Ooh! Homemade Chapstick?

Yes. It was really fun and gave me quite a fulfilling feeling. It's a bit like making my lavender solid perfume, but I noticed the recipe had more oil than beeswax. Basically, vice versa. This is based off of a recipe by Martha Stewart, but I changed it up quite a bit like I always do.

I started off with the containers. Now I know its easier to get the pots, but I really think the chapstick containers are the best for chapstick. I made one in a pot, but it ended up being kind of hard to apply. But, it's a good way to use your leftover. Then you can get multicolored! They are made for it. It is their destiny. At first, I was going to get some that had colorful tops and came with stickers, when my mother full of wisdom told me that not many adults would enjoy receiving a rainbow-multicolored chapstick that looked like it came from a 4-year old's purse. So, I went with clear. That way, I can decorate it however I want or just leave it!

About the color... The red one was my first, and therefore guinea pig. First I tried using food coloring, but it resisted the other ingredients so that wasn't going to work. I was kind of freaking out like what the heck am I gonna do. Then, eureka! I remembered that my friend told me she used crayon. It totally made sense, because its non-toxic and made for kids that will be tempted to eat it. The whole point of my chapstick was that I wanted it to be harmless if digested. Why? Guess what I found out. Number one, led has been found in some lipsticks. Two, a woman who wears it all the time (and goes through them like wildfire) digests quite a few pounds of it in her lifetime.
Yikes.
Now, I know that not all women maquillage their lips obsessively. The research done was talking about a woman who wore lipstick almost every day of her life. Another thing to consider is that not all lipsticks contain lead that you are actively and purposely digesting. So we don't have to major freak-out here. Nevertheless, you might want to check the ingredients of a lipstick that you wear frequently.
Or do more research than I did. I just used it as an excuse to live more naturally (like I need it).
There is another option though. If you like to be natural and don't care that much about the perfect color and stay of lip color, than read on!

I made 3 colors. The was one on the right was meant to be neutral and versatile. Let me warn you, the color you see in melted wax isn't the color it will be. I totally freaked out because I thought I would have this weird purple that only certain people would be able to handle. Eye roll.
Of course, I was freaking out for nothing because the final version was perfect. I watched a show where these girl made some candles and the same thing happened to them. When they were mixing the melted wax what was supposed to be pink looked red. Once everything had hardened, it came out perfectly fine. The same happened with crayon, which is essentially made with the same ingredients of a candle.
When I made the teal chapstick in the middle, I had this in mind. My mistake was different though. I had wanted to make it sky blue because when I was little, I always though BLUE chapstick was the coolest it got. So I took what I though was a blue crayon, and added about a fourth of it to my wax mixture. It was actually that teal-isa "sea green" color that you always confuse with the blue and then become all disappointed with your emerald eyes on Cinderella. Make sure to NOT use that crayon that has no label because your 6 year old peeled it off. Then test it on the nearest scrap of paper.
The last one is orange-red. This was my experiment where I had tried multiple things on and eventually added so much color that it's practically lipstick. So if you're going for the no-lead lipstick look, add multiple crayons. I actually like this color a lot, but since it was a guinea pig, I had yet to make another error. Which leads to my next point.
Study this picture:

Notice how the first one kind of just makes a cone-shaped cavern like the funnel on those marble toys that are so tremendously loud? Well, it's not supposed to be like that. I actually fixed it with another accident. I over-filled the second one and burned my hand. While I was nursing my wound, I noticed how it wasn't caving in like my first one. Whatever oil-wax tension is, I discovered it. When you overflow the chapstick until it bulges over, you put the right amount in. Now, just leave it and DON'T bump the table!!!!!!
Another thing to note is that using a funnel is way easier than precariously pouring from a glass measuring like I did on the first one. As you can tell, I couldn't even get all the wax I spilled out of the cracks! I was greatly surprised to find that we owned a funnel the exact size needed!
Amazing.

The recipe...

1 teaspoon beeswax

2 teaspoons almond oil or other carrier oil (click here to learn more about them)

Essential oils of choice

Crayons

Plastic spoons

Empty glass food jar

Abundance of paper towels

Makes: 1-3 chapstick depending on size. 

Takes: around 30 minutes including clean-up and cooling.

Mix beeswax, oil, and however much crayon you'd like into the jar WITH a plastic spoon to reduce mess. Microwave 30-60 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Once melted, add essential oil until you get desired scent. Pour into containers and let sit until hardened.

But for people like me, words aren't enough. Here's a visual step by step:

Step one is to collect your supplies. This is not just another step, but actually a very important one. You do not want to be left stranded with boiling hot wax and realize you have no pot holder, or be setting with your melted chapstick and become aware that you haven't ordered your containers yet! Last of all, if you start your project, and then find out half way through that your countertop is ruined from hot tools, oil, and other ingredients you won't be happy.
Here are the tools you should have:

• Paper towel for your work surface. Double up with the layer and spread it across the area you'll be using.
• PLASTIC spoons or knives to stir. 
• Empty, clean, food jar the size you need.
• A microwave. Well, you can be inconvenienced and have to use a double boiler.

Next you'll need ALL of your ingredients. No running to the cupboards right in the middle of the whole process.
Not gonna work.
This is a quick procedure that will be ruined if it sits half done while you dig in the closet for that rose essential oil you bought a few years back.  As you can see I had my oil all lined up in case I had to mix them because one came out smelling strange. That has happened to me before. So set everything up neat and organized so you can find everything in a second.

The first thing you do is pour the oil in. It helps so that your spoon is nice and slidey for our petty beeswax. Then, you chip chunks off of the beeswax hunk. You will definitely need a sturdy surface because its like battling with a rock.

You can add your beeswax next. Press the slivers into a spoon, to make sure you are measuring right. Add some crayon pieces too.

Stick it into the microwave, and because its really hard to melt wax, you can set the timer for up to a minute. Don't do it longer, and towards the end shorten your time to 30 second because you really don't want this to burn. Mix in between to keep it all evenly cooked. It should go from looking like this...

...to this:

Now mix your essential oil in. We didn't add this before, because it will blast your whole house with what ever scent you used until the whole household gets headaches. Also keep in mind like I said before, that as the wax cools the color gets lighter. This is how my red one looked like before I poured it:

Use a funnel to pour into each each container, making sure to overfill it a bit and let the wax/oil tension do its thing! If you bump anything at this point, it will result in burned hands and half-empty chapsticks. Oh, and do remember to use a paper towel as an oven mitt NOT anything fabric so you don't stain anything! It is actually possible to get these picture-perfect, because I could. My stuff doesn't normally look that good, so take hope!
If you fail, try, try again.
Literally.