DIY Lemon Butter Lip & Skin Balm in Altoids Tins

This rich Lemon Butter Balm is amazing and extremely versatile. You can use it as a lip balm, cuticle cream, moisturizer for hands, feet, elbows, knees, body, etc. It is deeply moisturizing and will do wonders for your winter dry skin, and it has a lovely subtle scent, which reminds me of honey lemon tea. 

Of course you can play around with the 'flavors' by adding essential oils to the mix. I really only used the lemon extract because I had it on hand and didn't have any lemon essential oil around, which would have made for a stronger scent (you would probably only need several drops instead of 2 tsp of extract).

I poured mine into Altoids tins because I happened to have a giant stash saved up (I used to keep them for jewelry making supplies...back when my stock was small enough to fit in these tiny containers :). Plus I thought they'd be kinda cool and they're the perfect size to stash in your purse!

You can use any kind of container you want. Old beauty product jars work great, of course. You can even fill empty old chapstick tubes if you have the dexterity to do so!

If you'd rather buy new containers or tins, there are plenty of options available at Amazon, and the same goes for the ingredients below if you can't find them in your grocery store.

Are y'all ready?? Let's make some Lemon Butter Balm!!

INGREDIENTS:

fills about 12 small altoid tins

1/3 cup beeswax

1/3 cup sweet almond oil

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 tsp pure lemon extract

DIRECTIONS:

Make sure you clean your containers well with soap and water. *They must be completely dry before you pour the mixture in. Have a tray or baking sheet covered with wax paper ready with all your containers place on it, in a spot where they can stay untouched until completely set.

Begin by melting the beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat. If you don't have a double boiler, you can use a metal or heat-proof glass mixing bowl on top of a regular saucepan >>>  with about an inch of water in it, as long as the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water in the pan.  

When the beeswax has melted completely, add the almond oil. It will turn white when it hits the hot beeswax, but as it heats up it will become clear. At this point, add the coconut oil. Same thing here - allow the coconut oil to melt completely and as soon as the oil mixture is completely clear, remove the pan from the heat.

Immediately add the lemon extract and stir briefly.

Use a ladle with a pouring lip to pour the hot mixture into your containers. If using Altoids tins, fill to just below where the holes for the lid hinge are.  

Leave at room temperature to cool and set up - at least 1 hour. It may need to be longer for deeper containers. Try not to move the tray and do NOT touch the surface while they are cooling or you'll mess up that beautiful smooth surface.

Clean up any drips after the mixture sets by scraping with your fingernail. You can then wipe the greasy residue off with a paper towel.

I made labels to fit the inside of the lid by tracing the bottom of the Altoids tin and scanning that in to Photoshop as a size guide. I created a new layer to match the shape (and to hide my ugly pen lines) and put a 2 pixel stroke (outline) around it as a guide for cutting. I printed them out on a full sheet label page and cut them out with scissors. 

Wouldn't these make great stocking stuffers or gifts for coworkers? 

If you try this recipe and add your own twist or find other cool containers to put them in, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

See more DIY Beauty:

DIY Face Polish

DIY Raspberry Lemon Sugar Scrub

DIY Ultra Moisturzing Hair + Face Mask