500 tubes of lip balm

[Zweefer]

Naw, this is one of those things that builds character...

[Lburou]

...i seemed to have misplaced my tweaked recipe (burts bees copy cat)...

Would you mind posting that recipe when you find it?  And, your sources for the ingredients?  You have posted similar things in the past and it helps (us) to find new sources.  I may make up some of those to sell with my honey in September.

[riverbee]

thanks bakers, wish you were closer too!  you could help me on the character building part too..........
aye, the character building part is going well zweef............depends on who you ask around here.................

"Would you mind posting that recipe when you find it?  And, your sources for the ingredients?  You have posted similar things in the past and it helps (us) to find new sources.  I may make up some of those to sell with my honey in September."

lee, absolutely! the recipe went somewhere, i am thinking the shredder, along with a file with documents in it i needed at tax time...........gee, i saved the folder itself, but the folder was empty!..........   i really did get on a jag this winter for purging stuff, but somehow i managed to either misplace or shred it by accident.  anyway, i have been a 'chemist' in the kitchen for about a week, starting with the original base recipe i had,  and tinkered with it a few tubes at a time and from memory.  i think i have it nailed down. received some great feedback, so i went ahead and have about 100 tubes or so done now.  tomorrow i want to do another test/revision on the amount of beeswax added, summer recipe vs winter recipe. 

i will post the recipe, and can help you out with any questions.  if you would like i can send you a couple tubes? so you can test drive for yourself, but i am told what i have now is pretty similar to burt's bees peppermint version.  before burt's bees was bought out, the ingredients that were originally used were minimal, now there are extra carrier oils in it.  just a tip, because of fda regulations, ingredients are required to be listed from the most prevalent to the least. if there are ingredients that are equal in amounts they can be listed alphabetically.  how does this help......gave me a clue on how to tweak the recipe.

the ingredients i use are what originally appeared on burts bees peppermint vit e lip balm some years back:
coconut oil (i use organic)
sunflower oil (i use organic)
lanolin (i use anhydrous lanolin) anhydrous lanolin has no smell, no taste and no water, with all impurites removed. it is similar to the composition of wax. this makes the lip balm stay on longer.  the no water part is important as this can and will contribute to lip balm going rancid.
peppermint essential oil
vitamin e oil ( i use natural vitamin e oil and have used t-50)
rosemary oil extract

vitamin e oil and rosemary oil extract will extend the shelf life of any lip balm, and also it is important to know the shelf life of the oils used in any recipe, this will also extend the shelf life.  (i think this is why burt's bees have used oils with longer shelf life without added preservatives).

i am using the lip balm trays, this makes character building more productive, less stressful and/or less non disney language?.............
there is a bit of a trick to using these, it's not hard, and using a heat gun to smooth the tops of the tubes off if need be.  (hair dryer would probably work).  you can also use an egg carton and droppers or large syringes.  you can use a pyrex cup with the egg carton trick, but you can't scrape off excess wax that spills over, using droppers or syringes to fill tubes makes it easier.  you can get syringes from your local vet, and my local walgreens gives away some pretty good sized eye droppers if you just ask for them, (marked in milliliters).  the egg carton trick for up to 12 tubes......take an egg carton turn it upside down, cut an x in the center of where each egg sat to fit your tube......holds it in place. 
also, my right hand has seen better days, from fractures and carpal tunnel, it shakes quite a bit sometimes......with the trays a pyrex works good, but if i only filling a few tubes, i will use the dropper or syringe.  makes for less cussing........

suppliers:
elements bath and body; excellent company, excellent customer service.  lip balm trays, tubes, sunflower oil, vitamin e oil , peppermint oil and rosemary oil. other miscellaneous tools.  can't say enough about them and would highly recommend.

mountain rose herbs; again, excellent company, excellent customer service. i purchased the organic unrefined coconut oil from them; it is the best!
i have purchased many other ingredients from them in the past. awesome stuff!

anhydrous lanolin..........this stuff is hard to find.  mountain rose herbs used to carry it.  i purchased this from majestic mountain sage.........their shipping costs are high.......if i could find this elsewhere i would. 

so, can't say enough about elements bath and body and/or mountain rose herbs lee.  help this helps?!
sorry for the long dissertation..........

[Bakersdozen]

I often send a recipe to a sister via email or post it on here as a back up.  I may lose the recipe, but I know where to look.  On occasion, I'll see a keeper on line.  I copy it and paste it to a word document. 
If anything ever happens to me, and it will, I can hear the kids now.  "How many chocolate chip cookie recipes did she need?" 

[Lburou]

Thanks RB, I appreciate the details! 

It never fails...When I discard some good junk, I find a use for it within seven days.  Purges are a necessary evil, but I'm not very good at it, invariably I discard something I regret. 

[kebee]

  You and me both Lbrurou, I am at the stage that I hoard everything since I know I will need it the minute I throw it out, only thing is know I have it and cannot find it.

Ken

[Lburou]

  You and me both Lbrurou, I am at the stage that I hoard everything since I know I will need it the minute I throw it out, only thing is know I have it and cannot find it.

Ken

Ken, we are in good company...   

[riverbee]

"only thing is know I have it and cannot find it.
Ken"

ken too funny!!!............

300 tubes done 200 more to go, then label all!

[Zweefer]

Pictures?!?!?

[riverbee]

i know, i know!  lol............will definitely take pix of the finished product, i have about 100 or so to go, ran out of some ingredients, had to order more, otherwise would have been done! 

as far as a pic tutorial, i will have to take the time another time to show how i do it.............lip balm in these numbers is a lot more time consuming than preparing for and pouring candles!

and ps bakers, i am a heavy user of one note (2010)  many of my recipes are saved in that program or on a word document, but when i start tinkering with the recipes, it goes on paper, all the changes, the tinkering and sometimes they don't get transfered to the pc.

"if anything ever happens to me, and it will, I can hear the kids now.  "How many chocolate chip cookie recipes did she need?"  "


yes!............too funny!!! 
lol, my son, my grandkids are going to be saying well how many bee books did she need! ..........

[Bakersdozen]

and ps bakers, i am a heavy user of one note (2010)  many of my recipes are saved in that program or on a word document, but when i start tinkering with the recipes, it goes on paper, all the changes, the tinkering and sometimes they don't get transfered to the pc.

"if anything ever happens to me, and it will, I can hear the kids now.  "How many chocolate chip cookie recipes did she need?"  "

river: Back to chocolate chip cookies...the recipe I always use is in my head!  I always, always look for something that is a little bit better or has little more kid appeal.  Same thing with brownies.
I am very bad about backing up files.  You think I would learn after losing some important files on computers that have crashed.
Your on the home stretch, river! 

[riverbee]

thanks bakers!  i will probably have this lip balm recipe ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life...............

but i did have to laugh about your chocolate chip cookie recipe...........err uh RECIPES!!!..........
i also tweak recipes for some reason?

backing files up?  i back files up, almost on a daily basis.  hard to lose something ya don't have down on a peice of paper or printed yet!..............

i am on the homestretch, waiting for an ingredient to come in to finish the rest........then all i have to do is put the labels on 500 tubes of lip balm.........
not sure i ever want to do this again?!...........

btw, another funny thing, my lips sure have been full of lip balm the past few weeks, and there is no shortage of it around here.....

[riverbee]

my 500 tubes of lip balm are completed! i am waiting on the labels, i saw the first draft today, some changes need to be made, but it was pretty cool!
will share the label when it's final! 

lots of testing, mixing, messing in the beginning, but this is the master recipe everyone who has tested has said "better than burts bees", what a compliment! i will give this and break it down as best i can to help others.......but this stuff is really good!  and i will add some helpful tips and info. 
this is an awesome recipe for some great lip balm!  (lee i promised, here it is!: )

riverbee's peppermint lip balm recipe with vitamin e and organic oils:

for 75 tubes:
1. beeswax> 96 grams or 3 3/8 ounces
2. organic unrefined  coconut oil> 136 grams or 4 3/4 ounces
3. organic sunflower oil> 116 grams or 4 ounces
4. anhydrous lanolin> 34 grams or 1 1/4 ounces
5. natural vitamin e oil>  12 grams or 3/8 ounces or (1 tablespoon)

6. peppermint essential oil 2x distilled> 14 grams or 1/2 ounce or (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)  (add more if desired)
7. rosemary essential oil> 6 grams or 1/4 ounce or ( 2 teaspoons) (add half as much as the peppermint if you up the peppermint).

for about 37 tubes:
1. beeswax> 48 grams
2. organic unrefined coconut oil> 68 grams
3. organic sunflower oil> 58 grams
4. anhydrous lanolin> 17 grams
5. natural vitamin e oil> 6 grams

6. peppermint essential oil 2x distilled> 7 grams  (add more if desired)
7. rosemary essential oil> 3 grams  (add half as much as the peppermint if you up the peppermint).

some tips:
melt your beeswax first, double boiler method, on a very medium low heat. (not in the microwave). you want to keep the heat down, and melt slowly, high heat destroys the properties of bees wax and oils. also oils have flashpoints (on the label) and more heat will dissipate essential oils when added.  when the beeswax has melted, add in the coconut oil, the sunflower oil, the lanolin and the vitamin e oil. wait until all these oils are melted into the beeswax.  i use the trays for pouring lip balm, these are excellent, but do not pour into these trays above 140 degrees or add the peppermint or rosemary oil until a temp gauge reads at or just below 140 degrees.  what i did was when the beeswax, coconut oil, sunflower oil, lanolin and vitamin e oil, had become liquid, i took my pyrex cup out of the double boiler and let it sit until a temp gauge read about 140 degrees.  i then added the peppermint oil and rosemary oil, stirred well, and poured into the tubes in the tray.  don't add these two oils (peppermint and rosemary) at high heat, add them when a temp gauge reads about 140 degrees to pour into the trays.  i didn't flood the tray but overfilled each tube in the tray........what this does is, you will have no dimples or sunken tops. sure this doesn't make sense but if you fill lip balm tubes from other methods, i think most will understand what i am saying?

i posted in grams.........grams are most accurate to measure waxes/oils and recreate and/or make your recipe the same over and over.  a digital scale with a tray is invaluable. (grams/ounces)  i don't make lip balm without it.  i can recreate any recipe with it exactly. as i did 75 tubes at a time i did record ounces, tablespoons, etc to help others here.........i use a digital scale, 1 ounce plastic cups and pipettes to transfer oils into the 1 ounce plastic cups. these are the plastic cups i used and have used, these are in ounces, drams, tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters, etc.......these are great to use:

1 Ounce Measuring Cup

pipettes or syringes of any sort are helpful to draw or transfer liquid on the scale; to draw out of the bottle, put in the measuring container; too much, take it out, too little put some in, easier than pouring and slopping around pouring straight from bottles etc.....you will have a mess...........gee how do i know this?...........

hey, if anyone has questions please post and ask, i am sure i missed something!

[Bakersdozen]

Congratulations on the completion of the 500 lip balms!
Thanks for posting the recipes.  With all this talk about lip balms, I think this year I will take the plunge into lip balm. 

[Lburou]

Yes, thanks!  Should be a sticky...

[riverbee]

thanks bakers and thanks lee!

i have 5 trial tubes laying on a counter in the kitchen, that i go back and forth from, varying degrees of consistency (beeswax) and flavor, peppermint and rosemary oil extracts. 

for these 500 tubes, i was asked to tone down the zing of the peppermint found in burts bees.  so i did for this order.  (personally i like the zing, some don't).  when i start making this recipe for my own customers i will add more peppermint/rosemary extract. i learned it's what makes the zing.  when you open the bottles and make 500 tubes of lip balm, you figure out quickly it's the rosemary and the peppermint, they compliment or 'marry'......... and its these two ingredients that give it that zing.  the staying power is the lanolin; it's the lanolin that holds all the ingredients on for a longer period of time.

if you like you can up the beeswax, only do it a little a time, even 1/2 gram or 1 gram makes a difference as to the consistency.  (when you up this you need to up the rosemary and peppermint because of the additional liquid wax/flavor). 

best way to experiment on consistency....... make up your 'base' batch, just with the beeswax, coconut oil (this stuff is awesome, its sweet, smooth and silky), sunflower oil, the lanolin and the vitamin e oil. when it melts together, take a piece of waxed paper, and drip some onto the wax paper, let it harden or throw it in the freezer.  smear it on your lips and/or the back of your hand. if you want it stiffer, add more beeswax. a little goes a long way.
i did with one test tube. when you add more beeswax you need to add a little more rosemary and peppermint oil. 

when i achieved the base i thought the law firm and 500 clients might like, i then added the rosemary and peppermint (off the heat) again dripped on a piece of wax paper/freezer method and tested it.  add more to your recipe if you so desire, drops at a time, stir it in, wax paper thing, get it to your liking or what you think your customers will like.  experiment!  you can always remelt until you get it the way you like it!

[tedh]

Riverbee, or anyone for that matter.  Josh and I ended up with a nice chunk of beautiful capping wax and want to try our hand at lip balm, following your recipe.  Checking things out on line I see that Mountain Rose Herbs have "unrefined coconut oil" but it says nothing of "organic".  Is that a problem?   Also couldn't find Majestic Mountain Sage for the anhydrous lanolin.  I did find a company called SoapGoods that has "lanolin anhydrous-USP", will that fill the bill?  I also thought we should get a spatula scraper.  It looks like the 4 inch is closest without going over the size of the Oval Lip Balm Tray.  Correct?  Thanks, Ted

[Bakersdozen]

Inspired by riverbee, I have placed an order for tubes and a tube filling tray.  We will see what happens.

[brooksbeefarm]

Hey Squirt, or anyone? i can't find a measuring cup or syringe that measures grams? Is a CC. or Ml. the same as a gram or close to it??? Jack

[apisbees]

grams is weight cc and ml is volume. so you need a scale of a conversion table for what you are weighing to its volume.