Thank goodness for this amazing copycat Burt’s Bees lip balm recipe. This easy to make diy chapstick is just as good if not better than the original!
I am a bit of a chapstick snob. My lips have been spoiled with the best – Burt’s Bees chapstick. It’s just so silky and moisturizing with the perfect balanced flavor profile.
It’s the best! And while I do love the Burt’s Bees Lip Balm brand as my go-to chapstick, I’m sure you realize the cost involved in this!
It’s a wee bit expensive.
And yet I can’t get enough of it.
I am addicted.
Seriously, I love it so much that I have a tube in my purse, in my bathroom, in my car, in my husband’s car, next to my bed and even one in my kitchen.
I had to think of a long-term solution – besides buying stock in Burt’s Bees. Haha.
So, I found a way to recreate the Burt’s Bees chapstick recipe myself.
For reals, you guys, this is the best copycat diy Burt’s Bees chapstick ever created! Not to brag or anything… but I nailed it!
Here’s why you’ll love this easy chapstick recipe.
It’s so inexpensive to make. Just around 12 cents per tube vs $3.00 store bought.
- Tastes exactly like the Burts Bees chapstick recipe.
- It’s so inexpensive to make. Just around 12 cents per tube vs $3.00 store bought.
- It’s so fast to make. You can make your own chapstick in just 5 minutes.
- It’s SO easy to make. Your ingredients are simply melted together and poured into an empty tube to cool.
- It’s free of all the extras or unhealthy fillers that are added into other homemade chapstick recipes.
You guys are going to love this homemade chapstick recipe. Like seriously LOVE IT!
How to make chapstick that tastes and feels just like Burt’s Bees?
First, I took a look at the back of a tube to figure out what ingredients are included. Low and behold, the Burts Bees chapstick ingredients are pretty simple; Beeswax, Sunflower oil, Vitamin E, Lanolin, Peppermint, and Rosemary. I knew I could make a lip balm recipe that matched my favorite brand so that I could share this with the world!
I got right to work looking for and ordering up some of these natural items like Beeswax and Lanolin. Found some chapstick tubes online and ordered them in. Then I played in my kitchen for a few days trying to get the recipe right.
And I did it! My chapstick diy recipe feels, smells and tastes just like Burt’s Bees Lip Balm!!
Plus when I did the math they only end up costing me only $0.12 per tube – WOW!
What is chapstick made of?
INGREDIENTS:
- 20 grams Beeswax (about 3 Tablespoons of the whiter beads, but you can use a white/yellow bar too)
- 20 grams Cocoa Butter or Coconut Oil (about 2 Tablespoons)
- 45 grams Sunflower Oil (1/4 cup)
- 8 drops Vitamin E oil (4 vitamin E oil tablets worth)
- 2 drops Rosemary essential oil
- 12 drops Peppermint essential oil
- Pea-sized drop of Lanolin (don’t use much of this or your balm will taste bad)
I added the ingredients in grams so that if you have a little scale you can get accurate & exact measurements (which is best) but if you don’t have a scale I measured them too.
How to make your own chapstick?
I never realized how extremely easy it is to make chapstick! Basically all you need to do is melt it all and pour into your containers! Easy peasy.
When I first started making chapstick recipes I used a glass measuring cup and melted my ingredients in the microwave which worked perfectly fine. But now I am using the double boiler method, which I like for a little more control of the melting process. I used a metal measuring cup to add all my ingredients into.
First, measure out all your ingredients except essential oils into a cup or pan. Cut open the little Vitamin E tablets and squeeze the good stuff into the cup.
Next, melt all the ingredients slowly, and stir. The beeswax seemed to take the longest to melt, but it was all melted within a couple of minutes.
Once it’s all melted add your essential oils and mix it up.
Then test it out, to make sure it has the flavor you want by letting a tiny bit cool on your finger. Rub it on your lips and check if its just right. If you feel it needs more mint or other flavorings, add more!
Then use a dropper to add the melted goodness into chapstick tubes. (If it cools too quickly before you’re done filling your tubes, just pop it in the microwave or back on the double boiler till it melts again.)
Then voila! You are done. Just let them all cool.
I had more liquid than I had tubes so I poured the rest into a small container and let it cool. I will stick this one in my bathroom and use it everyday, it will probably last me a whole year!
I cannot believe how easy it was to make my favorite Burt’s Bees Lip Balm from home!
Burt’s Bees Lip Balm Recipe Clone
Ingredients
- 20 grams Beeswax (about 3 tbsp)
- 20 grams Cocoa Butter (about 2 tbsp)
- 45 grams Sunflower Oil (about 1/4 cup)
- 8 drops Vitaman E oil (about 4 tablets)
- 2 drops Rosemary essential oil
- 12 drops Peppermint essential oil
- 1 drop Lanolin pea sized
Instructions
- Measure out all your ingredients except essential oils into a heat friendly cup or pan. You can use a glass dish in the microwave also. I cut open the little Vitamin E tablets and squeezed the good stuff into the cup.
- Next, melt all the ingredients, and stir. The beeswax seemed to take the longest to melt, but it was all melted within a couple of minutes.
- Once it’s all melted add your essential oils and mix it up.
- Then test it out, to make sure it has the flavor you want by letting a tiny bit cool on your finger. Rub it on your lips and check if its just right. If you feel it needs more mint or other flavorings, add more!
- Then use a dropper to add the melted goodness into chapstick tubes. (If it cools too quickly before you’re done filling your tubes, just pop it in the microwave till it melts again.)
- Then voila! You are done. Just let them all cool.
Notes
Nutrition
TOP QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What essential oils are good for lip balm?
For my copycat Burt’s Bees lip balm I used peppermint essential oil and rosemary essential oil. While these are the essential oils for copy cat Burt’s Bees original flavored lip balm, some people do opt to use lime, orange, vanilla or wintergreen essential oils for their homemade lip balm and those turn out wonderfully too.
I’d suggest you stick to my exact copycat Burt’s Bees lip balm recipe to ensure that you’re getting a solid match up for this favorite lip balm flavor and texture while getting the same excellent results, moist lips!
Can you put essential oil on your lips?
As long as you’re using the food safe essential oils listed in this Burt’s Bees lip balm copycat recipe, then it’s safe to use essential oils on your lips.
Even aromatherapy addicts know that you can’t place some essential oils directly on your skin without a carrier oil. Some essential oils are too potent to use directly on the skin, lips, or any other body part. But the ones listed are safe for using on lips.
What can you use instead of beeswax for lip balm?
As you can see, you’ll need 20 grams of beeswax to make Burt’s Bees lip balm at home. I believe this is essential in making a copycat lip balm, but if you want to know what you can use instead of beeswax for lip balm, some readers in the past have used soy wax and said it works.
Since soy wax isn’t any harder than beeswax it’s an equal replacement as far as measurement goes. I personally like the beeswax for lip balm as I feel it provides more of a protectant and moisture quality than soy wax for lip balm would.
Can you leave out the Lanolin?
This is one of the most popular questions I have and the answer is yes, you definitely can leave it out. I personally like what it brings to the lip balm and helps my lips stay softer longer so I keep it in my recipe. But if you don’t want to add it in or if you want this lip balm to be vegan, then you can leave it out.
How much does this homemade lip balm cost?
Each tube costs $0.12 each to make + about $0.17 for tube/caps vs. $3.00 Burts Bees Lip Balm at store. I am listing below several options for you for each ingredient just in case you’d like to see where it is the least expensive to buy them.
Beeswax: need 20 grams/.7 oz/ about 3 tbsp beads ($0.46)
- Amazon (16 oz.) $9.99
- Etsy (1 oz. brick) $10 shipped
- Hobby Lobby (1 lb block): $14.99
- TheSage.com (8 oz.) $16 shipped
- Michaels & Craft Warehouse (1 lb. block) $17.99
Cocoa Butter ($0.60)
- Hobby Lobby (1 oz) $2.99
- Amazon (2 oz). $5.86
- Health food store, local (2 oz.) $5.99
- TheSage.com (8 oz.) 6.75 + shipping
Lanolin ($0.06)
- Amazon (4 oz.) $6.47
- The Puritans Pride (7 oz). $8.39 + shipping
- The Sage (8 oz.) $8.00 + shipping
- Health food store, local (8 oz) $15.70
Essential Oils ($1.05) :
- Order online from my favorite brand doTERRA
- Amazon $8.98/both flavors (haven’t tried this brand but maybe good?)
Organic Sunflower Oil ($0.28): purchased at Walmart for $3.96 (plus had a $1.00 off coupon on it) so =$2.96
Vitamin E Oil ($0.23): purchased 15 ct. bottle at Walmart for $0.88
Lip Balm Tubes: I ordered mine through thesage.com and you can find them on Amazon, but have also heard people order them on ebay inexpensively too.
Final thoughts on making my own Burt’s Bees Lip Balm.
The only drawback I can see is the initial start up cost can run you anywhere from $30-$60 for all the ingredients. Seems pretty hefty for making homemade chapstick that you can just buy for $3 per tube at the store.
But after I got all the ingredients, and only used a teeny bit of them, I was able to make 20+ tubes of my expensive Burts Bees chapstick. That would have been over $60 worth of Burt’s Bees.
AND you will be able to make lip balms and other products in the years to come with all the leftover oils and products!
I will NEVER go back to buying store made chapstick again after this experience. I am hooked for life. It’s so easy and when I see that I only spent $0.12 per tube of Burt’s Bees lip balm I feel good knowing I am saving lots of money!
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About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Jedediah says
This is a great idea. I was wondering how to make hurts bee’s myself and I got to thinking it’s essentially body butter. I’ve tried your recipe and it’s very nice. My final version was to use grapeseed instead of sunflower oil (only because I never have any around) and I used a little less of it and made up the difference with sweet almond oil.
I also read about someone who liked the tingly feeling of burts bees and I do too. I used Camphor EO. It works great!
Bonnie McCauley says
What would you suggest using for a medicated lip balm??
Jedediah says
Camphor oil works very well for this. You might mix it with eucalyptus as well or just use eucalyptus.
Tish says
Hi, Karrie! I am so excited to see that you use products from Majestic Mountain Sage! I love that place! Living in Utah, where they are based, makes my orders get to me lickety-split! Your site is fun and informative! Thanks for all of the DIYs! Love and blessings to you and yours!
Joe V says
Great! I just made this recipe and it turned out well. I had tried the laundry detergent a few weeks ago and wanted to try this one next. It filled about 20 tubes for me.
Emily says
This is one of the best money saving ideas… it’s extremely easy, and the markup on chapstick is huge. One thing is bothering me though… when you list the recipe and say that coconut oil and cocoa butter can be switched out for each other. cocoa butter is so much firmer than coconut oil!
I’ve read a lot of recipes and a starting point of 20% beeswax and 20% cocoa butter is pretty standard, with the remaining 60% whatever oils you want. (Lanolin and Vit E both getting lumped in there in small amounts, 1-2 percent each.) The recipe will be more uniform if you keep the cocoa butter in all versions. (For consistency/firmness i mean.) (with coconut oil melting at 76 degrees, it’s going to turn liquid when it hits your lips anyway, so you can use it like you would use the sunflower.) It might be better for readers if you change the cocoa butter to its own ingredient. Then the substitutions can just be among the various oils. Sunflower, apricot kernel, sweet almond, coconut, olive… etc.
Also! you might enjoy using the yellow beeswax instead of the white. Yellow is unrefined. So it smells like honey, yum. a coconut honey chapstick could be next!
Lis says
This is GREAT!! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! Going to make some asap.
Robynne Catheron says
Hi Karrie!
I’m addicted to Burt’s Bees (cooling), and have got to stop paying three bucks a tube! I keep one in my purse, one in my pocket, and one in my truck just in case. Lip balm is addicting, did you know that? Your lips stop moisturizing themselves if we’re going to do it for them. Sad for me, because I take medication that gives me a dry mouth. I’m never without a bottle of water and my Burt’s Bees.
So, I’m going to make it myself, thanks to your inspiration, instructions and motivation! Thank you!
Lindsey says
Do you know if the tubes you used were BPA free? I am just worried about it leeching into the balm if I don’t use all of it quickly enough.
And I was just thinking, maybe you can also use a infant medicine syringe you get with the infant Tylenol instead of buying a $5 dropper.
Marianne says
I have beeswax and cocoa butter in blocks so I have to melt it before measuring. Recipe calls for 20 grams of each yet the beeswax is 3 T while the cocoa butter is 2. I do not have a scale that measures in grams. So, I’m conflicted about how much of each to use. Obviously they are equal amounts, but should I use 2 or 3 T of each? Thanks,
Stephanie says
Love the recipe. Can’t wait to try it out. I was wondering about suggesting using a microwave oven? Microwaves denature everything that goes into it. Wouldn’t you lose the goodness of essential oils etc. because of this?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I used the water because you can control the cooking better than a microwave. I haven’t used the microwave to see if it would change the consistency. But if you do and it works let me know!
Marah says
What do I look for when purchasing an essential oil that is safe for cosmetic grade? I know certain oil brands are only for aromatherapy, etc, but wasn’t sure if it would say a particular phrase that would let me know if it was safe to use in the chapstick. I am excited to try this recipe! Thanks!
Mel says
This recipe is great! I’ve made 4 batches. I made one batch with cocoa butter which created a great chocolate peppermint smell, however I prefer the scent and feel when using coconut oil. I used quite a bit more essential oil to get my desired amount of peppermint smell and tingle when applied. Thanks so much for sharing!
Rita says
i just tried this recipe, and it is wonderful. thank you much for sharing!!!
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad you liked it!
Kim says
Thanks for the recipe! But how do you clean the beeswax off of everything!?
Heather Hyde Sieh says
Hi there!
I have everything but the lanolin. How important is it?
Thank you!
Heather
Happy.MoneySaver says
Lanolin softens, moisturizes and protects lips so I think it is pretty important to mimic the Burts Bees Lip Balm. I did find that some people who are allergic to lanolin used coconut oil and shea butter in its place. So that could be an option! 🙂
Kathy Stevenson says
I just made this with sweet almond oil and no lanolin. It came out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Brenda says
I’ve tried a couple other Burt’s Bees wanna-“bee’s” recipes -) (Aren’t I so clever?) and my daughter, who absolutely loves the store brand, says they are too soft. Living in the desert, they definitely won’t work in a purse in the summer…it melts! The recipes I’ve tried used coconut oil but I notice yours gives the option of cocoa butter. Would that perhaps not melt as easily in the warmth? And/or adding more bees wax? I also can’t use sunflower oil…would grape seed or apricot oil work? Great blog…really like your ideas! I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for months, just getting around to asking my questions, but anxious to try this! Thanks for all your inspiration!
Happy.MoneySaver says
Yes–definitely clever! 🙂 This is the only recipe I have tried and I use it because that is what the ingredients on the Burt Bee’s Lip Balm had used. So I am not sure about the substitutes and how they would affect the lip balm. If you try it a substitution let me know how it goes!
CatherineS says
Wanted to follow-up with the info that lip balm tubes can be found at a great price on Amazon.com, and a lip balm filling tray at Specialtybottle.com for a price comparable to TheSage but it also includes a trowel and shipping is about 1/2 the cost.
Dave Betts says
Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve made a batch today but i’m going to add menthol crystals to get the tingle so ive got to reheat when they arrive.
One thing i might try different in the next batch is using cocoa butter instead of coconut oil as i found the lip balm to be a little to soft
Linda says
I had a recipe I was using, but cant wait to try this one, I use young living oils so already have them in stock along with most of these items. Thanks so much for sharing.
Sylvia says
This makes me a bit sad.
Burt is a real guy. My BBF is a friend of the family. They are good people.
I’m all for saving money, but this isn’t a big box chain. 🙁
I hope you enjoy making lip balm variations, but please continue to support the folks who inspired you. They’re local, in my economy.
Cheers 🙂
Randy says
Aloha Sylvia:
Can you order directly from them without having to go through the big box chains? I do like the recipe, but I wouldn’t mind ordering directly from them either.