DIY Lip Balm: Natural and Organic with Essential Oils

Making your own lip balm can be very cost effective, but more importantly, you know what you are putting on and in your body.

Did you know it only takes 26 seconds for the chemicals you place on your skin to begin showing up in your bloodstream?

That's crazy cool.

And the most excellent reason to avoid harmful carcinogens like parabens and benzones.

This recipe is super easy.

DIY LIP BALM RECIPE

Equals Parts:
Organic Beeswax
Shea Butter
Coconut Oil

And then add Essential Oil for scent and added health benefits

When I made it, I used
1/4 cup beeswax
1/4 cup shea butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
      30 drops essential oil

It yielded approx 25 tubes of lip balm

I bought the tubes on Amazon in bulk.

Some recipes call for double boilers or putting a glass measuring cup in a pot of water.
Ain't nobody got time fo dat.
I tried that and after 20 minutes and my beeswax still solid, I put the mixture directly into a small sauce pan and put the dial right in between low and medium. So like a 3 out of 10.

It took 2 minutes and we were ready to pour.

Directions:
Put your equal parts solids into the sauce pan.
Heat on medium low.
Stir constantly.
When it is melted all the way through,  remove from heat. But keep in the saucepan so it stays melted.
Add essential oil.
Begin pouring lip balm immediately.

If you heat it too long, you will get a grainy lip balm. The key is to remove from heat as soon as it is thoroughly melted.

I used plastic pipettes to transfer from the saucepan to the lip balm container.
This worked well as long as I went fast.
If you take too long, it begins to cool and harden and then clogs the pipette.
If you go fast, the new liquid keeps the plastic hot and you don't have the clogging problem.

Fill it all the way to the top until it is nice round dome on the top.
It will sink down as it cools.

Wait 20 minutes before capping and/or using.

Print out cool labels or use stickers to decorate your tubes.

USEFUL INFO.

Best price for Organic beeswax Organic 1 lb $13.44 from Amazon
Best price on Organic Coconut Oil 54 oz Organic Coconut Oil $16.99 from Vitacost
(if you are new to Vitacost, you can get $10 off a $30 purchase by using my Referral Link )
Best Price Organic Shea Butter (this is an Add-On item, so you have to order it with other stuff to get this price) 1 lb $7.50 from Amazon

Chapstick Tubes 50 tubes for $12.00 on Amazon
Pipettes 100 pipettes for $6.00 on Amazon

I prefer DoTerra brand Essential Oils. I feel they are higher quality and I trust their sources.
You can get cheap oils from Vitacost and Amazon, as well as Butterfly Express.

www.Mountainroseherbs.com is another great source for bulk products.
Costco carries organic Coconut oil now too.

Thinking about Halloween? Face Paint Deal on Plum District

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• $15 f0r a $30 voucher to spend at globiton.com
• GLOB Face Paints includes certified organic ingredients (perfect for any Halloween costume!) and also offers arts and crafts for your kids!
• All GLOB paints are plant and vegetable-based, made in California, and entirely free of synthetic dyes, paraben, talc, and petro-chemicals
• Colors release natural, fruity aromas while your little ones paint! Enjoy colors like Lemon Verbena, Berry, Pomegranate, Tangerine, Plum, and Basil 
• Limit 1 voucher per person plus 1 additional as a gift; limit 1 voucher per transaction; shipping and handling not included; shipping available within U.S. only and is a flat rate of $4.99

GLOB Natural Face Paint on Plum District

Sunscreen Deal

Get a $36 bottle of natural sunscreen for $15.00 plus tax.

Highlights

• Up to 97% certified organic inactive ingredients
• Free of parabens, petroleums, preservatives, PABA's, oxybenzone and nano-sized particles
• Organic mineral face products for the whole family

Natural Sunscreens are ALWAYS expensive. I've tried a few that didn't work, like Yes To Carrots Sunscreen-- we all got burned. So I am thinking about giving this one a try. Typical sunscreens may prevent skin cancer, but they are CAUSING cancer internally. That's just not right. 

Always choose a sunscreen that is paraben free and oxybenzone free. Even if that means paying more.

View the deal HERE for COOLA Sunscreen

FREE Bare Escentuals Samples-- ok not really, it cost me $1.09

Bare Escentuals is offering up some free samples of their foundation today. You can order 1 of each shade and shipping is $1 total if you order 1 or all 5. The lightest shade is already out of stock, so if you want this grab it quick. I ordered 2 and with tax my total came to $1.09.

I tried to figure out if they were paraben free. From what I can gather all of their products are Paraben Free except the Mineral Veil. I don't know why they would have it in just that one product, but that is what the gossip is on the net.



Go HERE for your foundation sample and mini brush

Thanks to Hip2Save!

Parabens: What are they? Where are they? Why should I care?

You may have seen Parabens in the news lately and no doubt you will be seeing them again. Parabens are currently under investigation as one of the causes of breast cancer, as well as other types of cancer.

Parabens are chemical preservatives added to products to serve 2 purposes.

1-      They are an anti-microbial, so they keep your product from spoiling.

2-      They keep the product from separating, so the ingredients stay uniform for the duration of the shelf life.

The 4 common types of Parabens are Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, and Butylparaben.

They are found in many common personal care items like lotion, soap, deodorant, cosmetics, chap stick, shampoo, sun block, etc etc. On a rare occasion they are found in food items, but for the most part, they are in nonfood items.

Parabens are classified as Endocrine Disruptors. And they are absorbed into the largest organ of the body—your skin. Once inside your body, Parabens have a habit of mimicking estrogen. Estrogen promotes tissue growth and is a known instigator of breast cancer. In several different breast cancer studies Parabens repeatedly showed up in the cancer cells of breast cancer patients at a near 100% rate. They have yet to determine if the Parabens caused the cancer or why the Parabens would be found within the cancer cells. Studies also indicate that cancer cells with Parabens are harder to kill with cancer treatments, leading to extended exposure to radiation, and longer recovery times. Parabens are also being investigated for their effect on the male reproductive system, thyroid function, ovaries, and the growth and development of fetuses and children.

While we don’t know for sure just how bad they are—I’ve chosen to err on the side of “better safe than sorry.”

The good news is Parabens are easy to avoid! They are many options out there that do not contain Parabens—all it requires is that you take a quick look at the ingredients list on your products before you buy them.

I don’t suggest going through your bathroom cabinets and tossing out everything that has a Paraben. I wouldn’t be able to afford to replace all those items at once.  As those items are used up, however, I am choosing to purchase Paraben free. So far my biggest loss has been Cetaphil soap. I love that product because it is so mild and doesn’t cause any reactions for my sensitive skin prone family. I am still researching which sun block to buy. (That is one hot topic in itself that I’ll tackle another day). Chapsticks seem to be about 50/50. Banana Boat was a No. Nivea lip balm was a Yes.

 My favorite article on this subject is Brenda's Blog A Guide To Surviving Breast Cancer

She lists all the studies with links and explains the dangers in an easy way to understand.

http://www.breastcancersisterhood.com/_blog/Brenda%27s_Blog/post/Do_Parabens_Cause_Breast_Cancer

   This next article is fantastic because she clearly makes the case against Parabens, but I don't see any reference materials, so just note that she is stating the theories about Parabens as facts.

Dangers of Parabens by Sabrina Fox

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dangers-of-Parabens---5-Facts-You-Need-to-Know!&id=1434158

      Any interesting look at Parabens in Deodorant by Kathleen Doheny

http://gma.yahoo.com/does-deodorant-ingredient-affect-breast-cancer-risk-140412050.html

 Basic information about Parabens by Breastcancerfund.org

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/chemicals-glossary/parabens.html

Causes of Cancer The Estrogen Controversy by Dixie Mills

http://www.womentowomen.com/breasthealth/estrogenbreastcancer.aspx

       

 Thank you www.freedigitalphotos.net