The often solid looking jar of coconut oil in my kitchen cupboard finds its way onto my skin through out the year as an easy, no fuss answer to needing a massage lotion or skin moisturizer.
It melts at body temperature, and is also suitable as a shaving moisturizer, quite the kitchen multi-tasker.
In the hot summer, my small bedside jar of vanilla bean infused coconut oil became quite soft and liquid. This made it easier to apply to legs and arms and backs for warm scented rub downs.
For winter use, small amounts of the solid coconut oil can be melted down in the microwave and poured into small tins for use as a lip balm.
I scented this round with 1 drop of peppermint essential oil per 2 tsp of melted coconut oil. This amount provides a soft level of mint, that is milder than the mint in Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm. I think I shall try doubling the amount of mint next time to aim for that Burt’s mint tingle on my lips.
Adding a 1/4 tsp of cocoa powder to the hot melted 2 tsp of coconut oil, softens the mint aroma, and cushions it with day dreams of sipping hot chocolate. It’s a splendid combination! The resulting balm is colored in the pot, but doesn’t show any traces of color on the skin. Also, as the coconut oil cools, it crystallizes to produce a mottled white snowflake like clouding in the brown cocoa lip balm pots.
As coconut oil is easily seduced to liquid by body temperatures, I would caution one against carrying these tins around in their pockets, unless a secure tight lid is used.
Note- this shouldn’t be carried in your pocket
as it will melt to a liquid. Think of this balm as a bedside treat.
Additional flavors begging to be made with essential oils:
- lavender mint
- lemongrass
- cinnamon
- chocolate lavender (Valentine’s Day!)
- cocoa butter rose (Valentine’s Day!)
As with any body product made containing essential oils, go gentle if you are unfamiliar with a particular scent. You don’t want to accidentally make a body lotion that will sting and burn you.
… or maybe you do? If so, get your experimenting underway to unveil your creation in time for Valentine’s Day play!
links:
Watchmaker Tins of all Sizes, Lee Valley
Adventures in Lip Balm, not martha
How to: Create your own lip balm recipe, Bleu Arts
19 Comments
Yum, yum, yum! You are so creative! Cocoa Peppermint sounds delicious, but vanilla mint really gets me drooling.. 
I just recently discovered Burt’s Bees products and now keep some in my travel bag.
Hadn’t thought of infusing my coconut oil with vanilla before…something for me to try 
j
Yum–and those little tins of luscious lip balm would make such fabulous gifts! (Though I guess you would have to caution your friends about carrying them around in their pockets.)
The melting factor is a hunch- though I am basing it off of seeing my little bedside jar turn to liquid during a heatwave.
I’ll try to remember to carry around in a pocket during the summer to see what happens.–McAuliflower
Hummmmm, I do believe that Mother’s Day is coming up next…?
I love this idea! It would be great to have something homemade like this around the house for all those unexpected, last minute, or forgotten-about events that one needs gifts for. it’s more personal than a bottle a wine certainly.
Can I ask? Is there a homemade foot creme that you can recommend too?
This would also make a good foot creme too. Coconut oil is a great multi-tasker that is very friendly to our skin everywhere.
–McAuliflower
What a great idea! And don’t even get me started on the chocolate-mint thing. These would also make such great gifts - thanks for the inspitation
What a fantastic post! Thank you for sharing this recipe… it will make such a great figt!
Tim- this would make a great foot rub. Especially with more peppermint added to it.
Don’t carry this in your pocket!
It will melt, and leak if you don’t have a good lid. I tested it on the way out of town this weekend, and ended up with an oily spot at my pocket. Yuck
Just in time to have messy clothes on the plane too.
But it smelled good!
What about adding some beeswax to make it more solid?
I think that’s a good idea. Based on other recipes I’ve seen, beeswax and coconut oil could probably hold hands well together.
–McAuliflower
I used your basic idea but subbed a few ingredients.I used 1 tbs. shortening,couple drops of vanilla extract, and 1/4 tsp. liquid glycerin.Thanks for the idea.
Wow! What a great idea My lips are always so dry and chapped in the winter but it seems like nothing OTC works! I’m definately going to try this. Thank you!!
I Stumbled across this, and since I had a bog jar of coconut oil in the cupboard… well, the niece is getting a pile of small (1/8oz) screwtop bobbles filled with cocoa peppermint, and mom and sis are getting bigger ones, with the CP, and with Lavender Mint.
Thanks for providing such an easy stocking stuffer!!
Nice post. Thanks for the link.
If you melt a bit of bees wax into the oil you can make it so the lip balm won’t melt to readily in your pocket, last longer on your lips
You can tell how much bees wax you need to add by sticking a spoon (or two to check more then once) into the freezer and while you have everything melted under low heat (and even better in a double broiler) you just stick the spoon in to put a coating on and have the spoon cool it off. This will harden to the cooled consistency of the lip balm and you can choose to add more of the wax or oil depending on if you want it softer or harder.
[...] magic shell. It doesn’t use butter, as a lot of other recipes online do, but instead uses coconut oil, our favorite multitasker! Theoretically, with the correct chocolate, you can even make Magic Shell vegan (the mind boggles [...]
is this rich enough to use as a cuticle cream? or if you cut it with sweet almond or jojoba oil to up the nourishment factor, would it no longer firm up at room temp?
Hi Lindsey,
I think this would work well as a cuticle cream (and moisturizer, and shaving lotion…). Adding oils that are liquid at room temperature will contribute to its liquid state even more. However, adding melted beeswax to this solution will aid in keeping it solid- even in the warm summer months. I don’t have that formulation on hand, but it’s referenced here in the comments.
cheer
–McAuliflower
How fun! I’m gonna try this!
I have some leftover bacon-flavored coconut oil from when I made your Magic Shell recipe, so I think I’ll try making lip balm with it, flavored with a bit of maple syrup. I’ll let you know how it goes!
