I made my own lip balm

I found a tiny bit of beeswax in a drawer under the sink, leftover from a previous attempt at making my own soap. I'm not going to be making soap again until we've moved, but I haven't made toiletries of any kind for a while, and fancied having a go at my own lip balm. 

Surprisingly, I've not made lip balm before. It's pretty straightforward. I had a quick read of these instructions, and then didn't really follow them at all. 

The key, it seems, is to mix oils that are solid at room temperature with those that are liquid. I'm sure there are numerous recipes out there that will tell you the 'right' amount, but I confess I just guessed and used what I had in the cupboard. 

So mine contains that little bit of beeswax, a splash of coconut oil (again left over from soap making) and a bit of the olive oil we use for cooking. I also added some lipstick that I found lying around - a cheap one I picked up goodness knows when, that is far too dark for me, and barely stays on for five minutes. 

Everything got melted and stirred together in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water, and then I poured it into these little tins that I've had lying around for literally years, waiting for a job. 

I hadn't realised that both tins had tiny holes where the hinges fit, and so I ended up with lip balm spilled all over the chopping board. Oops. 

Never mind, it's not toxic, so I scraped it off, melted it down, and added it in a tiny bit at a time while it set. 

The verdict? Perfectly acceptable. With hindsight I should have used the whole of the lipstick - I'm not going to be using it for anything else, and the colour is barely noticeable in the lip balm. I might also have used a little more olive oil, although I'm not certain about that - it's quite solid but does soften with the heat of your finger, and you wouldn't want it too soft.

I've missed making things, and am really looking forward to experimenting a bit more once we move.