Vegan Lip Balm

I often suffer from dry, cracked lips. Unfortunately, all of the lip balms I found in the stores contain lanolin, beeswax, or both. I went online to see if there were any vegan lip balms available. I found some, but they are about $5 for ONE tube. Also, there's the fact that I live in Florida where it's often 80 degrees in Jan. If it had to stay all day in the mailbox, it would be reduced to a puddle! Thankfully, I found a recipe for lip balm online. I was also able to order empty lip balm tubes on Etsy. They arrived today, so I decided to make my first batch tonight. After some tweaking (the recipe makes 15 tubes, while I made less than 10) and some mess, I finally have 8 tubes of cruelty free lip balm. I made 6 of them plain, and used candy flavoring to make two cherry flavored tubes. It feels great to know for a fact that my lip balm is free of animal testing/ingredients, weird chemicals, and slave labor. The balm feels great and makes my lips very soft. The recipe I used is below. You have a choice of different oils. The ones I used in my balms are in bold.
You'll need:

1 oz hard wax (soy wax works well)

1 oz solid-at-room-temperature oil (coconut oil, avocado oil, mango butter, or shea butter)

.75 - .8 oz another additional hard-at-room-temperature oil (cocoa butter, floral waxes, or palm oil/vegetable shortening)

2 oz liquid oil (jojoba oil or olive oil)

Essential oils (optional, your choice) - maximum 8 drops for each lip balm

Microwave-safe cup or bowl with pour spout

Digital scale sensitive to at least .1 oz (a postage scale will usually work for this)

Stirring spoon

Dropper (I didn't have a dropper, so I bought a $2 flavor injector syringe which worked very well)

Lip balm tubes/jars/tins (up to 15)

1. Place your microwave-safe cup on the scale and turn it on. Measure your oils and waxes into the cup.
2. Place it in the microwave and heat in 30-second increments until almost completely melted; remove and stir to finish melting.
3. Add 8 drops of essential oils for each lip balm (use any combination of essential oils listed below, just make it a maximum of 8 drops per balm).
4. Stir the oil in very thoroughly to prevent separation, then use the dropper to dispense the balm into the containers.

Allow the balm to completely cool and harden before applying a cap. This recipe makes about 5 ounces of lip balm, enough for about 15 lip balms in a typical 1/3 ounce container.

Recipe source: How to Make Vegan Lip Balm | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4450466_make-vegan-lip-balm.html#ixzz1l0pmmFCg

 

I bought lip balm containers like this in black. You can get 10 of them for $5 including shipping at CountrySoapShack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's all for now. If you decide to try this recipe, please tells us what you think. Toodles!

My Favorite Things From The EtsyVeg group

I recently joined a great Etsy group called EtsyVeg, which is for vegan/vegetarian crafters on Etsy. I have decided to share some of my favorite items made by EtsyVeg members. Keep in mind that just because I list something here it doesn't mean I've actually purchased anything from the seller.

1. Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Doughnuts.

Yes, you can buy vegan goodies online! These doughnuts are available for $15 from VeganLotus



2. Harry Potter Blanket

I'm a HUGE Harry Potter Fan, so naturally I LOVE this blanket!  Unfortunately, I don't have $200! If you do, you can get this at Magglepie

3. Batman Recycled Wallet.

A vegan wallet made from recycled comic books. Very cool! $10 from Polyester10

These are a few of my favorite things!

One of my hobbies is making candles, soaps, and jewelry. I love being creative and being able to say "I did it myself"! I also love the fact that when you make something by hand, it is one of a kind. I have many earrings, bracelets, and necklaces (especially with the peace sign) that no one else has. A couple of other advantages to buying handmade items are: 1) you can be sure that at least the finished piece is sweat shop free, and 2) You can support the economy by buying items made by other Americans (or other citizens of your country).I love handmade items so much that if I'm wearing jewelry, 9 times out of 10 the items were handmade by me or another artisan. Many of the items that I buy come from a website called Etsy.com. Etsy allows individual crafters to open a shop and sell their handmade or vintage items for a very small fee. There are many, many vegan crafters and vegan friendly items listed on Etsy. Below you will find some of my favorite shops and items. Be sure to check them out!

1. The Dog Coat Lady: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thedogcoatlady

This shop is wonderful! The seller is a dedicated vegan who donates a portion of her profits to animal rights causes. She sells buttons, and most of those buttons have a vegan or animal rights message. I have bought three buttons from her, two of which are on my purse right now (my purse is covered with various feminist, vegan, and peace sign buttons). Her buttons are HUGE (most over 2 inches) so they will be seen. They are high quality, and at $3 each (including shipping in the USA) they are an affordable way to show off your vegan pride! Here are a few of the buttons that are available in her store:









#2 The Head Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHeadShop


As a vegan, feminist, and environmentalist, I think that this is one kick-ass tote. They also sell shirts with this saying in various colors.



















#3 The Radical Uprise: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheRadicalUprise


Vegan buttons + feminist buttons + self published vegan zine = one hell of a shop! I ordered a copy of the zine below earlier today.




















#4 Psychedelic Tara http://www.etsy.com/shop/psychedelictara

This shop sells a lot of funny and thought provoking buttons for those of us who lean towards the left side of the political aisle. They only have a few veggie themed buttons, but they are nice.