How to Make All-Natural Lip Balm in Just 15 Minutes

It’s so easy to make all-natural homemade lip balm! This simple recipe even offers three flavor options, each made with essential oils.

When I learned how to make all-natural lip balm, I never imagined it’d become such a hit with my family and friends.

In fact, when I first gave this homemade lip balm to family and friends at Christmas, I thought they’d be politely meh about it. It’s just lip balm, right?

I was wrong.

I have family members who hoard that lip balm in secret drawers in hopes they can keep it hidden from everyone else in their house, trying to make it last an entire year until the next batch rolls out.

While you might think I have some lip balm superpowers, I don’t. But I do have a faithful recipe. And with it, you’ll be able to make homemade lip balm that has your family and friends raving, too.

Making your own all-natural lip balm is so simple, and it only takes 15 minutes of your time! Essential oils lend all sorts of flavor options.

Why Make Homemade Lip Balm?

Have you ever flipped over a package of conventional lip balm and read the ingredients?

Try it sometime. Grab a package off the shelf, flip it over, and let your eyes scan the tiny words listed after Ingredients for things like parabens (which are endocrine disruptors), fragrances (which are allergens), and petroleum products like petrolatum (which are potentially toxic and contaminated).

In your lip balm. You know, the stuff that you put on your mouth a few times every day and inadvertently ingest when you lick your lips, take a drink, or eat a snack.

Lovely.

More and more natural lip balms are coming to the market, which is fantastic. You can find them from big brands and work-at-home moms, in your local big box store or on little Etsy shops.

And if you scan a package of natural lip balm, you’ll see a handful of ingredients that are safe, soothing, and even easy to pronounce.

But the cost? You’ll probably pay two to three times more for the natural version than you will for the yucky conventional one. That’s not so great.

There’s good news, though. The simple ingredients in natural lip balm don’t just mean it’s a better alternative to conventional brands. They also mean that you can easily make natural homemade lip balm yourself, no matter how much DIY experience you have.

A simple DIY lip balm recipe uses a handful of ingredients to create something that's moisturizing, nontoxic, and flavored with essential oils

Are You Sure It’s That Easy?

I realize that when you’re getting started with natural health, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You can quickly slip into agonizing over every little detail and ingredient in the things you eat and put on your skin.

Trying your hand at a DIY project might feel like one step too far.

But trust me, homemade lip balm is so incredibly simple to make that even a young teenager can do it.

Plus, it really does come together quickly. When I realize we’re running out of homemade lip balm, I only need to set aside 15 minutes to make a new batch that will last our family an entire year.

You just measure, melt, mix, and pour. And you’re done.

Simple Ingredients Are All It Takes

Disclosure: Affiliate links are included. If you purchase ingredients through an affiliate link, your cost is the same while I can earn a commission. Thanks!

To make a natural lip balm, you need three main ingredients: oil, wax, and a butter, like shea or cocoa. You can make a lip balm with just oil and wax in a pinch, but you’ll get a better texture with a moisturizing butter.

For this recipe, you’ll use coconut oil since readily absorbs into the skin without being too heavy. You can also use sweet almond, apricot kernel, or even jojoba oil if you have a coconut allergy or don’t have any coconut oil around. I don’t recommend olive oil, though, because it has a very strong flavor.

I personally use shea butter in most of my lip balm recipes, but cocoa butter works just as well. Shea butter has a softer consistency and the flavor isn’t noticeable in the final product. However, cocoa butter is a must in the Mint Chocolate flavor option!

You’ll use essential oils to flavor the lip balm, but it’s important to choose and add oils carefully. Since you put the final product on your mouth, I like to use organic essential oils. You also need to avoid phototoxic essential oils, but I’ll explain that more in a bit.

And of course, essential oils should be added at a gentle dilution since lip skin is very sensitive and you tend to reapply lip balm throughout the day. These formulas are at 1% or lower, giving the lip balm flavor without the risk of irritation.

Like DIY projects? You’ll love

The Essential Oils Quick Reference Guide

Get at-a-glance help on choosing, diluting, and safely using essential oils

A Simple DIY Lip Balm Recipe That’s Perfect for Beginners

Now that you’re ready to make your lip balm, here’s what you’ll need and how you’ll do it. I have a handy checklist for you with links to my favorite herbal and natural ingredients company, Mountain Rose Herbs.

Be sure to scroll all the way down for a printable recipe card, too!

What You’ll Need

Grab all of your supplies at Mountain Rose Herbs for easy one-stop shopping

You can also find many of these ingredients on Amazon, but it’s hard to know if you’ll get quality ingredients there. When I shop at Mountain Rose Herbs, I know I’m getting top-quality products that are handled with care and won’t go rancid on me.

That said, I do love these DIY lip balm kits on Amazon. They come with a handy tray that holds your empty tubes upright for easier pouring, plus a little scraper to catch any drips. You can also get the tray by itself here. I made lip balm for years before I got one of the trays, so it’s not a necessity. But it’s much nicer to have the tray and avoid frustrating spills!

The lip balm tray is at the bottom of this photo. Super convenient!

After you make a basic lip balm with these ingredients, you might like to up your game a little and use a homemade herbal oil in place of plain coconut oil. When you do, your lips will doubly benefit from all-natural ingredients and soothing herbal extracts!

Lip Balm Flavor Options & Added Ingredients

You can make unflavored lip balm with just the basic ingredients above, but it’s really fun to add some natural flavoring with essential oils. Here are three options to get you started.

Mint Chocolate Lip Balm Flavor:

  • 15 drops peppermint (Mentha x piperita) or spearmint (Mentha spicata) essential oil
  • pinch of cocoa powder, optional (cocoa powder will darken the final product, so go easy or you’ll look like you were sneaking brownie batter)

Make sure you use unrefined cocoa butter and not shea butter for this one. The butter choice makes a big difference in the final flavor!

Citrus Lavender Lip Balm Flavor:

  • 10 drops lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil
  • 10 drops sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) essential oil

While most citrus essential oils are phototoxic and can cause severe burns when your skin is exposed to sunlight, sweet orange doesn’t. That means you can safely apply it to your lips without worrying about burns and blisters.

Sweet Cinnamon Lip Balm Flavor:

  • 15 drops cinnamon leaf (Cinnamomum verum fol.) essential oil
  • 1 teaspoon honey*

*This recipe requires some extra stirring to keep the honey blended into the lip balm. See Step 3 below.

4 Quick Steps Are All It Takes

  1. Get your 12 empty lip balm tubes ready by setting them up on your counter with the caps off (or place them in a lip balm tube tray if you’re using one). Time: around 2 minutes
  2. Using a double boiler or a glass measuring cup in a pot of simmering water, combine the base ingredients. (If you’re using a glass measuring cup in a pan of simmering water, be sure to set a dishcloth or canning ring in the bottom of the pan so the glass cup isn’t in direct contact with the heat, like this.) Allow them to melt, stirring gently. Time: around 5 minutes
  3. Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly, and add your essential oils and other add-ins. If the lip balm hardens or clumps, return to very gentle heat and stir until melted again. For the Sweet Cinnamon flavor, continue stirring honey into the lip balm until it almost starts to thicken. Time: around 5 minutes
  4. Very carefully pour your lip balm into the tubes. (If you’re not using a tray, be careful that you don’t spill the melted lip balm on your skin. It’s quite hot at this stage. Also, if you’re making the Sweet Cinnamon flavor, some honey may be left in the bottom of your measuring cup or pan as you pour. That’s okay, just use the leftover honey in a quick hand scrub.) Let the lip balm rest and harden for 1-2 hours before moving or capping. Time: around 3 minutes

You can also pour the lip balm into small plastic cosmetic containers or little tins if you don’t want to mess with the tubes. Either option works fine.

There are many more flavor combinations you can try with different essential oils, so use these as a springboard once you start feeling confident and adventurous.

Printable Recipe Card: All-Natural Homemade Lip Balm with Essential Oils

You’ll never be able to DIY everything on your natural health journey, but all-natural homemade lip balm flavored with essential oils is a project too easy, fast, and enjoyable to skip.

If you can measure, melt, stir, and pour, you’re about to become a lip balm pro.

homemade lip balm with ingredients

Natural Homemade Lip Balm with Essential Oils

Yield: 12
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

In just 15 minutes, you can have a dozen homemade, soothing, natural lip balms flavored with essential oils.

Instructions

  1. Set up your empty lip balm tubes on a flat surface with the caps off so they're ready to fill. To make this even easier, use a lip balm tube tray.
  2. Add the beeswax pellets, coconut oil, and shea butter in your small glass measuring cup. Place the cup in a small saucepan of simmering water with a dishcloth or canning ring under the measuring cup for heat protection.
  3. Allow the ingredients to melt, stirring occasionally. Be careful to not get any water in the mixture.
  4. Once the mixture is melted, remove it from the pan and place it on a dry towel or dishcloth to cool for 30-60 seconds. Add your essential oils and other flavoring ingredients as noted below and stir to combine.
  5. Quickly pour the mixture into the lip balm tubes. If the mixture hardens too much to pour, return it to the saucepan of warm water and let it gently melt again. Let the lip balm harden for 1-2 hours before capping and storing.

Notes

For Mint Chocolate Lip Balm:

  • Substitute cocoa butter for shea butter
  • Add 15 drops peppermint (Mentha x piperita) or spearmint (Mentha spicata) essential oil for flavor
  • Add 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder (optional)


For Citrus Lavender Lip Balm:

  • Add 10 drops lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil
  • Add 10 drops sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) essential oil


For Sweet Cinnamon Lip Balm:

  • Add 15 drops cinnamon leaf (Cinnamomum verum fol.) essential oil
  • Add 1/2 tablespoon honey and stir often to fully combine


You can also pour your lip balm into small tins.

What is your favorite lip balm flavor?

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    24 Comments

    1. Essential oils are not lips safe products, just fyi. They are not FDA approved for consumption and do not meet IFRA standards for this use. There are lip safe oils that can be used, but are not essential oils

      1. Essential oils are regularly used in lip care products made by both small home crafters and large corporations. They do require safe dilution to prevent any irritation, but as an herbalist and aromatherapist, I’ve formulated these with that in mind. IFRA produces voluntary guidelines that can help ensure safety in products, but the guidelines aren’t some kind of formulating requirement. These recipes are safe and suitable for use, especially for those who prefer to avoid other flavoring oils.

    2. Hello, I was interested in trying out this recipe but I’m having a hard time finding a “steam distilled” citrus essential oil on the websites you suggest. Do you possibly have a link you could post in order to better find them? Thank you in advance!

      1. A couple of easy options are to use sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) and bergapten-free bergamot (Citrus bergamia). Sweet orange doesn’t lead to phototoxicity at appropriate dilutions, and bergapten-free bergamot has the phototoxic compound removed. Have fun making your lip balm!

    3. I’d like to half this recipe, when doing so would I also half the amount of essential oils you recommend? Example: lavender+lemon?

      Thanks!!

      1. Hi Rose. Yes, that’s exactly what you’d do. Cut the essential oils in half, using 5 drops each, and you’ll be all set! Have fun!

    4. We used this recipe today!
      It is resting now. We used straight spearmint e.o. as a fragrance.
      Beeswax, triple filtered organic coconut oil, and Shea butter.
      Smells divine!

      1. Yay, Laetitia! I’m delighted you made some spearmint lip balm. I’m imagining how wonderful it smells at your house right now. So happy for you and your successful project!

    5. In your receipe for making all natural lip balm you list cocoa POWDER as a flavor then just below that you say cocoa BUTTER. I’m assuming both should read BUTTER but you should probably fix it because it is confusing.

      1. Hi Kathleen. I’m sorry for the confusion. The ingredients are correct as written. To clarify, if you’d like to make the Mint Chocolate flavor, you’ll use cocoa butter and not shea butter. Then, you can also add a little cocoa powder for extra flavor, but it’s optional. I hope that helps!

    6. Where we live, lip balm pots are better. The heat can melt the balm right out of the tube. Can’t leave it in the car, but I could put my ingredients in a jar in the car to melt them! Then divide into separate containers…

      Your formula is the same as mine! Add ginger for anti inflammatory balm for joints and other aches. It’s okay to make a big batch to remelt when it’s time to fill up on balm again!

      1. Ah yes, the pots or tiny tins can be a great alternative to lip balm tubes. It can be easier to pour into those, too, if you don’t have the lip balm tube tray. Good addition! I’ll have to add that to the post. 🙂

    7. I also like to use cocoa butter and then add vanilla not only smells good but have to put sign on do not eat 🙂 but i like all the flavors and i just experience with differwnt ones .

      1. That sounds like a fabulous flavor, Diana! I love that homemade lip balm allows for so much flexibility. You can make so many different variations! And I think I might have to try yours. 🙂

        1. Hi Angel! If Diana can chime in, I’m sure you’d love to hear from her. In case she doesn’t, you can add a little vanilla extract or vanilla oleoresin. The oleoresin is similar to essential oils, but solvent extracted. Some people want to avoid anything that may potentially have solvent residue, so if that’s you, you can try your kitchen vanilla extract. Maybe 1/2 teaspoon in a lip balm batch this size?

          Another option, if you want to use an essential oil, is Peru balsam (sometimes called Balsam of Peru). It has a very vanilla-like fragrance and won’t have any solvent residue since it is steam distilled. Hope that helps!

      1. Hi Robi! While there is some flexibility with the recipe, the butter really is an important ingredient. The general guideline for lip balms is equal parts oil, butter, and wax. I think if you use more beeswax in place of the shea or cocoa butter, you might end up with a product that is either difficult to apply, too soft, or just too waxy. I think you’ll be much happier with your lip balms if you order a little shea butter online (Amazon sells it) and include it. It will last for quite a while at room temperature, so you’ll have some left for other fun projects like this foot butter. 🙂 Hope that helps!

    8. My first attempt and I tried the cinnamon and the chocolate mint flavors. So easy and tasty too! Great little gifts

    9. Hi there! I accidentally did not use enough beeswax in this recipe. I am wondering if it is possible to remelt the mix and add more. I wasn’t sure if it would alter the oils? Thanks in advance

      1. Hi Jessica! That’s a common mistake, and I still do it from time to time, too. You can absolutely remelt the lip balm and add more beeswax. When you do that, some of the essential oils with evaporate off, so it would be fine to add a few more drops of EOs to the cooled liquid if you’d like.