Babybel Lip Balm

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:

• 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.

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.

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!

Comments

[safay]

Great idea, I love how crafty this is. Bonus points for minimizing waste!

[ClareBS]

This Instructable is so cool, after finding it yesterday I bought a bag of Babybels today and just finished making one. I used olive oil and added some peppermint essential oil.

After paying NZ$17 for 17 grams of Burt's Bees cuticle cream I've been interested in making my own and branched out into making lip balm. Your recipe is great, thanks for sharing.

[aa60]

I love the simplicity of this idea........yet its so clever!.......Kudos....

[kendra.kirkham.7]

Hi, Does wax from one Babybel and one tsp oil make one lip balm unit? Also, can one add cocoa powder? Looking for a very easy chocolate lip balm recipe that kids at school can make themselves (supervised)

[belsey]

Yes, it does. And yes, you can also add cocoa -- though I'd recommend adding cocoa butter too (which you should be able to get in any drug store) to the mix if you're going for the chocolate flavor. I wrote this other instructable for chocolate lip balm, and you can mix and match the two for your school recipe: cocoa butter, cocoa, babybel wax, and oil with a drop of honey should do it....

[chocolatechip]

Could adding red food coloring give this enough pigment to use as a lipstick?

[belsey]

Yes, but food coloring is usually water-based, so it won't mix with the wax. If you've got the powdered type of food coloring that would work well. Or of course skip the baby bel and use a crayon instead.

[chocolatechip]

As soon as I get some babybel I'm going to try this! Can olive oil be substituted for grapeseed oil?

[belsey]

Absolutely. Any edible oil.

[Bigger battery]

Belsey... really great idea, I have written to you about a glue making project that I have in mind, when you get a chance write me....

Thanks

Peter

[belsey]

Thanks, and sorry, I've been meaning to get back to you but I've been very busy working on this newsletter. I'm hoping later tonight or tomorrow night I'll get some spare time....

[brownwiz]

What a novel idea! Thanks for sharing.Flavoring? Mint perhaps

[thorngrove]

Great idea! I have a Babybel addiction so this is perfect for me. Thank you.

[Orngrimm]

I wonder if i could replace the babybel-wax with bees-wax?
I got a lot of beeswax but no babybel ;)

[douge11]

Of corse and beeswax is anti- battical replace the babybel-wax with bees-wa

[belsey]

Absolutely

[lilly7]

Cool. I will try

[lilly7]

How long does it take for the oil to go bad? Just curious. I really love this I am a really crafty person always making stuff and I am GOING to do this. Thanks! Great instructable!

[belsey]

I've been making chapstick for years -- I make a batch, misplace it, make another and then 2 years later I'll find the original one in an old coat pocket -- I've never had one tube go bad, even after melting in the sun and re-hardening. So honestly, I don't know how long it takes for it to go bad, it's never happened to me.

[freetree123]

Does it start to smell??????????