I never in my life have had chapped lips like I do this year. Does anyone out there have an all-natural recipe for chapped lip balm?

-- Patty Wilkins (shadowholler@dmea.net), April 17, 2001

Answers

Hi, Patty,

I found a great website for recipes on everything you could possibly think of. It's: www.recipegoldmine.com Once at the site, click on recipe book (at the bottom of the page) then scroll down until you find "home remedies". There is a recipe for lip balm there, plus lots of other really great things. I have not tried this particular recipe, but have tried other homemade lip balm recipes that work pretty good. Hope this helps. Thanks for reading.

-- Dianne in Mass (dianne.bone@usa.net), April 17, 2001.

Hi Patty, Here's what I do. Drink lots of water to rehydrate from the inside. Use a clean, soft,damp washcloth to GENTLY rub the dead skin off your chapped lips. Then I keep applying petroleum jelly lightly. I have been informed (on this forum)that some people are sensitive to petroleum products, but I'm not one of them and this works wonderfully for me. Hope it works for you, too.

-- Peg in NW WI (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), April 17, 2001.

Hi. Here is my recipe. Place dried comfrey leaves in olive oil and let it sit for two weeks to a month. Strain the leaves out of the oil. Melt beeswax and add the oil. Pour into containers and let the mixture harden. This makes the best lip balm I have ever used. The ratio would be about two parts beeswax to one part oil. If you don't grow comfrey a health food store might have it loose or as a dried tea.

-- Mary in East TN (barnwood@preferred.com), April 17, 2001.

hmmmmmm there was a post about this very same topic a few months ago. it had good information, and also had info about where to buy those little tubes to put it in.

gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), April 17, 2001.

Try any vegetable oil you have--olive works well--, put in some dried comfrey and vitamine E oil, place in an oven-proof ceramic type container along with 1 ounce beeswax for every 1/2-3/4 cup oil. Keep in a slow oven for 2-3 hours, strain (through a used pantyhose works well--something disposable cause it is so greasy) into a small jar and let harden. You can use other herbs for their flavor or scent, or none at all, although comfrey, calendula and chickweek are very healing and don't impart a taste. May flavor with mint oil, etc. as desired. Stay away from cinnamon oil as flavoring--it burns. Vitamin E is healing and helps preserve the balm. Will last at least a year, unless you use it up first. Works well on chapped work-weary hands too!.

-- Denyelle Stroup (dedestroup@hotmail.com), April 18, 2001.

Regarding petroleum jelly, you can get "unpetroleum" products at Health food stores or through Azure Standard--including jelly or lip balms. Since they are vegetable-based, they'll go rancid, but it's good stuff.

-- z in washington (beebedz@juno.com), April 19, 2001.