Introduction: Babybel Lip Balm
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About: I am a paper engineer, writer, maker and chemist wannabe. In addition to pop-up cards I design and build furniture, lights, costumes or whatever I happen to need at the time. Lipstick, a mixing studio, all-pur…
There are many chapstick and lip balm recipes out there, but this one is perfect for emergencies. There's no need for specialized cosmetic supplies or even containers... You can re-use the tube you just finished, and if you don't already have them in the house, you can buy all the ingredients from any old grocery store or deli.
Step 1: Ingredients
Now you can really go nuts with ingredients if you want to, and put all sorts of emollients, oils, vitamins, scents and flavors into your chapstick, but I wanted this particular recipe to be as simple as possible. All you need are:
You can use either the red or yellow kind of wax. Even though your chapstick will look red (assuming you're using the red wax) there's not enough pigment in there to turn it into a lipstick. At the most, if you smother it on, you'll get a barely noticeable pink tint.
You can substitute the grape seed oil for any other edible oil in your pantry. I like grape seed because of the texture and neutral taste, but any other (edible!) oil will do too.
Depending on how you carry your chapstick around you can adjust the quantity of oil. If you wear it right next to your body in a tight jeans pocket, keep these proportions. If you have it in the glove compartment of your freezing car (or if you just like softer chapstick), add more oil, or don't use all the wax.
- the wax from one mini babybel cheese (red or yellow)
- 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil
You can use either the red or yellow kind of wax. Even though your chapstick will look red (assuming you're using the red wax) there's not enough pigment in there to turn it into a lipstick. At the most, if you smother it on, you'll get a barely noticeable pink tint.
You can substitute the grape seed oil for any other edible oil in your pantry. I like grape seed because of the texture and neutral taste, but any other (edible!) oil will do too.
Depending on how you carry your chapstick around you can adjust the quantity of oil. If you wear it right next to your body in a tight jeans pocket, keep these proportions. If you have it in the glove compartment of your freezing car (or if you just like softer chapstick), add more oil, or don't use all the wax.
Step 2: Melting
Combine your ingredients and melt them together.
I prefer using a double boiler rather than a microwave, because it's easier to control and you're less likely to accidentally start a fire. Just use any very small metal container, like a measuring cup, and plop it in an inch (or less) of water. The wax will melt before the water even boils, but just in case the water DOES boil first, keep it at a very low simmer.
I prefer using a double boiler rather than a microwave, because it's easier to control and you're less likely to accidentally start a fire. Just use any very small metal container, like a measuring cup, and plop it in an inch (or less) of water. The wax will melt before the water even boils, but just in case the water DOES boil first, keep it at a very low simmer.
Step 3: Pouring
Clean out your used chapstick tube as well as you can, but don't worry if there's still a little of the old stuff stuck in the bottom.
You'll have a little bit more chapstick liquid then you need for one tube -- this will allow for spills, because it's pretty hard to aim for that tiny tube. Fill your tube up to the very top, even, if you can, make it bulge over the brim.
Wax expands in its liquid form. This means that when your chapstick cools and solidifies, it contracts, leaving a little dimple in the center of your tube (that's why you were trying to fill up your tube above the top). Don't try to fill the dimple with another few drops of melted chapstick, because it won't adhere properly. Instead, while your chapstick is still cooling, twist the bottom of your tube just a little to push the still-liquid chapstick in the center of your tube up to the surface.
You'll have a little bit more chapstick liquid then you need for one tube -- this will allow for spills, because it's pretty hard to aim for that tiny tube. Fill your tube up to the very top, even, if you can, make it bulge over the brim.
Wax expands in its liquid form. This means that when your chapstick cools and solidifies, it contracts, leaving a little dimple in the center of your tube (that's why you were trying to fill up your tube above the top). Don't try to fill the dimple with another few drops of melted chapstick, because it won't adhere properly. Instead, while your chapstick is still cooling, twist the bottom of your tube just a little to push the still-liquid chapstick in the center of your tube up to the surface.
Step 4: Wrap It Up
If you're making this as a gift, then it's nice to wrap it up, and it just so happens that I designed a pop-up, Pop Art chapstick holder. This is very easy to make, and you can customize it so the lady will say whatever you wish.
Post Scriptum:
A few years ago I was looking at a huge tub of my kids old crayons and I came up with the idea of melting them down with some oil to make lipstick. I was really excited about this idea, but wanted to be cautious and I checked online to see if it was safe, and if anybody had published anything on the subject. There wasn't anything on the web, and although crayola won't publish their ingredients I figured that it had to be safe enough, given that crayons are designed to be ingested by toddlers without causing harm. So I published an instructable, and a recent online search came up with hundreds of videos and tutorials. Though of course others might have simultaneously come up with the same idea, the dates indicate the trend started here.
Before publishing this I googled Babybel chapstick, and Babybel lip balm, and the closest thing I came up with was this photo. So in a few months or years when Babybel chapstick is all over the internet, you can say you saw it first on Instructables!
Post Scriptum:
A few years ago I was looking at a huge tub of my kids old crayons and I came up with the idea of melting them down with some oil to make lipstick. I was really excited about this idea, but wanted to be cautious and I checked online to see if it was safe, and if anybody had published anything on the subject. There wasn't anything on the web, and although crayola won't publish their ingredients I figured that it had to be safe enough, given that crayons are designed to be ingested by toddlers without causing harm. So I published an instructable, and a recent online search came up with hundreds of videos and tutorials. Though of course others might have simultaneously come up with the same idea, the dates indicate the trend started here.
Before publishing this I googled Babybel chapstick, and Babybel lip balm, and the closest thing I came up with was this photo. So in a few months or years when Babybel chapstick is all over the internet, you can say you saw it first on Instructables!