Introduction: Delicious Chocolate Honey Lip Balm (updated With Link to Pop Art Packaging)

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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…

I used to wait till my kids were sleeping to slather vaseline over their chapped lips because they hated any kind of moisturizer. So I invented this recipe to tempt them into voluntarily using chapstick, but it's so tasty and moisturizes so well I now make it for myself. The kids love it too.

UPDATE: If you're making these to give out as gifts, I recently designed a pop-up (and pop art) lip balm holder. You can get the template here. It comes in two versions, one with text and the other with a blank speech bubble in case you want to write your own, and it's very easy and quick to make if you've got a color printer and a pair of scissors.

Step 1: What You'll Need

Beeswax
The first time I made this I used an old candle, but for this batch I bought 2 oz from the farmer's market for $1.75 -- definitely get the fresh wax if you can, the difference in flavor is stunning!

Cocoa butter
This can be found in any pharmacy. I've seen it at Rite Aid, Duane Read, etc, usually near moisturizers. This 1oz stick was $1.29

Almond oil
You could probably try other types of oil, but I would steer away from ones with heavy smells or flavors like olive oil -- you don't want to dissimulate the honey and chocolate flavor.

Vegetable glycerin (OPTIONAL)
You can find this in health stores, but I've also seen it in craft stores. This ingredient is what makes this chapstick more of a lip balm. Glycerin is a humectant, which means it will absorb humidity (from the air) to moisturize your lips. 

Vitamin E
This is also an oil, with the thickness of fingernail polish when it's pure. The oil helps moisturize, but the main purpose here is as a natural preservative. This can also be found in any pharmacy, but read the label carefully: the quantity named in this recipe is for PURE vitamin E, and sometimes it is sold mixed with glycerin. You can still use it if it's been cut, but you'll have to adjust the amounts: more vitamin E, less glycerin. If you don't feel like doing any math, just get the pure bottle. This bottle cost around $10 but you need so little it will last forever. You can also decide to skip it altogether if you think you'll be using the chapstick within 6 months to a year.

Cocoa
Dark unsweetened cocoa will give you the best flavor

Honey
Any kind is fine. This is also optional, it's mostly included for taste though, like the glycerin, it's also a humectant

Containers
The first time I made this I used plastic bottle tops and covered them with plastic wrap -- but since I made this batch as gifts, I bought empty chapstick tubes on ebay ($7.45 for 25 tubes, including shipping). Little tins would also work nicely and can be reused.

Step 2: Measure Ingredients

It helps to have a scale, but I've also given measurements in tablespoons:

3/8 oz beeswax (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon)
1/2 oz cocoa butter (1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons sweet almond oil
1/2 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
1/2 teaspoon honey
2 drops vitamin E oil
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

To measure the chunks of beeswax (or cocoa butter), fill a small measuring cup with cold water, then removed the amount of water you want to measure. Float pieces of beeswax in the cup till it reaches your mark.

Put all your ingredients together in a small container which you can easily pour from and which you can place in a pan of hot water. These stainless steel measuring cups were perfect.

Note: if you are using tins to store this and you like softer lip balm you can use the following proportions. This lip balm is too soft to use in tubes. Since it has proportionately less wax it has a stronger chocolate flavor and feels more like a soothing cream on your lips.

1/8 oz beeswax (appox 1 tsp)
1/4 oz cocoa (approx 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp almond oil
1/4 tsp vegetable glycerin
1/4 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1 drop vitamin E

Step 3: Gently Heat in Double Boiler

Place your container in a pot of water and heat the water till it's at a low simmer, mixing your ingredients with a fork until all pieces have melted.

Step 4: Pour

Pour the mixture into your containers. This recipe filled 11 chapstick tubes. There's no need to rush, if your liquid starts to solidify before you're done you can always warm it up in the double boiler.

As the tubes solidify you'll notice the lip balm shrinks and a small hole might appear in the middle. If it's still liquid enough you can top it off with an extra drop, but if it's already solid I've read it isn't a good idea to do that because the top might come off. Another option is to twist the bottom of the tube, which pushes the still soft balm in the middle up to fill the dimple.

Clean up the tubes, add labels, and enjoy!