Creams, Lotions and

Lip Balms
Made with your Wonderful Honey, Beeswax, and Propolis

Landi Simone, Gooserock Farm

 Moving Beyond Honey and Candles:
Natural Beeswax & Honey Cosmetics

Burts Bees did it!

Why not you?
Market for natural
cosmetics is huge
and still growing.
Many products such
as lotion bars and lip
balms are very easy
to make.
 Adding Cosmetics to your Product Line
Will Increase your Bottom Line
And even if you never sell your products, you will have a better quality product for
your own use than you can ever buy in a store at a fraction of the cost!
 What are Creams and
Lotions?
Emulsion: mixtures of oil and water (which actually do mix
with the addition of an emulsifier.
Two types:
Oil in water: lotion-like, penetrates skin
Water in oil: cream-like, barrier on skin
Basic beeswax hand cream is a water-in-oil emulsion using
borax as an emulsifier.
Most recipes use emulsifying wax, aka e-wax, which is a
chemically altered vegetable or petroleum-based wax
treated with a detergent. Each manufacturer has a
recommended use ratio, which should be STRICTLY
followed for success, e.g., Use 10-15% by weight. It is
better to use a bit more and back it off later than to not use
enough and risk separation.
What is an Emulsifier?
FAT WATER
MOLECULES MOLECULES
v

EMULSIFIER

CREAM
OR
LOTION
Designing your Own Creams
and Lotions
Four phases:
Liquid phase
Oil phase
Emulsifier
Preservatives

Proportions vary between

creams and lotions

Honey is part of the liquid

phase, if used
Beeswax is part of the oil
phase, if used
 Design Guidelines
Proportion guidelines:
Water 40-70%
Oil 10-30%
Emulsifying wax 20% of oil weight
Stearic acid 0-5% (optional thickener)
Preservative: 0.1%-1.5%, depending on type
chosen. Follow manufacturers guidelines.
Fragrance: 1/2 1 Tbsp. per pound of product.

Higher amounts of water give you a lotion.

Higher amounts of oil give you a cream.
 Some Oils and Fats
You May Want to Try
Sweet almond oil
Shea butter
Grapeseed oil
Cocoa butter
Olive oil Coconut oil
Safflower oil Lanolin
Sunflower oil Palm kernel oil
Flaxseed oil Palm oil
Jojoba oil Mango butter
Mineral oil Aloe butter
Avocado oil
Each lends a different character to the finished product. You can get an idea of
the characteristics of each by researching them but ultimately experimentation
Is your best tool.
 And in the Liquid Phase, You
Might Try:
Herbal infusions such as chamomile tea
Honey, honey, honey!
Glycerin
Aloe water
Coconut water
Rose water or orange blossom water
 Experiment in Small Batches
Nothing is more
disappointing than to have
your cream separate or go
moldy after you spent so
much time, effort, and money
making it!
Double and triple check the
amounts of both
preservatives and
emulsifying wax in your
recipes.
Keep your work area
scrupulously clean and
sterilize your tools.
 About Preservatives
If the recipe contains water and a non-mineral oil, it
needs a preservative. If you do not use one, you must
keep the cream in the refrigerator and use it within two
weeks.

My favorite is Optiphen Plus.

Higher temperature range for adding to product
Does NOT contain formaldehyde
Does NOT contain propylene glycol
Very effective in preventing spoilage
Lip Balms
Very Helpful Tool for Making
Lip Balm: Filling Tray
 Lip Balms are Easy!
Lip balms have no water, hence they do not need a
preservative.

Many recipes add Vitamin E oil as an antioxidant. (This is

NOT a preservative.)

Lip balms are a combination of solid and liquid oils, and wax:
beeswax.

Because the product is used on the mouth, be sure to use

only your cleanest, best cappings wax. Do not risk having
pesticides in your beeswax by using melted brood comb or
mixed wax from a solar wax melter!
 Using Propolis in Your
Products
Propolis can be a great
addition to your products
because of its antimicrobial
properties but you must be
VERY cautious how you
label it to avoid violating FDA
labeling laws.
You can either use it as a
powder or stir it in while
heating to release the volatile
organic compounds.
Using Powdered Propolis
Powdered propolis is nice
because the finished cream
or lip balm has little flecks of
it distributed throughout the
product.
The temperature must be
very carefully controlled. If
the mixture is allowed to get
hotter than about 170 the
propolis will melt in a blob at
the bottom of the pot.
 Cleaning Propolis
Fill a 1 pound clean metal coffee can about 1/3 full of collected
propolis and add about the same amount of hot water.
Set in a 200 oven for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally. You can
also heat very gently over direct heat until gummy, stirring
continuously.
Remove, let cool, and pour off the dirty water.
Freeze the can with the propolis in it.
Scrape off any bits of wood or gunk that might be adhering to the
surface of the propolis blob at the bottom of the can.
Chip out the clean propolis with hammer and chisel.
Cleaned Propolis
 Grinding the Propolis
After the propolis has been
cleaned and is perfectly dry,
you can grind it to a fine
powder.
Use an electric coffee bean
grinder which you have
dedicated to this purpose.
The propolis should be cold.
You can even freeze it. The
colder it is, the more brittle,
and the easier it will grind up.
Sift out any chunks left.
 Using Propolis Powder
Your powdered propolis can
be used in lip balms, creams
and lotions, or in soap.

Be sure the propolis powder is

at room temperature before
combining it with the melted
fats in your product.

Have the melted fats as cool

as possible or the propolis will
clump together in a blob at the
bottom of the container rather
than dispersing nicely. It
should be no hotter than 170,
and sometimes even this may
be too hot.
 Labeling your Products
Cold process soap made with lye, fats and water is
exempt from FDA labeling requirements unless you
claim it does anything other than cleanse (e.g.
deodorize, moisturize, soften). Technically, you do not
even need to list the ingredients, although consumers
expect and look for this.
A cosmetic is a product intended to effect a physical
change on the human body, like moisturizing, rather
than a physiological change, which is what a drug
does. Making health claims for your cosmetics means
you must follow the testing and labeling requirements
for drugs.
 Things you Should NOT Say
about your Products
This cream will make you look younger.
Our moisturizer repairs the skins moisture barrier.
This soap cures poison ivy.
Our lip balm will heal cold sores.
Try this lotion. It will really soothe your irritated skin
and help relieve that bug bite.
 FDA Requirements for
Labeling Cosmetics
Front panel must have:
Name of the product
Net quantity of contents by weight in ounces for solids,
gels, semi-solids, and by volume (fluid ounces) for liquids.
Name and address of the firm marketing the product,
including street address, city, state and zip code. Street
address may be omitted if the firm is listed in a current
city or phone directory.
Ingredients in descending order of prominence, by
weight.
 Testing Requirements
The FDA does NOT require that cosmetics manufacturers
test their products for safety. It DOES require that the
products safety be adequately substantiated (e.g. all
ingredients are known to be safe).
Cosmetics must not be adulterated or misbranded.
Adulterated cosmetics might contain a substance harmful to
consumers, a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or be
manufactured under unsanitary conditions.
Certain pigments are restricted and must be tested. Most
natural mineral pigments are okay, but check the fda.gov
website to be sure if you color a product.
Easy Creams and Lip Balms
-for adding variety and value to the beekeepers product line.

Gooserock Farm Beeswax Hand Cream (Makes about 20 2-ounce jars.)

20 fluid ounces pure water (by volume)

16 ounces (by volume) light 70-weight mineral oil (available as 70 FG Crystal
Plus Oil from STE Oil Co., Inc., www.steoil.com: 800-967-1931.)
7 ounces by weight clean beeswax
1 Tablespoon borax (as in 20 Mule Team, carried by most supermarkets in
the laundry detergent section)
1 Tablespoon fragrance or essential oil of your choice (optional)

Combine the water and borax and bring to a simmer. Do NOT boil. It should
just be steaming. In a separate container, melt together the beeswax and
the mineral oil over low heat. (You may, for safetys sake, choose to do this
over a double boiler, but I have found direct heat works fine provided you do
not leave the area, you are melting the wax with oil, AND you use very low
heat.) When the wax is melted, add the water-borax mixture. Stir in the
essential or fragrance oil, and whisk or beat the mixture for a minute until
well combined. Immediately pour into jars. The cream will solidify as it
cools. You can combine the ingredients in an old crock pot on the low setting,
which gives a bit more bottling time if making a larger batch. Be careful not
to overheat the ingredients or the cream will not be as soft when cool. Both
the oil-wax and the water-borax should be just above the melting point of
beeswax (150F).

Lotion Bars (Makes about 15 one ounce bars)

5 ounces (142 gms.) by weight clean beeswax

5 ounces by weight sweet almond oil (approx. 2/3 cup less 1 Tbsp. by volume)
5 ounces (142 gms.) by weight coconut oil OR cocoa butter OR shea butter
OR a combination
1 Tablespoon fragrance or essential oil of your choice

Melt the first three ingredients together until the beeswax has just melted.
Remove from the heat and stir in the fragrance oil. Ladle into molds of your
choice. Be careful not to overheat; this will cause small dark particles to
form, making your lotion bars appear dirty!

Smooth and Dreamy Beeswax Lip Balm (Makes about 35 tubes)

1 ounces by weight clean beeswax

1 ounce by weight cocoa butter
1 ounces by weight shea butter
2 ounces sweet almond oil
1 to 2 teaspoons flavor oil (made especially for lip balms) or teaspoon
peppermint essential oil
1 teaspooon Vitamin E oil (optional)

Melt the beeswax in a double boiler over warm water, then stir in the cocoa
butter, shea butter, and sweet almond oil. When all the fats are melted,
remove from the heat and stir in the optional Vitamin E and flavor or
essential oils. Pour into lip balm containers. This is just one of many good lip
balm recipes.

Good sources of oils, butters, fragrance and essential oils: www.thesage.com;

www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com. Brambleberry.com.

Good source of lip balm tubes and filling trays, as well as man y
cosmetics/soap-making supplies: Brushy Mountain Bee Farm,
www.brushymountainbeefarm.com.

Prepared by Landi Simone, Master Beekeeper, Gooserock Farm, Montville,

NJ www.gooserockfarm.com.