Since your lip skin is three times thinner than your body, its moisture can quickly dry out, leaving your lips chapped and cracked. Therefore, lips require extra hydration and care to remain soft, juicy, untanned, and moisturized. As a cure, we have a magical natural ingredient called “castor oil.”
Castor oil is a crucial ingredient of skincare and hair care products due to its remarkable properties and benefits. It contains ricinoleic acid- a monounsaturated fatty acid that serves as an excellent humectant, preventing your skin and hair from drying out. So you can add this magical potion to your DIY lip balm recipe and enjoy soft and juicy pink lips. For this, try the purest extra virgin castor oil from The Goodbye Company. But “How Much Castor Oil To Add To A Lip Balm Recipe?”
Just 1 part! i.e., one tablespoon of castor oil in the standard lip balm recipe. To know the precise measurements, scroll below and get exciting lip balm recipes with unique extracts and flavors.
Why Add Castor Oil To A Lip Balm Recipe?
Before you know our tantalizing recipes, learn why castor is a crucial ingredient to add to your lip balm recipe. Also, acknowledge the benefits you’ll get from this secret potion.
Moisturizer And Emollient
Castor oil is an excellent emollient that helps create a protective barrier on your lip skin. The barrier locks in moisture and prevents your lips from cracking and chapping. All this moisturizing effect is due to the rich omega fatty acids, notably omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids in the castor oil. So, if you add this natural emollient to your lip balm recipe, you’ll get unmatchable softness and sutleness.
Glossy Shine Like A Lip Gloss
Castor oil has a natural glossiness, so adding this magical potion to your lip balm recipe gives your lips an attractive sheen and luster. So, drop the synthetic additives and try this organic bean oil.
Texture And Homegenity
As you all know, castor oil has a thick and sticky viscosity. Adding it to your lip balm recipe will contribute to its firmness and improved consistency. Moreover, this organic ricinus oil acts as a binding agent that helps all the ingredients to mix and blend homogeneously, leaving you with a smooth texture that is incredibly easy to apply.
Healing Properties That Last Longer
Castor oil is a potent anti-inflammatory agent. It reduces inflammation and helps treat irritated and swollen lips (may occur due to allergies). Moreover, since this vegetable oil is thick and viscous, it can stay on your lips longer, giving you its healing effects for longer.
Standard Lip Balm Recipe
Here is the standard recipe for a lip balm containing castor oil. You can amend this master formula according to your needs, e.g., hydration, de-tanning, softening, and plumping. For your convenience, flavored lip balm recipes are described in the next section.
Supplies You’ll Need
Before preparing castor oil lip balm, gather all the supplies you’ll need.
Quantity | Ingredients |
1 part= 1 tablespoon= 0.5 ounces | Butter (opt from the options & selection criteria) |
3 parts= 3 tablespoons= 1.5 ounces | Carrier Oils (opt from the options & selection criteria) |
5-10 drops (or adjust accordingly) | Essential Oils (opt from the options & selection criteria) |
1 part= 1 tablespoon= 0.5 ounces | Wax (opt from the options & selection criteria) |
Quantity Sufficient (in place of essential oils) | Herbs and Flowers (opt from the options & selection criteria) |
Quantity Sufficient | Packaging supplies (lip balm tins/tubes, filling tray, labels, and heating gun) |
4 Steps To Do:
- Gather all the supplies mentioned in the previous section (table) and accurately measure them. Also, wash and dry your lip balm tubes/tins and filling trays.
- Take a saucepan and fill it half with water. Then, pour your lip balm ingredients (carrier oil, butter, and wax) into a heat-proof canning jar and put the jar in the saucepan (like a double boiler).
- Slowly heat, melt, and amalgamate the ingredients over a medium flame. Then, remove the can and wipe out excess water on the outside of the jar. Let the blend cool down to a temperature to the touch.
- Then, add a few drops of your favorite essential oil/herbs/flowers in it. Pour the mixture into the tubes/tubes and let your basic lip balm rest and set. You can seat it with a shrink wrap using a heat gun if you prefer.
Note: You can also add natural colorants such as annatto seed powder, chlorella, cocoa powder, and beetroot powder or juice to give your lips a subtle hue.
Options & Selection Criteria
Following is the detail of the ingredients for a lip balm recipe. Here, you’ll get an idea of what to opt for according to your lip care needs.
Butter
You can opt for a wide range of butter such as shea, cocoa, avocado, mango, kokum, and cupuacu butter. Shea butter is the best-known fatty solid to add to the texture of lip balms. It is famous for its remarkable moisturizing properties owing to the richness of several vitamins and fatty acids in its composition. Not only does it help improve the consistency of your organic, homemade lip balms, but it also makes your lips soft and supple.
The second beneficial option is cocoa butter– a popular choice among girls who love the flavor and aroma of chocolate. Cocoa butter has incredible emollient and moisturizing properties. Thus, adding such butter to your lip balm recipe can help you heal chapped and cracked lips. Other fruitful butter options are mango and avocado. These kinds of butter are rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and nourishing omega fatty acids that not only help your lips remain moisturized but also turn them soft and pink.
Want a non-greasing butter option? Try kokum and cupuacu butter. These fatty solids are rich in vitamin E, which helps protect your thin lip skin from the deadly damage of sun UV rays. So opt from these various choices and make a valuable and effective lip balm for daily use.
Carrier Oils
Remember that your choice of carrier oil will dictate your lip balm texture, effectiveness, and beneficial properties. You can opt for a range of carrier oils such as coconut, sweet almond, avocado, rice bran, jojoba, grapeseed, sunflower, and olive oil. It is important to note that these oils have unique medicinal properties and viscosities, contributing to their accurate texture and ability to deliver benefits.
Coconut oil is a popular, accessible, and affordable choice to make extra-moisturizing organic lip balms. It contains fatty acids that help your lips remain hydrated and pink. However, you can also choose sweet almond oil instead of coconut oil, an excellent emollient that contains rich vitamins (A& E) and omega fatty acids.
You may find similar lip care benefits from avocado oil, just like sweet almond oil. Rice bran oil is also rich in vitamin E, which is crucial in improving skin elasticity and minimizing fine lines, leaving you plumpy, soft lips. Another great option is jojoba oil, a light and non-greasy moisturizing oil. It is fantastic because it creates a protective barrier on your lip skin and helps prevent it from drying and becoming pigmented.
Similarly, grapeseed oil is also very light and moisturizing. It is rich in antioxidants that help soothe irritated and chapped lips. Moreover, it scavenges free radicals produced by the harmful UV rays from the Sun. Free radicals are unstable molecules that steal energy from your healthy body cells that, in turn, undergo oxidative stress, leading to premature aging (the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines).
Lastly, you can also opt for sunflower and olive oil, which are extra-ordinarily moisturizing and hydrating. Sunflower oil is an excellent choice for people with sensitive skin. Likewise, olive oil is the best ingredient in a lip balm that aims to reduce pigmentation and results in plumpy pink lips.
Note: While castor oil is not considered a carrier oil because it is too thick to be diluted with other oils, such as sunflower, jojoba, grapeseed, or coconut oil, you can add it to your basic lip balm recipe. Adjust the measurements, for example, 1 part of castor oil and 2 parts carrier oil for a total of 3 parts of oil content. But before use, do a sensitivity test with castor oil because rarely, but for some, it is a photosensitizer or an allergen.
Waxes
Popular choices for waxes in a lip balm recipe include beeswax, candelilla, carnauba, jojoba, soy, rice bran, and castor wax. Amongst these, beeswax is the most popular choice for organic homemade lip balms. The reason is that beeswax gives your balms the best consistency and texture that everybody loves to apply. Moreover, beeswax makes your balms buttery and stabilizes other ingredients in the recipe- best to make your lips super soft and smooth,
Candelilla wax– The best vegan alternative to animal waxes. It is harder than beeswax, so the balms you made out of this wax are firmer and do not melt faster on hot summer days. Candelilla wax gives similar therapeutic and cosmetic benefits to beeswax. Another great option to stabilize your homemade lip balms is carnauba wax- even harder than candelilla wax. It gives your lip balms a glossy shine, more strength, and a smooth feel, so it’s best for you if you live in a hot and dry land.
However, if you are living in a cold region, you’ll not require firmer waxes. In that case, you can use soft waxes like jojoba wax, which is made from jojoba oil and provides all its benefits. Another vegan alternative we have is soy wax obtained from soybeans. This organic wax has adequate firmness, smoothness, and spreadability.
Rice bran and castor wax are both fabricated from their respective oils, and thus, they deliver all the goodness that the parent oil contains. However, remember that castor wax gives your lip balms a thick consistency, so create a sound proportion with other waxes and oils.
Herbs, Flowers, & Essential Oils
Popular choices for herbs, flowers, and their infused or essential oils that not only give your lip balms a pleasant aroma but a superb feel, too, are the following:
- Lavender (Mild and pleasant aroma)
- Calendula (Soothing)
- Chamomile (Gentle and anti-inflammatory)
- Rose (Rejuvenating and addictive scent)
- Peppermint/Spearmint (Refreshing and cooling effect)
- Hibiscus (Antioxidant and naturally red lips)
- Lemon (Antiseptic and refreshing)
- Sweet orange (Mood uplifting and citrusy aroma)
- Vanilla (Calming and sweet vanilla flavor)
- Eucalyptus (Antimicrobial and invigorating scent)
- Geranium ( Slightly rosy and harmonizing scent)
- Rosemary (Antioxidant and earthy aroma)
Note: Always add a minute quantity of essential oil to your lip balm, and don’t forget to dilute it. Also, do a skin sensitivity test before you apply on your sensitive lips.
Packaging Supplies
- Lip balm tubes or tins
- Lip balm filling trays
- Labels (optional)
- Shrinkwrap and heating gun (optional; required only for sealing)
Note: Always wash and dry your lip balm tubes, tins, and filling trays so they are clean and germ-free.
Flavored Lip Balm Recipes
Here are some quick recipes of flavored lip balms you may want to try.
Peppermint Lip Balm
Take two parts of avocado oil and half part of jojoba and castor oil each. Add one part of beeswax and one part of butter of your choice to the above oily content. Melt and blend the ingredients following the “4 steps to do.” Add a few drops of peppermint oil when the above mixture cools down. Set, pour, and seal in a usual manner.
Peppermint + Rose Lip Balm
For this recipe, you must first prepare rose-infused oil. Take a muslin cloth and add some fresh rose petals to it. Pour 2.5 parts of a carrier oil of your choice (jojoba, olive, sunflower, or coconut) into a pan. Heat the oil with this prepared muslin bag and let the rose extracts infuse in the oil. Remove the bag from the oil after 5-10 minutes, and use this rose-infused oil in your lip balm recipe. You can also prepare it using a traditional slow infusion method.
Take one part of butter, two and a half parts of rose-infused oil, and half of castor oil for extra glossiness. Then, add one part of wax (animal or plant wax) and let the mixture warm and melt. After bringing the above blend to a temperature cool to the touch, add a few drops of peppermint essential oil and some beetroot/ alkanet root powder for a nice color. Set, pour, and pack it safely.
Tropical Lip Balm
Our tropical lip balm is a refreshing and soothing blend of mango, coconut, castor, and jojoba oil or butter, providing extra hydration and soothing. Take one part of mango butter and beeswax in a jar for this quick recipe. Then, add two parts of coconut oil and half part jojoba and castor oil each into the jar. Melt and warm the ingredients. Set, pour, and seal accordingly. For a refreshing boost, you can add a few drops of orange or lemon oil.
Chamomile Lip Balm
Firstly, prepare chamomile-infused oil just as we prepared rose-infused oil, or you can adopt any infusion method. Take two and a half parts of chamomile-infused carrier oil and half castor oil in a jar. Then, add one part each of your choice of beeswax or vegan wax and butter. Melt and warm all the ingredients and pour them into your favorite lip balm tube or tin. For extra flavor, aroma, and freshness, add a few drops of any essential oil you like or what suits you.
Vanilla Lip Balm
Take one part each of cocoa and mango butter in a canning jar. Add two parts of organic virgin coconut oil and animal or plant wax of your choice to it. Then, add just a few drops of vanilla extract to it like a teaspoon. However, if you have vanilla beans, you can prepare vanilla-infused coconut oil for this recipe. Warm and prepare your lip balm as given in the basic lip balm recipe section.
Raspberry And Lemon Lip Balm
Warm two parts of coconut oil for about 20 seconds in a microwave or using a double boiler method. Then, add a quartet of raspberry gelatin mix and stir thoroughly. Warm it again for 20 seconds. After cooling, you can add lemon essential oil to it. Let it set and pack.
Chocolate Mint Lip Balm
Take one part of cocoa butter, beeswax, and two parts of coconut oil in a canning jar. Melt and warm all these ingredients. Then, after cooling it down a bit, add one teaspoon of cocoa powder and one capsule of vitamin E to the above blend. Mix thoroughly until cocoa powder uniformly distributes. Add half a teaspoon of honey for an excellent gloss and consistency. Finally, add a few drops of peppermint essential oil for a refreshing boost.
FAQs
Does Castor Oil Turn Lips Pink?
Castor oil contains omega fatty acids and vitamins that work for pigmentation. So, if you have dark lips, use castor oil lip balm; regular use will surely turn your lips pink.
How Much Should I Dilute Castor Oil For Lip Balm?
Add half part of the castor oil to two and a half parts of the other carrier oil blend for a thick yet spreadable lip balm.
Does Castor Oil Make My Lips Soft?
Yes, castor oil composition is the best to make lips soft, subtle, smooth, and pink.
Can I Apply Castor Oil Lip Balm Overnight?
Well, if castor oil does not irritate your lips, you can safely apply its lip balm overnight for quick and best results.
Outlook
Castor oil is a remarkable ingredient you can add to your organic homemade lip balms. It is best to make your lips soft, smooth, and pink. Also, castor oil lip balms can make your lips hydrated and moisturized and even hide your lips’ fine lines. You can safely add about half a part of castor oil to two and a half parts of carrier oil (total: 3 parts oil) for a firm yet spreadable and smooth lip balm. But before applying, do a skin sensitivity test with castor oil. If it does not hurt or inflame your lips, you can apply this lip balm every day or even overnight.