honey & orange blossom chapstick

Chapstick is critically important to my happiness and well-being.  I have tubes of chapstick strategically located in various places where I might find myself: in my desk at work, in the car, my purse, my nightstand, next to "my spot" on the sofa, etc.  I cannot be without chapstick.  But I started wondering what exactly was in my Dr. Pepper flavored Lip Smackers.  Odds are pretty good that some of the ingredients might not be what I'd want to ingest.  

Since I already make a lot of essential oil salves and lotions, homemade chapstick with natural ingredients seems like a logical thing to do.  I've been working on my recipe over the last several weeks and I finally came up with the right ingredient ratios.

Before I get into that I must say that I have standards for my chapstick.  It needs to go on smooth, and not too "wet" or melty.  It needs to stay on for a long time so I don't have to reapply constantly.  It needs to taste good.  And it also has to smell nice, since this stuff lives right under my nose.

I went through several trial and error experiments with the recipe, sometimes using other recipes I found on pinterest, other times just going on my own whim.  One batch felt really wet going on and looked oily.  I overcompensated with beeswax on the next batch and it was too stiff.  It felt like it was flaking off my lips, which was very unpleasant.  Then I accidentally overheated the mix and the texture was gritty.  I also tried adding color a few times which ended in miserable failure.  I'm not giving up on that because I really like the idea of homemade lipstick (using beetroot powder would be rad).  Once I get that worked out I'll post about it.

Here's the recipe I finally ended up with for homemade honey and orange blossom chapstick.  This recipe makes 8 full tubes of chapstick.

My ingredients.  You can get the shea butter, beeswax bars and chapstick tubes from Amazon.  Trader Joe's is a great source for cheap coconut oil and vitamin E oil.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 ounce beeswax (1/2 bar)
• 2 Tbs coconut oil
• 1 Tbs shea butter
• 1 tsp vitamin E oil
• squirt of honey (about 1/2 tsp)
• 6 drops blood orange essential oil
• 5 drops pink grapefruit essential oil
• 3 drops neroli essential oil

Heating the mixture in the double boiler

Before filling the chapstick tubes

Prep your chapstick tubes ahead of time by making sure they're clean, the caps are off and stored, and the twist mechanism is in the very bottom position.  I wasn't sure how much this would make so I grabbed a handful.  Bind them together with a rubber band to keep them all upright and place over a paper towel.  This made it a lot easier to pour the mix in.

Grate the beeswax using a cheese grater, food processor, or microplane.  I used a microplane and it worked really well without making too much of a mess.  As a bonus it also came out very fine so it melted more quickly.  Add the beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter, and vitamin E oil to a heavy glass container.  You can use a mason jar for this, but I found it easier to use a Pyrex container (with a pour spout).  Stick it in a pot of simmering water to melt.  I used a chop stick to stir it around and keep it moving.

Add the honey and essential oils once the coconut oil and shea butter start to break up, and keep stirring so it doesn't overheat.  You can also do this in the microwave on short blasts of about 30 seconds, but it can easily overheat so be careful.  I did this once and got a nasty, gritty texture.

Once the mixture is completely melted and liquefied, take it out of the water and give it a final stir.  Pour it carefully into the chapstick containers.  Don't go all the way to the tippy-top, but as close as you can without overfilling.  Pouring directly into the tubes is not that hard if you have a fairly steady hand.  I saw some people use an eye dropper but that seems like you're asking for more of a mess.

This recipe ended up making 8 tubes.  Once they're all filled, let them sit at room temperature until they're mostly solid.  Then put the caps on and set them aside.  But keep them rubber banded together until they're completely solid.  Resist the temptation to put them in the fridge.  They will sweat and get a weird texture.

To clean up, just crank the heat on your pot of water until it boils, then pour it into the Pyrex (or jar or whatever) to melt the remaining mix, swirl it around until it's all liquefied again, and pour it down the drain with the hot water running.  Bam, done.  Clean.

Now I have a lovely chapstick made of natural ingredients that feels silky smooth on my lips, moisturizes like nobody's business, and leaves a pleasant tingle when first applied.  It also tastes and smells heavenly.  I can now confidently ditch the Lip Smackers.

homemade laundry soap

I haven't bought laundry detergent for several years.  By making my own, I have more control over scent, quantity, and concentration, and I know exactly what my clothes are being soaked in (I also get a feeling of homesteading self-sustenance that's pretty gratifying).  Homemade detergent is also cheaper and lasts longer than the store-bought stuff. 

There are tons of different recipes out there, and I've tried a few of them over the years.  One used grated Fels Naptha soap bars, but frankly that's a pain in the ass, and I didn't especially like the texture of the product (I had to use my food processor to grate the soap, then an immersion blender to smooth the detergent out the following day).  I don't like using powdered laundry detergent, so I never even tried those ones.  Another used quite a lot of hot water and a 5-gallon bucket, but that was also pretty cumbersome, and storage was an issue.  I finally refined it to my liking and thought I'd share.  This one is pretty concentrated, so you only need to use 2 ounces per load.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cup Borax
• 1-1/2 cup Super Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
• 1/3 cup liquid castille soap (I use Dr. Bronner)
• Essential oils (optional, but nice)
• Large stock pot   

Fill the stock pot about 3/4 full of hot tap water and put on the stove.  Once it starts to heat through, stir in the Borax and Washing Soda and allow to dissolve.  Just before it comes to a boil add the liquid castille soap and stir.  It'll start getting bubbly at this point.  If you're using essential oils, add them now.

A quick word about the oils.  I'm a firm believer in essential oils.  I used to think they were voodoo, but they seriously work.  My son has issues with hyperactivity that affect his sleep. When I rub his chest with a coconut oil/vetiver mixture before bed he sleeps through the night like magic.  A similar mixture with tea tree oil, eucalyptus, and thyme keeps athlete's foot at bay. 

Anyway, I usually play with the oil mix a little bit but I always use vetiver as the base oil because it really seems to help my son.  This time I used the following (and it smells divine; I will use this mix again):

• 5 drops blood orange
• 6 drops jasmine
• 3 drops vetiver (it's strong)
• 6 drops pink grapefruit
• 5 drops sandalwood
• 3 drops lime

Top left: just after the Borax/Washing Soda dissolved; Top right: adding the castille soap; Bottom left: just after castille soap; Bottom right: after essential oils, giving it a quick stir before adding the last bit of water.

Let this mixture come to an almost boil.  Top off with more water; enough to fill the stock pot almost all the way, then take it off the heat and let it cool.  I found a dandy little container from the thrift store that I use to store my soap, but I've found that the nozzle you see at the bottom can be problematic, so I use a 2-ounce ladle to dispense the soap.  I just leave the ladle in the container.

Be warned that the soap gets a little chunky.  This is the Borax crystallizing, I think.  Hence the nozzle issues.  This doesn't bother me though, and it doesn't affect the performance of the washing machine or how clean the clothes get.  I have a front loading High Efficiency washer and it still works great.  Just be prepared for some white crystals to build up if you spill anywhere.  Give it a stir before dispensing to distribute the soap.  You could probably give it a whirl with an immersion blender to see if that helps.

This is what it looks like when it's all cooled off.  Just a little chunky.

My clothes are fresh and clean, without any perfumey smells.  Even with all those essential oils (it might seem like a lot but it's not), it doesn't make a heavy smell.  I do about 5 loads of laundry every week.  One batch of this stuff lasts me about 4 months or so.