Journal
Making a rose lip balm
Did you ever collect rose petals to make ‘perfume’ as a child? Making rose petal lip balm is just as easy, but the results are so much better!
I like to know exactly what is going into my lip balm - so much of it gets eaten off.
Ingredients
Fresh rose petals - the deeper the colour and the more scented the better. They don’tneed to be perfect, so rain damaged flowers are ideal. You need enough to loosely fillyour jar.
Oil - I like almond oil but other fine facial oils also work well (or a mix)
Beeswax (pelleted or grated)- 8-10% of the weight of the oil
Peppermint essential oil (optional)
Coconut oil (optional) - this makes the resulting balm creamier in texture.
Equipment
Jam jar
Square of muslin to cover Sieve
Bowl to fit over pan
Pan
Small lidded pots for lipbalm
Step 1
Fill your jar with rose petals and cover with the oil.
Make sure the petals are submerged. Fasten muslin cloth on top. Put on a sunny windowsill for a month and shake every few days.
Step 2
Put sieve over bowl, line with the cloth and pour rose mixture in, leave to drain.
This is your rose inflused oil. If you like you can use it as a face oil or bath oil (add insome essential oils for added oomph).
Step 3
Weigh oil, put it into bowl over simmering water. Add in 8- 10% weight in beeswax alongwith a table spoon of coconut oil if using. Let it melt. The more beeswax the firmer thebalm.
Step 4
Leave to cool slightly - add in peppermint oil if using (8 drops per 20 g balm) and thenpour into lidded pots.
If you find that the texture isn’t exactly as you like it then remelt and add in a little extra oil if it was too firm or a little extra beeswax if it was too soft. You can also add in a couple ofdrops of rose essential oil if you want more scent - though there is a natural rose scent it is very subtle.
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