Lip Balm Alleriges - Make your own

Autumn is windy and the temperature fluctuations between hot and cold can leave our skin dry.

With a few natural ingredients you can make a batch of your own skin care that is personalized, free of nasty additives and cost effective. 

For some of us buying skin care off the shelves is fraught with burning skin, money wasting and stress.  Even simple and common ingredients can cause skin irritation. 

For myself as an Auburn atopic lass, sorbolene burns my skin within seconds of application and wind and sun are take a toll on my sensitive skin.

Low reactivity home made skin care

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There are many recipes out there that use bees wax yet as an allergic type (atopic) myself I recommend pure lanolin as an alternative.

Lanolin is less likely to cause a contact dermititis irritation or allergic response for sensitive folks. Also no animal cruelty is required as the lanolin is extracted when washing sheeps wool after shearing and is cleaned through centrifugal processes to remove the animal sweat and other contaminants.
This removes the potential for animal dander reactions.  If you are allergic to cats, dogs or horses it is the animal dandeer that causes the reaction. Dander is essentially dead skin flakes similar to dandruff which contain proteins that cause allergy symptoms.

Lanolin is absorbed by the skin and creates an effective barrier cream for any chaffing, dry skin, cracked heals, breasfeeding woes, cold sores, etc. 

Check your chemist for inexpensive Gold Cross Lanolin or try this 100% pure lanolin I found on Amazon that is gorgeous 

NZ Pure Lanolin

Patch test

Bees wax and Lanolin are both animal derived products and may produce allergies in some people.  In fact any natural or synthetic product can trigger an allergic response.
Always do a patch test on an inner elbow before applying a product fully.  Apply a small amount to a small area of skin on your inner elbow and wait 48 hours, check if any redness, burning itching or other irritation appears.​

Bees Wax Beads

Coconut oil, Cocoa butter or Shea butter

Nuts and seeds provide beautiful oils that are great for our skin hydration and nourishment.

​Coconut we are familiar with and Coconut oil is easily available.  It is important to note that coconut oil is really mostly saturated fat and is going to clog pores and arteries regardless of its small percentage of medium chain fatty acids that are scientifically backed for brain health. 

Shea butter is made from crushing kernals of seeds from the Tropical African Shea tree and boiling.  This produces a block of Shea butter often used in skin care products.  The Shea tree also contains natural latex which could trigger allergies in some people. Shea butter is emolient (skin soothing and reduces swelling). It sits on the skin and moisturises the upper layers.  

Shea Butter

Cocoa Butter is derived from Cocoa beans and contains fatty acids and antioxidant vitamins A and E.  With the richness of chocolate cocoa scent and the ability to improve lip fullness over time, this is a great inclusion for your homemade lip balm. 
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I found these cocoa butter waffers below which are organic and simple to add to the melting pot for any use.

Cocoa butter waffers

There are some reports of sensitivity to Cocoa and a protein exists in the cocoa seed that could be responsible but it is a rare food sensitivity and other included ingredients must be looked at at the culprit for an allergic reaction. 

You can learn about the four types of allergic reactions in my previous blog:

Natural Remedies for AllerGIES

Colours and flavours

To maintiain the natural and cost effective premise of this home made lip balm, simply add herbs and spices from your kitchen and juice of beetroot or turmeric for colours and flavourings. 
Carrot seed oil is age defying and provides SPF 15. 
Breaking a Vitamin E capsule increases the antioxidant content and also increases shelf life 

Lip Balm

Ingredients
Bees Wax 
​Lanolin 
Shea butter 
Cocoa butter
Coconut oil
Jojoba oil
Olive oil
Carrot Seed oil 
Cinnamon, cardomon, nutmeg powder
Beetroot, orange, turmeric juice
Aloe vera
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Use a stainless steel double boiler to melt the wax, oils or butters, combine ingredients thouroughly and store in pots or lip balm cylinders.  
Wait until the balm has cooled almost entirely before adding aloe vera leaf gel.
You can add rosemary or other herb pieces for their flavourful medicinal properties and strain through cheesecloth before potting. 

Amazon links:

Double Boiler

Cheesecloth Organic

Glass Balm Jars