Lavender lip balm

Who wouldn’t love to capture the smell of their favorite herb in a jar of healthy, all-natural skin care product? In this case, I used lavender, but it could also be rosemary, mint, sage, or any other herb.

I love the smell of lavender, and it also has calming, relaxing properties. We don’t have any in our garden yet, but I know an area in a local park with a large hedge of lavender bushes.

So, fresh lavender.

Air-dry your lavender. This is done simply by tying it in a bunch in a shady, breezy spot. Drying the lavender will prevent spoilage and rancidity in the finished product.

Next, you will need some base oil without a strong smell, such as almond. I used grapeseed oil.

Pack the dry lavender into a glass jar and pour the oil over it, just enough to cover it. You can use both flowers and leaves. Place the jar in a sunny spot for a period of time from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on how warm it is and how powerfully infused you would like your oil to be. Smell the oil from time to time to decide when it’s ready.

Now filter the oil and discard the lavender parts.

You could, of course, just add a few drops of essential oil, but I find something thrilling about the idea of scenting my own natural skin care products with herbs I had found and dried myself.

Next step: weighing the filtered oil and beeswax. Combine in a glass bowl, 1 part beeswax to 4 parts oil.

I remember that last time I posted about using beeswax in skin care products, I got a question about substitutes for people who are sensitive. There are several options for plant-based wax, but I have never used them and can’t offer you first-hand experience.

Place the glass bowl into a small pot of water and gradually heat it over a low flame, stirring until the beeswax melts. Pour into containers and allow to set.

Use as lip balm, on dry rough hands, and on dry heels.