Holiday lip treat

It was ironic that it was with traumatised lips (see my last post - sorry it was so long ago - much energy has been used to heal my lip) that I first made my own lip balm. Most of the irony lay in the fact that this lifelong lipbalm addict couldn't even use it! (Perhaps I won't need it so much with my new lip skin? It's too soon to tell.)

But it had been months since Anna and I had bought a block of beeswax from the Farmer's Market, and we'd been sniffing its heavenly honey scent periodically, as I wondered what on earth I'd do with it.

Then I found a 'non-petroleum jelly' recipe on a blog (actually, the same recipe's on lots of blogs: it's 1 oz (25g) of grated beeswax to 1/2 c olive oil).

So, it being school holidays and a perfect time to do a few shared projects, Anna and I got to work last weekend.

We used grapeseed oil instead of olive oil because I didn't like the idea of the olive oil smell on my lips. Grapeseed oil is odourless. Also, we added 4-5 drops of lavendar oil.

You just need to put it all in a pot, and melt it really slowly.

Once it was all melted, we poured it into little pots. I've been collecting them for a while now, with the intention of doing a project like this.

It seems good! The texture is right and the lavendar smell subtle. I've sneakily swiped my new lower lip skin a couple of times with it, although I'm only meant to be putting antibiotic cream on it.

It was VERY cheap to make. I think the beeswax block was about $2 and we used less than half. There was probably $1 or so worth of grapeseed oil in it, and the lavendar oil was so scant that it was virtually free. It made enough lip balm to last for months.

Next time I might add honey, stirring it in once the balm started to cool. I'll also be wearing an old shirt or apron: there's potential for a big mess. Very hot water, however, cleaned up the pot, grater etc just fine.

I love the idea of using something totally natural made by clever bees. Isn't the internet the most amazing source of ideas?