This is the materials library. Each page covers one ingredient or one family: where it comes from, what it does physically in a balm, the numbers you need to formulate with it, its realistic usage window, and what goes wrong when you overdo it.
Two things are worth knowing before you browse. First, the values quoted across the site are typical ranges for commercial grades, because natural materials vary with origin, season and refining. Second, we are not loyal to any ingredient category. Petrolatum, lanolin and tallow are assessed on the same evidence as candelilla and jojoba.
The carrier oil comparison table holds fatty acid profiles and shelf lives for more than twenty oils in one place, and waxes compared does the same for structurants.
Waxes and structurants
The materials that decide whether your balm is a stick, a salve or a puddle.
- Waxes compared: hardness, gelling power and substitution factors
Melt points, hardness, substitution factors and usage levels for beeswax, candelilla, carnauba and the plant waxes.
- Beeswax in balms: melting range, usage rates and how it behaves
INCI, composition, melt point, grades, adulteration tests and exact usage rates for beeswax in balms and lip balms.
- Candelilla wax: what the substitution evidence actually says
The main vegan wax: NF melting range, the honest 0.6 to 1.0 beeswax conversion, usage levels and the fix for a hard, draggy balm.
- Carnauba wax: hardest solid, weakest gelator, and why 1 to 3 percent
The hardest solid wax and the weakest oil gelator: drop point, grades, the grit problem and how to blend 1 to 3 percent.
- Vegan beeswax substitutes: factors, blends and converted formulas
Substitution factors for every plant wax, three converted formulas, and what to adjust when the cushion disappears.
- Sunflower wax: the most efficient oil gelator on the balm bench
Drop point 74 to 80 C, gels oil from 2 percent, and the honest conversion factor against beeswax.
- Rice bran wax: a high melting plant wax that holds oil in place
Melting 75 to 84 C, strong oil binding at 3 percent, and where the waxy grit comes from.
- Castor wax, or hydrogenated castor oil, and what it does to an oil phase
Melting 83 to 88 C, hydroxyl value 150 to 165, and the 1 to 5 percent that stops oil beading out.
- Berry wax and bayberry wax: two soft plant waxes that are often confused
Berry wax at 40 to 46 C, bayberry at 45 to 48 C, and why neither will harden a lip tube alone.
- Soy wax and the other hydrogenated vegetable waxes, assessed honestly
Melt 46 to 54 C, soft set, frosting and bloom: why candle wax does not make a lip balm.
- Mineral waxes in balms: paraffin, microcrystalline, ozokerite and ceresin
Four petroleum and earth waxes compared on melt point, oil binding and lipstick performance.
- Synthetic waxes: polyethylene, Fischer Tropsch and synthetic beeswax
Melt points 90 to 120 C, use at 1 to 6 percent, and where the EU microplastic rules bite.
- Fatty alcohols in anhydrous balms: what cetyl and stearyl actually change
Melt points 49 to 73 C, use 1 to 6 percent, and the difference between body and hardness.
- Stearic acid: the cheapest way to firm a balm, and what it costs you
Grades, melt points 54 to 70 C, use at 1 to 5 percent, and where the chalky drag comes from.
Butters and hard fats
Body, cushion and the crystallisation behaviour that causes most texture faults.
- Butters compared: shea, cocoa, mango, kokum and seven more
Melt ranges, fatty acid profiles, a hardness ranking and graininess risk for the ten butters worth knowing.
- Shea butter in balms: grades, melting point, grain and usage rates
Melt range, the stearic and oleic swing by origin, the grain mechanism, grades A to F and honest usage rates.
- Cocoa butter in balms: bloom, crystal forms, melting point and rates
The six crystal forms with melting points, why bloom happens, deodorised against natural, and how much to use.
- Mango and kokum butter: uses, hardness and how to swap them for shea
Why kokum is the hardest and least grainy butter, where mango sits against shea, and how to swap them safely.
- Tallow in balms: composition, rendering, smell and shelf life
What beef tallow actually is, how rendering changes its smell, and the water problem that spoils home-rendered batches.
- Lanolin: chemistry, occlusivity, allergy and how to use it
Wool wax as a balm ingredient: what it is made of, why it works on cracked skin, and the allergy question answered properly.
- Murumuru and tucuma butter: the lauric palm butters with a hard snap
Melt 30 to 35 C, lauric 40 to 48 percent, and the sharp body temperature break they give.
- Cupuacu butter: the water holding claim, tested against what it can do
Melt 30 to 33 C, high phytosterols, and an honest look at the water absorption claim.
- Illipe, sal and ucuuba butter: three hard butters and where each belongs
Three hard butters compared on melt point, stearic content and where each beats cocoa butter.
- Blended butters: what is really inside aloe, coffee and avocado butter
Aloe, coffee and avocado butter are usually blends. How to read the INCI and price them fairly.
- Palm oil, stearin and olein: the fraction decides everything
Palm oil 33 to 40 C, stearin 48 to 56 C, plus what the RSPO certification levels actually mean.
Liquid oils
Spread, absorption, gloss and shelf life. This is where a formula gains or loses its character.
- Carrier oils compared: how to choose the liquid oils in a balm
Choosing balm oils on stability, weight, cost and gloss, plus three worked blends for shelf life, light feel and winter.
- Carrier oil comparison table: fatty acids, shelf life and use levels
Fatty acid profiles, the bis-allylic index, iodine values and use levels for the common carrier oils, with the caveats attached.
- Jojoba oil in balms: a liquid wax, not an oil
Why jojoba behaves like a wax rather than an oil, and how to use it for stability, structure and skin feel.
- Castor oil in lip balm: gloss, cling and the sticky ceiling
The hydroxyl group that gives castor its gloss, cling and pigment wetting, plus the percentages that stay comfortable.
- Coconut oil in balms: virgin, refined and fractionated compared
Melt point, lauric acid and graininess, plus why coconut works better as a supporting 10-20% than as a balm base.
- Kitchen oils in balms: which cupboard oils actually work
An honest ranking of cupboard oils for balm making, with shelf lives, smells and the failure mode for each.
- Sweet almond oil: the default balm oil, measured properly
Oleic 62 to 73 percent, iodine value 92 to 106, and a realistic 12 month shelf life for the oil.
- Apricot kernel and peach kernel oil: near twins, told apart properly
Oleic 58 to 66 percent, iodine value 100 to 110, and how the two kernel oils really differ.
- Avocado oil: a heavy, rich oil with a genuinely useful unsaponifiable fraction
Oleic 60 to 70 percent, unsaponifiables up to 11 percent, and a heavy feel that suits body balms.
- Argan oil: what the tocopherol content buys you and what it does not
Oleic 43 to 49, linoleic 29 to 36, tocopherols 600 to 900 mg per kg, and what that really means.
- Macadamia oil: the palmitoleic oil that feels like skin lipid
Palmitoleic 16 to 23 percent, iodine value 70 to 80, and a cushioned feel that suits dry skin.
- Meadowfoam seed oil: the most oxidatively stable oil on a balm bench
Over 95 percent C20 to C22 chains, exceptional stability, and a 5 to 25 percent working range.
- Hemp seed oil: green, fragile, and nothing to do with CBD
Linoleic 50 to 60, linolenic 15 to 20, iodine value 140 to 170, and a short honest shelf life.
- Rosehip oil: the most fragile oil most makers put in a balm
Linolenic 30 to 40 percent, iodine value 165 to 185, and a six month refrigerated shelf life.
- Sea buckthorn oil: fruit oil and seed oil are two different materials
Fruit oil palmitoleic 30 to 40 percent, heavy carotenoid staining, and a 0.5 to 5 percent ceiling.
- Tamanu oil: a thick, dark, strong smelling oil with a real tradition behind it
Oleic 35 to 50 percent, thick and dark green, and an honest 1 to 10 percent working range.
- Evening primrose and borage oil: buying gamma linolenic acid, and what it costs
GLA at 8 to 10 and 20 to 24 percent, short shelf lives, and the borage alkaloid question.
- High oleic sunflower and safflower: the cheapest way to buy stability
Oleic 75 to 90 percent, iodine value 80 to 88, and stability that beats oils costing ten times more.
Esters, emollients and synthetics
The materials that fix a sensory problem no natural oil quite solves.
- Squalane: a fully saturated emollient that will not oxidise
C30H62, viscosity near 30 mPa s, iodine value near zero, and how the sources really compare.
- Synthetic and natural esters: the emollients that fix a heavy balm
Eight esters compared on viscosity, spreading value and polarity, with use levels for each.
- Silicones in anhydrous products: what dimethicone does that an oil cannot
Dimethicone 5 to 350 cSt, the 1 to 30 percent monograph level and the EU cyclosiloxane limits.
- Hydrogenated polyisobutene and polybutene: where lip gloss shine comes from
Viscosity 30 to 5000 mPa s, use 5 to 30 percent, and the gloss no natural oil reproduces.
Powders, pigments and colour
Solids that change how a balm looks, feels and sits on the skin.
- Zinc oxide: the barrier powder that turns a balm into a drug product
Monograph levels 1 to 25 percent, particle sizes, dispersion method and why it settles out.
- Kaolin, bentonite and rhassoul in anhydrous products
Oil absorption values, 1 to 10 percent use levels, and the drag a clay adds to a finished balm.
- Starches and silica: how to take the shine off without wrecking the glide
Four mattifying powders compared on oil absorption, particle size and 1 to 8 percent use levels.
- Colloidal oatmeal: a monograph active that struggles in a waterless balm
The 0.007 percent monograph minimum, the USP particle size rule, and why oat powder settles in an oil base.
- Mica and pearlescent pigments: particle size decides everything you see
Particle sizes 5 to 150 microns, coating chemistry, lip approval status and honest sourcing notes.
- Iron oxides, titanium dioxide and the other mineral pigments in balms
CI numbers, tinting strength, 0.1 to 10 percent use levels and the lip approval rules for each.
Actives and skin agents
What can be put into an anhydrous base, at what level, and what it will actually do there.
- Allantoin: a monograph active that barely dissolves in an oil phase
Monograph 0.5 to 2 percent, poor oil solubility, and the crystal grit it leaves in a balm.
- Panthenol: a water soluble active in a product with no water
Use at 0.5 to 5 percent, why it separates from an oil phase, and the fixes that work.
- Urea, salicylic acid and lactic acid: where a balm stops being just occlusive
Urea 5 to 40 percent by effect, salicylic acid monograph levels, and anhydrous dispersion limits.
- Ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids: the barrier lipid question
Ceramide types, 0.01 to 1 percent use levels, and the honest limits of the 3:1:1 ratio idea.
- Glycerin, honey and hyaluronic acid in a product that contains no water
Why glycerin beads out above 3 percent, and which humectants function in an anhydrous base.
- Vitamin C in an anhydrous balm: three forms, and only one that works
Ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate 0.1 to 3 percent, and why ascorbic acid powder does nothing in a balm.
- Retinol and bakuchiol in an anhydrous base: levels, limits and stability
EU retinol caps of 0.3 and 0.05 percent, bakuchiol at 0.5 to 2 percent, and stability realities.
Botanicals and bee products
Plant and hive materials, assessed on what survives an infusion and what the evidence supports.
- Calendula: the salve herb worth using, assessed on what it actually delivers
Infused oil at 10 to 30 percent, CO2 extract at 0.5 to 5, and the faradiol content that matters.
- Arnica, comfrey, plantain and St John's wort in traditional salves
Four classic salve herbs with their infusion ratios, use levels and the legal restrictions on each.
- Propolis: the hive material behind most beeswax allergy reports
Use at 0.1 to 2 percent, flavonoid content, and the contact allergy data behind the caution.
- Honey in a balm: you are adding water to a product designed to have none
Water activity 0.55 to 0.65 and 15 to 20 percent water, and what that does to an anhydrous balm.
- CBD and hemp extract in balms: the arithmetic, the law and the evidence
Milligram to percentage arithmetic, UK novel food and THC limits, and honest evidence limits.
Additives, actives and the argued-about ones
Everything that makes up the last few percent, plus the ingredients people have strong opinions about.
- Vitamin E and antioxidants in balms: what they do and do not do
Why vitamin E protects the oils and not the product, which form to buy, the dose the measurements support, and why chelators disappoint in a balm.
- Essential oils in balms: safe percentages, IFRA limits and what goes wrong
IFRA Category 1 for lips, the per-constituent limits that really bind, phototoxicity numbers and the EU citral and methyl salicylate caps.
- Lip balm flavour and sweeteners: rates, solubility and why it tastes bitter
Usage rates, solubility rules, stevia levels, the Category 1 and EU caps on lip flavours, and a bitterness diagnostic list.
- Herbal infused oils: methods, ratios and the water problem
Solar, low heat and controlled slow infusion, with ratios, straining, shelf life and why fresh plant material is the hazard.
- Menthol, camphor and other actives: mechanism, levels and the drug line
TRPM8 cooling, the external analgesic monograph levels, the camphor toxicity figures and the beeswax skin protectant surprise.
- Colourants and tints in lip balm: what is approved and how to disperse it
Approved pigment families, why cosmetic grade mica is not automatically lip safe, castor oil dispersion and use levels.
- SPF in lip balm: why you cannot add sun protection at home
SPF is a test result, not an ingredient. Why home-made sun protection for lips does not work, and what to do instead.
- Petrolatum and mineral oil: what the evidence actually says
The most argued-about ingredient class, assessed on evidence: what holds, what does not, and where a natural balm wins.
- Rosemary extract as an antioxidant: dose, carnosic acid and honest limits
Dose 0.02 to 0.5 percent by carnosic acid content, with the induction time data behind it.
- Synthetic antioxidants: what BHT actually buys, and where it is restricted
BHT at 0.01 to 0.1 percent and three alternatives, compared on performance and legal status.
- Preservatives in an oil phase: solubility, dose and the products that need one
Oil solubility, dose and legal caps for the preservatives that can work in a waterless product.
Fragrance, flavour and allergens
The part of a formula most likely to cause a reaction, and the rules that follow from that.
- Peppermint oil: how much menthol you are actually adding to a lip balm
Menthol 30 to 55 percent, lip levels of 0.1 to 0.5 percent, and the tingle versus irritation line.
- Synthetic fragrance oils: how to use one legally and what it does to a balm
IFRA certificates, 0.2 to 2 percent use levels, vanillin browning and allergen declaration rules.
- Fragrance allergens: the declarable list, the thresholds and what to do about it
Over 80 declarable allergens, the 0.001 percent leave on threshold and the compliance deadlines.
- Nut and seed oil allergens: what refining removes and what a label must say
Protein residues in refined against cold pressed nut oils, and the labelling rules for each.