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!
Comments & Reviews
Adrienne says
I usually order everything from Amazon because you get free shipping with a certain dollar amount, and it comes pretty quickly. My small town might by chance have a few essential oils and, with that being said, good luck.
Rick Choy says
My first time was a success! The formula is just perfect. Now I will modify it a little. One thing I had was a tray that would hold 50 tubes so you can effortlessly pour the mix into the tubes at once without any waste. I also picked up a little heat gun from Hobby Lobby which aided in getting all the mix that had started to solidify into the tubes. A good hot hair dryer could probably do the same. I could even blow heat into the pan I used to mix the concoction and mixing utensil and it would just drip into the tubes to top them off. I got my supplies from elementsbathandbody(dot)com. A word of caution, there are apparently two standards of tube sizes and even though they look similar, they are different so you must make sure you get the right tray for the tubes. The ones on Amazon are different from the ones in the referenced link but they do sell both trays for about $10 each.
Crystal says
This recipe is so soothing,”the best chapstick I’ve ever had” is usually the feedback I get!
Thank you!
This time I made the mistake of trying to use a tiny funnel and got chapstick all over the outside of my tubes. Any ideas of what to use to clean them up?
VAnessa says
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Suzanne says
This looks so good! What a great gift to make for friends!
Birgitta says
It’s possible to add a few grams of carnauba wax to make it more solid, even on hot days.
A vegan alternative to lanolin is Cupuaço butter which has similar properties.
Bekah says
I’m loving everything except that the cocoa butter made my chapstick smell just like chocolate! I love chocolate and all but it overpowers the peppermint. Is there a specific cocoa butter to use that doesn’t smell like chocolate? Thank you!!
Chiam Putz says
It may only come out to .12 when your done but look at the time and cost buying the items. I adore hurts bees lip balm but I’d rather buy it then spend all that time making it.
Adrienne says
Not me, I love knowing what I put in it is exactly what is in it.
Bernadette Fletcher says
Great lip balm.
Carmen S. says
This recipe is great!
Ellie says
I was just wondering, were others able to clean the eye dropper? Mine is filled with solid wax, thinking I’ll need a new one each batch?
Michael joppa says
Where did you get the dropper? Ours broke with the heat
Karrie says
Just make sure and get a glass one, they should be able to withstand that heat. Plastic will melt.
Kiersten Sundell says
Loved this recipe! Fair warning though, I got 16 tubes of chapstick out of this! I substituted avocado oil for sunflower oil and castor oil for vitamin E oil, and it worked perfectly.
Ellie says
To make this recipe vanilla scented could I use vanilla extract or essential oil?
Karrie says
Vanilla essential oils would work!
Angle says
Thanks for the wonderful information its really an excellent recipe!
Eunice Ramsingh says
Hey! i LOVE Burt’s Bees chapstick as well and i am so glad i found this clone recipe. Do you think the consistency would be good enough to put in a squeezable tube or is this strictly for a regular lip balm tube?
Karrie says
this is more of a solid… if you wanted it to be more liquidy, add a little more of the liquid oil.
Sam says
I’m curious to know if I could make a large bulk batch and melt it down whenever I needed to refill my tubes. I’m assuming this is not something that would spoil anytime soon.
Karrie says
Yes that would work!
Cindy Weinstein says
I used raw shea butter instead of Cocoa butter and coconut oil instead of sunflower oil and it came out great! I don’t use the lanolin, and it still is great. I actually like the texture of what I made better than Burt’s Bees.
Maxx says
Can you skip the lanolin step?
Karrie says
Yes you can. 🙂
Lisa says
I absolutely love this recipe! I’m new to essential oils, and your recipe was literally my first time at trying anything except a diffuser. The directions were easy to follow, and thank you for putting up the measurements for anyone who does not have a scale. Thank you for making this an easy and amazing first time experience. ❤️
Shaun says
I’ve read that the ratio of the butters, wax and oils should be 1:1:1 In your recipe it calls for 45 grams of sunflower oil and only 20 grams of bees was. Also if you substituted 20 grams of coconut oil for 20 grams of cocoa butter wouldn’t the tubes be extremely soft? Especially if carried in a pants pocket.