When I was quite young, my parents would put a little coffee in my breakfast milk to let me think I was drinking coffee with them. Of course it was really just coffee-colored milk, but I didn’t know any better. When I got older, I graduated on to the real thing and I’ve been drinking it ever since. So it’s only natural that I would like a coffee flavored lip balm. With only three ingredients, this lip balm is a fun way to protect your lips.
coffee lip balm
One of the three ingredients takes a little preparation in advance. You see, the coffee flavor in this lip balm comes from coffee infused oil. To make that, I add equal parts ground coffee and coconut oil to a crock pot and heat it on low for a couple of hours. You can use other oils too, like olive or sweet almond, but coconut is my current favorite for this recipe. Be sure and use a good quality coffee, one that you like to drink, though it doesn’t need to be the most expensive coffee you can buy.
infusing ground coffee in coconut oil
For instance, I used a medium roast Columbian decaf coffee for the batch in the above photo because that’s what I happened to have on hand, and it worked well. For a stronger flavor you can use a darker roast coffee, or else let it infuse for a longer period of time. I do not recommend using instant coffee, and I have never tried it in this recipe. After infusing, the oil needs to be strained to remove the coffee grounds, or else you will wind up with a very gritty lip balm. Click here for more info about the infusing and straining process. As you can see in the below photo, the coffee turns the coconut oil a medium dark shade of brown that looks lighter if the oil solidifies. Now that we have the coffee infused oil, it’s time to make some lip balm!
solidified coffee infused coconut oil
Along with the oil, you need beeswax and either cocoa butter or shea butter. Since we have a beehive here at Happy Acres, we use the beeswax that our hardworking honeybees make. It usually winds up in a big chunk or block after we melt it in our solar wax melter. But if you buy beeswax, you can get it in little round pieces called pastilles, which are much easier to melt than the big chunks. Cocoa butter or shea butter both work well in this recipe, but for a real treat try using raw cocoa butter. That makes for a heavenly flavor and aroma combo of coffee and chocolate – two of my favorite things for sure! The shea butter has a neutral smell if you don’t want to add the cocoa factor.
ingredients for coffee lip balm
You need to melt the beeswax, cocoa or shea butter, and coconut oil in a double boiler type setup on the stove top. You can also use the microwave to do the melting. Either way, the ingredients need to be liquid and well combined. I used a small glass Pyrex measuring cup, set in a pan of gently boiling water. I stirred the ingredients with a bamboo skewer until melted (the beeswax will be the last thing to melt). I usually pour the finished product into twist-up lip balm tubes or little metal tins. Any clean, small container with a lid will do. Pour it while still liquid and then let cool thoroughly before using.
melting the ingredients for coffee lip balm
You can easily size the recipe to fit the container(s) you have. For example, the oval tubes I use each hold .15 oz/4.25g. I like to work in grams for the small amount I usually make, so if I want to fill 4 tubes then I need to make at least 17g of lip balm. I’ll round up to 20g, which means I need 4g of beeswax, 8g of cocoa butter and 8g of coffee infused oil. An electronic kitchen scale is just the ticket for a project like this, and ours gets used all the time. You can also make a little bigger batch and pour any extra into a glass jar for later use. When you need to refill your tubes or tins you can pop the glass jar into the microwave then melt and pour.
coffee lip balm
Various essential oils can be used in lip balms if they are food grade, but I think they would obscure the coffee flavor for this one. However, if a vanilla latte is your favorite drink, there are vanilla flavor oils available from several sources (including MMS and Bramble Berry) that can be added. I have also seen recipes that call for cocoa absolute, but that does not blend in fixed oils and therefore isn’t a good choice for a lip balm. Powdered stevia can be used to add a touch of sweetness. You could also add a drop or two of vitamin E if you have it, which will be good for your lips. And after all, this recipe is pretty much all about being good to your lips!
Coffee Lip Balm 
Print This Recipe
A Happy Acres original
1 part Beeswax – 4 grams
2 parts solid butter (cocoa or shea) – 8 grams
2 parts coffee infused oil (coconut, olive or sweet almond) – 8 grams
Weigh all ingredients in small glass measuring cup. Melt by sitting measuring cup in pan of gently boiling water, or microwave at 50% power. Stir until all ingredients are melted, then pour into containers.
Let cool thoroughly before using. Lip balm should keep for about a year, depending on the oils used and how fresh they were to begin with.
NOTE: The consistency of this lip balm may vary depending on the outside temperature. Also, if you prefer a firmer lip balm, add a tad more beeswax. If you want a softer and more oily lip balm, either reduce the beeswax or increase the amount of oil.
I just sent this link to a friend who makes beeswax products … sounds wonderful (maybe she’ll make me some when she reads this :)). That solar melter is a pretty neat trick, too.
The wax melter is low-tech and inexpensive to make!
We use lip balm around here all the time, especially in the winter when it gets really dry indoors. It certainly doesn’t look as complicated as I would have thought – I’ll definitely be trying this at some point. Great (new) photo, btw!
You can make lip balm with only two ingredients (an oil and a solid butter), but I think the adding beeswax not only adds some firmness but also helps protect your lips.
I too like your new photo. Your clear tutorial makes the project sounds very easy, will think about giving it a try some day.
This sounds like a wonderful lip balm! Thanks so much for sharing your post on the HomeAcre Hop, hope to see you again tomorrow!
– Nancy
On The Home Front
Pingback: Old-Fashioned Friday #110 - Our Heritage of Health
Pingback: Natural Family Friday 3/6/2015 - Natural Family Today
Hello! Where can I find your recipe for coffee infused lotion?
Hi Melissa, the recipe for the oil is here:
https://www.ourhappyacres.com/2013/03/coffee-infused-oil/
The oval lip balm tubes are available from Majestic Mountain Sage and Wholesale Supplies Plus. The stickers are homemade, printed on paper and cut with fancy edge scissors.
Also, where can I find the stickers that you used for labels and the oval shaped chap stick tubes?
Did you use actual sticker paper or scrapbook paper and then after you printed on the paper did you use a glue stick or modge podge for it to stick?
I have the coffee infused oil recipe jotted down, what I was looking for was the coffee lotion recipe. I thought I read somewhere that you made great smelling coffee lotion!
I haven’t posted any recipes for coffee lotion yet. I’m still working on the details for that! I used ordinary printer paper for the labels, and it is taped on the tubes using clear shipping tape.
I’m thinking of making a peppermint latte lip balm…with peppermint and coffee essential oils. Do you think they would blend well? Or do you have any other suggestions on what works well with coffee?
Thanks!
I think peppermint works well in lip balms, and it should work well with coffee too! I’d start with a small amount of peppermint at first though so it doesn’t overpower the coffee, perhaps a few drops.
Hi,
wonderful idea about infusion of coffe ;). I would like to ask you if your recipe (Cofee lip balm) suitable for EOS plastic container? Do you think that your recipe will be ok for this EOS plastic container or do you recommend different formula maybe more hard? What about in summer-how many grams beeswax I would increase in this recipe (solid butter and infusion olis stay remaine the same?) Please let me know,
Thank you very much
Hi Polona,
I think the lip balm would work fine in the EOS container. I add a little more beeswax in summer, maybe 1 gram or so. You will really just have to experiment with the firmness/consistency of the lip balm in warmer weather.
Thank you very much for you kindess ;). I will try and I hope it will be good ;). You have a lot interesting informations on your site-tnx, Nice regards.
I forgot :(, can you just tell me which natural ingrediens (macerate) would be so good to add it to my lip balm? The last time I added Calendula macerat and chamomile+beeswax, cocao butter, sunflower and coconut oil. I would like add something new what about Lavender macerate, Daisy macerate-do you think it will be ok? I will be very happy if you recommend something else if you remember that can I try. The all lip balms are so similar I would like add something new-like your coffe which it is a wonderful idea. Regards
Calendula is a great idea, so is lavender. Have you tried plantain leaf? That’s also very good for skin.
woow very good Idea too ;), I will try to make macerat ;), thank you very much Dave ;),
nice regards
Dave,
how could I incorporate chamomile into this? the person above mentioned a macerate, is there a way to make a chamomile macerate? I’m kinda new to this technique )) Thank you!
You can make a chamomile macerate by infusing the dried chamomile in your choice of oils. That oil could then be used in a lip balm or skin salve.
I am curious if you have the recipe for the mocha java hand soap you mentioned. If you have it I would love to have it.
Sorry, I don’t have the recipe worked out yet since we only made it once. You can use the infused coconut oil to replace the coconut oil in any soap recipe.
Hi there. I have Coffee Butter. I’m curious: Can I swap out the Shea Butter for Coffee Butter and just use a regular oil for the infused Oil? Thanks so much! LOVE this recipe.
Hi Estelle, I think that would work quite well. You might have to adjust the amount of beeswax a bit if the lip balm is too soft, depending on whether the coffee butter is as firm as the shea butter.
I noticed you said to infuse the coffee in oil for 8 hours in
Crockpot and then I seen your favorite was infuse for 2
Hours. Want to make the lip balm and infuse coffee and oil
But don’t have Crockpot, what should I use and how long?
If you don’t have crockpot you can use cold infusion, which will take a couple of weeks. I’ve only done it using a crockpot (for 2 to 8 hours) or cold infusion for a couple of weeks.
How about in a Double Boiler on low for 2 hours
That might work too!
If I am gonna infuse say a half cup equal parts coffee
and coconut oil, how do you measure coconut oil? Do you
get it in liquid state first
Doesn’t matter if the oil is liquid or solid, but it will be easier to get out if the oil is liquid.