In this post I am sharing my lanolin balm recipe with you. Making such a balm at home is not more difficult than making cookies or a cake. The ingredients are cocoa butter, beeswax, shea butter, and of course: lanolin.
The following amounts will give you about 300 ml (about 10 oz) of balm, so make sure to prepare the right amount and size of containers.
- beeswax – 25 grams (13%)
- cocoa butter – 69 grams (35%)
- shea butter – 59 grams (30%)
- lanolin – 43 grams (22%)
- optionally: essential oils for fragrance 20-30 drops
You will also need:
- A fine balance (able to measure grams)
- 1-2 containers like glass beakers (you can use mason jars or recycle other glass jars, but make sure to clean them well in boiling water before using them)
- A pot of hot water (but not simmering)
- For weighing out the materials you can use plastic containers, like e.g. cleaned yogurt cups or similar.
- For stirring it is best to use a kitchen scraper (a bowl scraper? – the tool that makes it easy to scrape off stuff from the sides of a container).
I start by mixing the beeswax and cocoa butter. They are gently warmed in the water bath and stirred until melted.
Now it’s time to add the shea butter. Again I am gently warming the mixture while stirring until it is completely melted.
The last ingredient to add is the lanolin. It typically has a very sticky, goey consistency. That’s why I am starting to gently melt it in the water bath so I can add it easily without loosing anything.
I am careful to not overheat it, by just dipping it into the warm water and then taking it out again. When it’s all liquid, I am adding it to my mixture.
Then just a tiny bit more heating and mixing to make sure everything is nice and homogeneous.
At the end I am adding some essential oils for the fragrance.
And finally I am ready to pour my lanolin balm into metal tins and let it cool to room temperature.
That’s it! I hope you enjoy the process and the finished product. If you make or alter this recipe, I would be happy to hear about it!
