Why should Momma Zen natural lip balm make you smile?

First of all it is handmade. That should make you smile! If not that, then maybe because the ingredients are all natural and nourishing for your lips. In the photo at the bottom of this blog, you can see all of the ingredients that went into my latest batch of lip balms. There are two lip balms. One for bee lovers and one for vegans! These two lip balms just have one different ingredient in them and that is the wax. For beelovers, there is beeswax (that is the lovely honey coloured block in the bottom of the photo), which not only smells like honey, but it also has a slight honey taste as some organic honey has been added too. For vegans or others who might want all vegetable products, there is carnauba wax (the yellow flakes in the photo below). Apart from these two different waxes, the lip balms share their ingredients. They also contain cocoa butter, shea butter, calendula infused oil, castor oil and apricot kernel oil. The waxes are added to lip balm for hardness, slowing the absorption of the oils and forming a barrier on the lips to retain moisture. The vegan lip balm’s wax is carnauba wax, which comes from the leaves of a Brazilian tree (a renewable resource, called ‘the tree of life’ locally). It is a hard wax and gives a nice glossy finish. In the beelover’s version, there is beeswax which is a natural hydrator. It is also very healing, has good emollient and softening properties and there is a touch of organic honey for taste, as well as its nourishing and healing qualities. Then there are the butters. Cocoa butter tastes and smells great and is very lubricating and adds hardness to the lip balm. Shea butter is healing, nurturing and moisturising. For more information, see my blog on shea butter here http://mommazennaturals.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/shea-butter-2/ . The calendula oil is macerated in olive oil which extracts all the constituents from the calendula flowers and infuses them into the oil. Infused calendula oil is great for healing skin and for tissue regeneration, so in a lip balm it is great for chapped lips. Castor oil is a thick ‘oily’ oil and acts as a barrier for the skin and so protects lips from the elements. It is also good for lips as it is absorbed very slowly. Apricot kernel oil is absorbed slowly, is very moisturising and has a great taste. Here in Turkey, people snack on apricot kernel seeds. When all of these ingredients are combined, it is one super lip balm. Why don’t you get yourself an all natural handmade lip balm and give your lips some well deserved nourishing!