DIY Rose Lip Balm

Learn how to make a luxurious homemade rose lip balm. Not only does this lip balm look lovely, but it’s also wonderfully hydrating for dry lips. It’s rich, smooth and glossy with just a hint of soft pink tint. You can choose to fragrance your lip balm with rose wax, essential oils or rose petals for a natural aroma that doesn’t rely on artificial fragrances.

Rose’s fragrance is a classic favourite used in a variety of beauty and skincare products, including lip balms. Yet, many commercial products contain no trace of roses at all.

In fact, one of the most popular store-bought rose lip balms is simply a combination of petrolatum, cheap refined cottonseed oil, and synthetic rose fragrance, with a hint of red dye.

Why use these store-brand lip balms laden with low-quality ingredients when you can create a homemade lip balm scented with the fragrance of real roses?

In this easy-to-follow tutorial, you will learn how to how to make a simple DIY rose lip balm recipe for irresistibly soft lips.

This easy recipe is crafted with all-natural ingredients for a non-toxic lip balm you can make at home in your own kitchen. It’s made with natural waxes, nourishing organic butters and oils, and a hint of natural colour.

You can choose between 3 different and easy ways to infuse your lip balm with a gorgeous, subtle rose fragrance – with rose wax, essential oils, or by infusing your lip balm with rose petals.

Why make your own rose lip balm at home?

High-quality ingredients

First and foremost, one of the main benefits to making your own rose lip balm is having control over what goes into it.

This of course can help you avoid many of the problematic ingredients often found in store-brand lip balms, including artificial fragrances and petroleum by-products.

I don’t know about you, but many store-brand balms leave my lips feeling drier than before I used them. It’s not hard to understand why when you look at their labels.

Petroleum-based ingredients like petrolatum and mineral oil may help lock in moisture, but they don’t provide the nourishment necessary to treat dry lips. And synthetic fragrances and preservatives only serve to further irritate already flaky, cracked lip skin.

Easy to customize

Homemade lip balm is also incredibly easy to customize.

Whether you prefer a softer or firmer lip balm is a matter of personal preference, so you can alter the texture of your balm by varying the ratio of the oils and beeswax. This makes it easy to craft the perfect consistency.

And depending on how tinted you’d like your lip balm to be, you can also choose to add more or less mica to create your perfect colour. Or, simply use lipstick.

Save money

Of course, making lip balm can also save you money, especially since good quality store-brand products can cost upwards of $8 per small tube or jar. And many high-end lip balms cost as much as $30 or more.

To make things even more economical, you can reuse your packaging for future batches. This saves money, while also being more sustainable than those store-bought lips balms and salves that often come in plastic containers.

For instance, I’ve used the tiny glass jars pictured in the photos of the single balm for many of my other homemade beauty recipes, including my DIY tinted lip balm.

You can also use small metal lip balm tins such as these to package your balm, or use the lovely glass jars with wood grain lids pictured in the group shots.

Or simply upcycle any small glass jar from your skincare or makeup empties, like Kyla did for her green tea lip balm.

How to make rose scented lip balm

There are a few different ways to imbue your DIY lip balm with the opulent fragrance of real roses.

Perhaps the most obvious way to make rose scented lip balm is with essential oils, but I used something a little different in this recipe: Bulgarian rose floral wax.

Rose wax

Rose wax is the creamy, fragrant wax extracted from rose petals. It helps give this rose lip balm a smooth, buttery texture that’s incredibly moisturizing.

Aside from its beautiful consistency and fragrance, another benefit of rose wax is that it’s more economical than pure rose essential oil.

It has a potent fragrance, so a little goes a long way. Only a small amount of rose wax will imbue your entire batch of lip balm with a gorgeous, floral aroma.

Its fragrance also has a sweetness to it, like rose candy. It’s not overwhelmingly floral or cloying, and even those who don’t like overly floral scents may still enjoy its sweet, floral aroma.

If it’s available to you, I highly recommend making this lip balm with rose wax. Any leftover can be used in a variety of homemade beauty products.

We first used rose wax in our rose cleansing balm recipe, but it was this beautiful rose body balm recipe that first introduced us to it.

Essential oils

If you’d prefer to scent your lip balm with essential oils, there are a few options to choose from.

Rose otto is the pure oil distilled from rose petals. It smells luxurious, but its beautiful fragrance also comes at a steep price.

If it’s already in your collection or if you’re ready to invest, a couple drops of high quality rose oil in your lip balm will suffice for a gorgeous, concentrated rose fragrance.

However, if pure rose oil is not within your budget, you can also use a diluted rose otto that has already been blended with a carrier oil. Look for rose otto blended with jojoba oil or coconut oil instead of unstable sunflower oil, which can spoil faster.

Finally, if you can’t find rose otto, rose geranium essential oil is commonly used as a rose substitute. While it doesn’t smell exactly the same as rose otto, rose geranium oil has a somewhat comparable floral aroma which is also lovely in lip balms.

Rose-infused oil

You can also bring the aroma of roses into your lip balm with rose petals.

This is easy to do by infusing culinary-grade dried rose petals in coconut oil. Then, using this rose-infused oil in place of the coconut oil in the recipe below.

How to make lip balm with rose petals

1. To make rose petal lip balm, first place 1/4 cup of culinary rose petals in a mason jar or heat-safe glass measuring cup. Then, cover the petals with 1/4 cup of coconut oil.
2. Stir the mixture with a clean spoon, or swirl gently. Make sure all the rose petals are covered in the oil.
3. Then, in a gently simmering water bath, heat the jar or cup on the stove for 2-4 hours.
4. Allow to cool, then strain the oil through a metal strainer or cheesecloth. Your rose petal oil is now ready to use in your lip balm. Any leftover oil makes for a wonderful body moisturizer.

Please note that you should only use dried, culinary-grade rose petals for your rose oil. Fresh petals will introduce water into the oil, causing it to spoil. And unless your fresh roses are organic, they will contain pesticide residue.

As well, please know that using rose-infused oil will yield a very subtly scented lip balm. For a stronger rose fragrance, I recommend using rose wax or rose essential oil.

Can you use rose petal powder for lip balm?

Rose petal powder is a popular way to temporarily stain lips with a natural pink hue. It’s also a key ingredient in our hydrating rose petal lip mask.

While it makes a lovely lip treatment, rose petal powder isn’t ideal for tinted lip balm. Powdered ingredients like rose powder and beetroot don’t dissolve in oil or shea butter, so they may leave a grainy texture in your final product.

You’re better off using mica to create a rosy tint, and using a lip mask with rose powder before applying your lip balm.

The best essential oil combinations for rose lip balm

If you opt to use rose otto to fragrance your lip balm, you can also add another complimentary essential oil or a natural lip balm flavour oil. This can give your homemade balm a unique flavour and scent.

Some essential oils blends that compliment rose include:

• Vanilla Rose. Adding vanilla oleoresin to your lip balm adds a warm, delicious note, creating a gorgeous vanilla rose lip balm that’s both sweet and floral. You can also use vanilla lip balm flavour.
• Coconut Rose. While there is no coconut essential oil, there is coconut CO2 extract. This rich, coconut-scented oil pairs nicely with rose oil for a tropical, floral combination. Alternatively, you can use organic coconut lip balm flavour oil to make coconut rose lip balm.
• Chocolate Rose. This classic combination is equal parts decadent and romantic. Use a few drops of cacao absolute (chocolate essential oil) or chocolate lip balm flavour to make your lips smell and taste like a chocolate rose truffle.
• Citrus Rose. Citrus oils help mellow out strong floral scents. The bright citrus scent of sweet orange essential oil combined with fragrant, floral rose creates a beautiful and uplifting scent combination.
• Lavender Rose. The soothing, healing floral scent of lavender essential oil has been shown to promote relaxation. This can help alleviate anxious feelings due to its calming aroma. This combination creates a lovely lavender rose lip balm.
• Rose Ylang-Ylang. Ylang-ylang oil has an exotic tropical fragrance that is popular in perfumery. When paired with rose’s floral notes, it makes for a luxurious scent combination.
• Jasmine Rose. Jasmine rose is another decadent floral blend. It smells like a fresh bouquet, which is lovely if you enjoy floral fragrances. And an interesting study suggests that jasmine essential oil may even contribute to a more uplifted mood¹.

Homemade rose lip balm ingredients

Aside from your fragrance ingredients such as essential oils or rose wax, you will also need the following ingredient for your rose lip balm base:

Shea butter or cocoa butter

Shea butter is incredibly emollient, offering significant benefits for dry or chapped lips. It’s comprised of nourishing fatty acids, including oleic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid and linoleic acid, and it also contains vitamins A and E.

If you’d prefer a lip balm without shea butter, you can also use cocoa butter. Its light chocolate scent is perfect for crafting chocolate-scented products such as a chocolate rose lip balm. But you can also use deodorized cocoa butter to avoid competing with your lip balm’s fragrance.

Derived from the cocoa bean, cocoa butter is rich in saturated fatty acids including palmitic acid and stearic acid. Its rich texture is perfect for incorporating into a moisturizing lip balm recipe.

It also contains polyphenols, which have antioxidant properties that can help protect and soothe lips.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil is a classic DIY beauty favourite. It’s saturated, inexpensive, shelf-stable and solid at room temperature, which makes it an ideal oil for use in lip balms or salves.

It also contains antibacterial and anti-fungal fatty acids like lauric acid that can contribute to a healthy skin microflora.

But aside from its skin benefits, coconut oil also helps give this lip balm recipe a nice, glossy finish.

If you don’t like coconut oil, you can substitute babassu oil, which is similar in texture.

Beeswax or vegan wax

Beeswax hardens the lip balm and creates a firm texture, but its benefits go beyond that. It also forms a protective layer on the skin which helps prevent dryness.

Plus, due to its humectant qualities, it draws water from the air, which can help hydrate dry lips.

I used white cosmetic beeswax in this recipe as I like the creamy texture it imparts to homemade lip balm, but you can also use yellow beeswax if you prefer it.

If you’re vegan, in lieu of the beeswax, you can substitute a plant-based wax of your choice. The best choices to make a vegan rose lip balm are candelilla wax or carnauba wax.

I’ve provided a separate modified recipe for vegan lip balm, as vegan waxes need to be used at a lower percentage than beeswax.

Finally, if you don’t mind using some processed ingredients, you may wish to use Cera Bellina wax instead of beeswax for a richer texture. You can read more about Cera Bellina in our post on green tea lip balm.

Mica

I used a small amount of cosmetic mica to add a subtle pink tint to this lip balm.

However, if you don’t have mica on hand or don’t wish to purchase it, a beauty hack we often use for tinted lip balm is to use a small piece of old or broken lipstick in lieu of the mica.

If you’d like to learn more about this, I also have a post on making your own homemade tinted lip balm with lipstick.

DIY Rose Lip Balm Recipe

Ingredients

Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 2 drops pure rose otto or 20 drops diluted rose otto)
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Vegan Rose Lip Balm

3 1/2 tsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp candelilla wax or carnauba wax flakes
1 tsp rose wax* (or 2 drops pure rose otto or 20 drops diluted rose otto)
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Coconut Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drop pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose Otto)
10 drops coconut CO2 extract or coconut lip balm flavour
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Chocolate Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp cocoa butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drop pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose Otto)
10 drops chocolate essential oil or chocolate lip balm flavour
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Vanilla Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drop pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose Otto)
10 drops vanilla essential oil or vanilla lip balm flavour
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Citrus Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drop pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose Otto)
10 drops sweet orange essential oil
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Lavender Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drops pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose Otto)
10 drops lavender essential oil
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Rose Ylang-Ylang Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drop pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose otto)
10 drops ylang-ylang essential oil
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Jasmine Rose Lip Balm

1 tbsp shea butter
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp white beeswax pellets
1 tsp rose wax* (or 1 drop pure rose otto or 10 drops diluted rose otto)
1 drop pure jasmine absolute or 10 drops diluted jasmine absolute
1/8 tsp pink mica, as desired

Supplies

Turkish coffee pot or small heat-safe glass measuring cup with spout
Shallow saucepan for water bath
Wooden spoon or mini whisk
Small glass jars or lip balm tins

How to make homemade rose lip balm

1. Wash equipment. Before beginning, wash your equipment in warm, soapy water. Allow to dry, or dry it with a clean kitchen towel.
2. Measure ingredients. Place shea butter (or cocoa butter), coconut oil, and wax of choice in a Turkish coffee pot or heat-safe glass measuring cup.
3. Create water bath. Then, place your container into a makeshift double boiler. To create a makeshift double boiler, you can use a a shallow saucepan filled with a few inches of water.
4. Heat. Heat the mixture gently on medium low heat. Since you’re making a small batch, your rose lip balm ingredients will melt quickly, so be careful not to let the mixture boil or burn.
5. Remove from heat. Once all ingredients have thoroughly melted, remove your pot from the stove. To avoid damaging the fragrance ingredients, wait a minute before proceeding to the next step.
6. Add fragrance, flavour and colour. During the cool down phase, add your rose wax first and mix promptly while the lip balm is still warm. A mini whisk helps to incorporate the ingredients quickly and thoroughly. Then, add mica for a pink colour, as well as essential oils or lip balm flavour, if desired.
7. Pour into containers. Pour your product into your glass jars or tins. Place your containers on a plate beforehand to make your lip balms easier to transport to the fridge.
8. Let cool. Carefully place the lip balms in the refrigerator and allow to cool for approximately 20-30 minutes. They shouldn’t take long to harden, but this will also depend on the size of your container.
9. Package. To avoid dents, wait to place the lids on your lip balms only once they’ve cooled down. They are now ready to use and gift, if desired.

Recipe Notes

Storage & shelf life

• *If not using rose wax, replace it with equal parts shea butter (1 teaspoon).
• This recipe yields approximately 42 ml of lip balm, so choose your containers accordingly. If you don’t want to make that much, simply half the recipe.
• If stored correctly, your homemade rose lip balm should last approximately one year. Store in a cool, dry place away from heat or light.

Tips for the best homemade rose lip balm

• Be sure your melted lip balm is completely clear before removing it from heat. Any small lumps or signs of cloudiness mean that the wax is not fully melted, which will create a grainy texture in your final product.
• When mixing in the rose wax and mica, a mini steel whisk works best to ensure everything is completely incorporated.
• When pouring your lip balm into containers, a Turkish coffee pot or measuring cup with a spout comes in handy. However, if your melting container doesn’t have a spout, you can use a small funnel to fill your lip balm containers. Although, if using a funnel, this step must be done quickly before the ingredients begin to harden.
• Cooling the lip balms quickly in the refrigerator will help stop wax lumps from forming. However, don’t leave them in the fridge too long, as they may get too cold and crack. Remove from the fridge once set.

How to use your rose lip balm

For best results, use your rose lip balm several times a day which will provide maximum hydration for chapped lips. Apply as needed, using clean finger tips, so as not to introduce bacteria into your container.

At nighttime, you can still use this lip balm, but you should make an extra batch and skip the colour or you could wake up with pink stained pillowcases.

To use at night, simply apply a thicker coating than you would during the day. Using a thicker coat of lip balm is a quick moisturizing overnight lip treatment or remedy for dry lips, and will help prevent chapped lips while you sleep.

Tips for lip care

For best results and to ensure proper lip care, exfoliate your lips before using a tinted balm. This will help your lips appear smoother, more supple and remove any dry flakes that can ruin the look of lip balm. 

To make a quick and easy lip scrub, use an equal mixture of coconut oil (or another carrier oil of your choice), honey and fine sugar. Mix all ingredients in equal parts in a small bowl, and then apply to your lips and gently scrub.

Store any left-over lip scrub in the fridge, but please don’t over-exfoliate. Use an exfoliant a couple times of week, at most. We do have a few lip scrub recipes on the blog which you will find here.

However, if you find that your lips are very dry, especially in the winter, you can also pre-treat them with our ultra-hydrating rose lip mask.

More DIY beauty recipes

If you’re looking for more homemade lip care recipes, check these out:

• DIY Tinted Lip Balm
• Green Tea Lip Balm Recipe
• DIY Rose Petal Lip Mask Recipe
• Winter Lip Scrubs for Soft Lips

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