Gift Worthy: Homemade Vaseline (And Tinted Lip Gloss)
Learn how to make homemade Vaseline – with clean ingredients – at home. Just 2 ingredients needed + optional 3rd if you want to make a tinted lip balm.
Any DIY beauty junkies out there?
I love all kinds of beauty products, especially lip balms and glosses. But a few years ago, something kind of grossed me out.
I purchased a tube of C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine at Bath and Body Works. A few minutes after applying the product on my lips, I noticed the familiar taste of diet soda in my mouth. This seemed odd, because I hadn’t had a diet soda. So I checked the label on the lip gloss, and sure enough, it contained a form of saccharin, which is used to sweeten diet soda.
Saccharin in lip balm? That seems unnecessary.
I’m not a doctor, but I have a strong sense that all the additives and chemicals that we consume and put on our skin and in our bodies have a negative effect on our health.
This is one reason why I’ve started experimenting with making my own natural products at home:
- Laundry detergent
- Dishwashing detergent
- Pumpkin spice sugar scrub
- Gingerbread sugar scrub
- Lemon skin balm
- Lemon sugar hand scrub
- DIY solid perfume
- Aromatherapy room sprays
About The Recipe: Homemade Vaseline
It’s only December, and I’ve already used a bunch of this homemade Vaseline (or non-petroleum jelly) to soften my winter-chapped skin. This works great as a moisturizer, cracked skin healer, and lip balm.
This non-petroleum jelly recipe is adapted from Little House Living. The only adaption I made was to use coconut oil instead of olive oil.
It couldn’t be easier to make. Just heat the beeswax and oil over low heat, stir and the ingredients melt, and once melted, pour into individual containers.
Variation: Make Tinted Lip Balm Instead
Wanted tinted lip balm instead? It’s super easy to make.
Just grab a tube of lipstick and scrape off a tiny bit – just 1/4 teaspoon or so. Add to the beeswax and oil mixture and stir. It melts and blends right in.
Makes a Great Gift!
Spoiler alert: I plan on giving away some of this homemade Vaseline to my friends and family for Christmas.
As far as gifts go, it’s crazy cheap. I paid about $3.00 for the beeswax and less than $1.00 for the coconut oil. One batch made enough for several small containers (which I have saved from various free samples over the years).
Give the gift of soft, moisturized skin this year!
Where Can I Buy Beeswax?
I found beeswax pellets in the bulk food section of the local co-op grocery store. You may also be able to find it at Whole Foods and other specialty grocery stores. Otherwise you can purchase it online.
Homemade Vaseline Recipe
If you want to make tinted lip balm, add a tiny amount of your favorite color lipstick to the saucepan. Start by adding about an eraser-sized amount of lipstick to the mixture, and add more if you want a more intense color.
Ingredients
- 1/8 cup beeswax pellets (see notes above for where to purchase)
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- Lipstick (optional)
Instructions
- Place beeswax pellets and coconut oil in a small saucepan. Heat on low for a couple of minutes, stirring until the beeswax melts.
- If making tinted lip balm, add lipstick and stir until it melts. Pour liquid mixture into individual containers. The mixture will harden as it cools.
Love this idea! This would be great for a beautyaholic like myself!
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Great post! I’m hoping to pick up some beeswax this week. Pinning 🙂
“You have a feeling.” forget that this stuff is tested, go with what you feel!
Any suggestions for chemical free lipstick?
I don’t personally, but check out this blog (Humblebee and Me). She uses carmine to tint her red lip balms/glosses, etc. And there are other natural dye suggestions on there too. Good luck!
https://www.humblebeeandme.com/category/body/lip-balm/
It seems that buying regular beeswax is much cheaper than in pellet form. Would this work if I chop up the beeswax myself or are the pellets’ properties also different from regular beeswax?
Yes, it would totally work! I just happened to use the tiny pellets that I found in the grocery store. Good luck 🙂
I have made this as well, prior to seeing your site. The one thing that I would like to comment on, although I love this product, is that it is much, much harder than petroleum jelly, more like hard lotion or lip balm. For more of a petroleum jelly texture, I use a 1:10 ratio, 1 teaspoon of beeswax to 10 teaspoons of coconut oil. This produces a very soft jelly that substitutes perfectly in texture for petroleum jelly.
If made with a liquid oil like olive oil, the above ratio (1:4) does make a product very close in texture to petroleum jelly. The substitution of a harder oil (coconut oil is solid at room temperature) makes for a firmer end product. I love it, but it just isn’t the same texture as petroleum jelly.
I prefer coconut oil for skin care. I add lavender essential oil to mine, which makes for a wonderful relaxing skin care product. I add about 6 drops per ounce of oil. this is wonder to apply after a shower to lock in moisture.
Thanks so much for commenting, Nelda! You are right about the consistency. Like you said, this will be softer if you use more oil and the same amount of beeswax. I like the consistency of this particular recipe, but you’re right about it not being just like petroleum jelly.
I love Vaseline because there are sooooo many things you can do with it. You can make a salt scrub and all you need two do is add salt to Vaseline. Search- 50 things you can do with Vaseline- online:)
Can you add essential oils to the saucepan mixture to give it a scent?
Yes, absolutely. Add a few drops!
But don’t add to hot oils. It decreases the scent.
Why does everyone use the same 1-4 recipe?
A tip: if you melt the ingredients in a mason jar dedicated to this purpose (placed in a small pot of water) you don’t have to wash the beeswax off the pot, which is such a pain. Also, you can make a larger batch and reheat & pour into your container to refill.
Thanks for the great suggestion, Karen!
Would it be safe to use mineral oil instead of coconut oil?
Hi Aadil – I know some people avoid using mineral oil (see https://drwhitneybowe.com/mineral-oil-safe-or-scary/) but I think it would work just fine for this recipe.