

Propolis is like a glue that the honeycomb bees make to protect their hives. It is sticky and contains a mixture of nectar and resin that comes from the buds of certain trees. Similar to beeswax and honey, propolis also has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and antiseptic properties, but it may also cause allergic reactions in some people.

If you are allergic to bees and propolis, it is good to take precautions when using beeswax, honey, and other bee products.

Where to Get Beeswax

You can buy beeswax online from eBay or Amazon if you want to make your own skincare products at home. It comes in slabs and pellets. Big slabs of beeswax are pretty tough to slice with a knife, but they can be grated quite easily. Otherwise, packets of beeswax pellets come in handy, but they usually cost a little more.

Making your own beeswax products is also much cheaper than buying them from the stores. Plus, you know what natural ingredients you have put in them, and you can customise your homemade products to suit your skincare requirements.

One kilogram of beeswax can be used to make dozens of tubs of lip balm and hand cream at home. Leftover beeswax can also be used for making candles and soaps.

Homemade Beeswax Lip Balm Recipe

This is a basic recipe for making lip balm with beeswax. You can substitute some of the other natural ingredients if you have a preference for certain natural products.

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 teaspoons of grated beeswax
• 7 teaspoons of sweet almond oil
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 1 capsule of vitamin E powder
• 5 drops of essential oil of your favourite fragrance. (You can also use other oils like olive, lavender, macadamia, and avocado.)

Method

1. Heat the sweet almond oil, honey, and beeswax in a small double boiler.
2. Stir gently until the beeswax has completely melted and turned into a liquid.
3. Remove from heat and add in the essential oil and vitamin E powder.
4. Mix well and quickly pour into lip balm containers or tubes.
5. Leave them to cool to room temperature before putting the lid on the containers.

Homemade Beeswax Rose Hand Cream Recipe

This is a recipe for homemade hand cream that lasts a long time due to the extended shelf life of olive oil. All ingredients are natural and inexpensive.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of beeswax (grated or pellets)
• 10 drops of rose essential oil
• pink food colour (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil and beeswax in a double boiler.
2. Stir until the beeswax has completely melted and turned into a liquid.
3. Remove from heat and add in the rose essential oil and food colour, if desired.
4. Mix well and quickly pour into a container.
5. Leave it to cool to room temperature before putting the lid on the container.

You can also substitute the rose essential oil with other favourite essential oils like lavender, vanilla, lemon, etc.

© 2011 lady rain