I'm a self-confessed lip balm addict and like many other lip balm addicts, I'm a devout customer of Burts Bees chapstick. I always make sure to have a tube of Burts with me at all times; I usually have one in my pocket, one in my purse, one in my car, and one in each of my travel bags - just in case.
When I visit the states, I always stock up on my supply and I'm usually a bit shocked at how much the price has gone up. In the last few weeks, I've been running low on my favorite lip balm and unfortunately it is nowhere to be found in Uganda.
What to do, what to do?
Since living here, I've realized just how many things I can make on my own instead of buying, and whadya know? Lip balm is one of them and all the ingredients can be found in Uganda! I had recently finished a few tubes, so I cleaned them out and filled them back up with my home-made stuff.
I was surprised at how easy it was to make my own lip balm and in the end, I definitely saved a few bucks.
I even made Eric try it and I received the response, "Hmph. It's like the real thing."
I'll chalk that up as a success, although I'm still working on achieving that wonderful tingly feeling.
Here's how it's done:
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon shea butter
1 Tablespoon bees wax
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
4 drops peppermint oil (optional)
Directions:
Heat the beeswax over a stove until melted. Add shea butter, coconut oil, and peppermint oil until all is melted. Pour into tubes (a turkey baster could help with this but I didn't have one, so I used these small saucepans I picked up in Jordan). Let cool.
If you don't have your own tubes, you can purchase them very cheaply on Amazon.
Ingredients to making your own lip balm
Heating up the ingredients
Filling up the empty tubes
Where to find ingredients in Uganda:
Shea butter: The shea store on the top level of Oasis Mall, near the food court or at Prunes' Saturday market
Coconut oil: Checkers, Millenium, or Embassy supermarkets
Bees wax: The Organic Store at Kabalagala on Ggaba road
Peppermint oil: I actually bought mine on a trip to Jordan, but I've since found it at the Prunes' Saturday market from Julius. You can also email him at profbioresearch@gmail.com.