Life Can Be Tragic

I have lost my daddy.

He flies helicopters, he has since Vietnam. He has flown medivac, tourists, and in recent years he flies flighting fires all over the US.

July 23, 2007 he was flying in Happy Camp California on the Elk Fire, where there was a tragic moment that took his life.

The shock of it all has been so hard to get over. The first week was denial, that went away when we finally saw him, but the shock still burns.

Lip Balm

I have decided it is time for a new hobby, so I am going to try my hand at making lip balm and lip gloss. So I have read up on it everywhere I could online, and here is the basic concept, hopefully I have my oils identified correctly:

40% Liquid Oil
Castor Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Olive Oil
Avocado Oil
Aloe Oil
Jojoba Oil
Hemp Seed Oil
Sweet Almond Oil
Sunflower Oil
Apricot Kernal Oil
Emu Oil
Kukui Nut Oil
Borage Oil
Shea Oil

25% Solid Oil
Coconut Oil
Shea Butter
Aloe Vera Butter
Mango Butter
Palm Oil Lanolin


20% Beeswax

15% Brittle Oil
Cocoa Butter
Palm Kernal Oil

For my liquid oils I am going to use Jojoba, Hemp Seed, and Sunflower. Either one at a time, or a combination of the 3 of them.
Emu oil is very expensive, but I plan to use it at a later date.
Shea seems to be tempermental when melting and, if not done just right it will make your lip balm grainy.
Kukui nut sounds like something I really want to use, but for gifts I am staying away from any nut oil in case people have allergies.

For my solid I will use Mango Butter and Aloe Vera Butter. Shea as I said above has to be melted just right, coconut is a maybe in the future, and Lanolin will give people with wool allergies a reaction, and again because of gifts I will stay away from those potential problems.

For my brittle oil I will use cocoa butter, it is nice and smooth, and I really don’t know much about Palm Kernal Oil. I will use the deodorized cocoa butter because I do not want the chocolate smell of cocoa butter to interact with the smells of what I am trying to achieve.

In addition to the above I will add Vitamin E Oil. Most likely from capsules, just puncture a couple and squeeze into melted mixture.

Flavor Oil will be added at a ratio of 1%-3% of the melted mixture.

Colorant, just a hint of oil soluble colorant to match the flavor I will be using, ideas so far:
Strawberry = Red
Banana = Yellow
Spearmint = Green
Watermelon = Pink

So this brings me to my recipe possibities:

Idea #1
1/4 Cup Sunflower Oil
2-1/2 TBL Mango Butter
1/8 Cup Beeswax
1-1/2 TBL Cocoa Butter
2 Vitamin E Capsules
1 tsp Flavor Oil
Toothpick Touch of Oil Soluble Colorant

Idea #2
2-1/2 TBL Aloe Vera Butter
1/8 Cup Beeswax
1/8 Cup Sunflower Oil
1/8 Hemp Seed Oil
1-1/2 TBL Cocoa Butter
2 Vitamin E Capsules
1 tsp Flavor Oil
Toothpick Touch of Oil Soluble Colorant

Idea #3
2-1/2 TBL Mango Butter
1/8 Cup Beeswax
1/8 Cup Sunflower Oil
1/8 Cup Jojoba Oil
1-1/2 TBL Cocoa Butter
2 Vitamin E Capsules
1 tsp Flavor Oil
Toothpick Touch of Oil Soluble Colorant

So these are my ideas, now I am in process of ordering stuff to give it a whirl. I will post my results soon.