Easy Tallow: Lip Balm Recipe

Make your own nourishing lip balm with just a few simple ingredients! This easy tallow lip balm recipe is easy to make and feels amazing to use. It will quickly become your new must-have skincare product!

Did you know that the tallow we cook with works as a wonderfully nourishing skincare ingredient?

We love using tallow for all things skincare. It makes our skin feel silky soft and moisturized, plus it makes our skin look so healthy.

We've used tallow quite a bit, mostly in homemade tallow body butter and DIY tallow balm. We even recently shared our homemade tallow lotion for the face!

Needless to say, we love tallow! It works so well on our arms, legs, and face, so we knew we needed to try it on our lips!

This DIY tallow lip balm is the result, and our lips have never felt better.

These little tubes turned into one of our favorite easy homemade gifts for teachers, since they tuck right into a card or a gift bag.

Why You’ll Love This Lip Balm

If you haven’t tried tallow yet, be prepared to fall in love! We've found tallow to be incredible for our skin health and overall moisture. This recipe primarily uses tallow to hydrate and soothe the lips, and it works wonders for me. You can read more about the benefits of beef tallow here.
Making your own products is very eco-friendly. We reuse the lip balm containers multiple times, which reduces waste. Tallow itself is also eco-friendly as it’s a natural byproduct of meat production.
DIY lip balm is completely customizable! You can swap out different ingredients, choose a different container, or try different essential oils to make the perfect balm for you.

Ingredients and Supplies

Tallow lip balm ingredients assembled and labeled.

Beef tallow: The primary ingredient in this lip balm, tallow is incredibly nourishing and moisturizing to the skin.
Vitamin E oil: This adds an extra boost of moisturizing and skin-healthy benefits. Vitamin E oil is an antioxidant known for hydrating and protecting the skin.
Beeswax: Wax is essential to give the chapstick the perfect firmness while keeping it spreadable.
Peppermint essential oil: We love how peppermint oil smells and the cooling effect it has on our lips! Feel free to use a different essential oil, but be sure to avoid hot oils and photosensitive oils.
Lip balm containers: You can use circular lip balm containers we used, or twist-up chapstick tubes. We find the round containers to be easier to fill, but we've used the tubes for our homemade strawberry chapstick, and they work well too.

How to Make Tallow Lip Balm

Pouring beeswax pellets into a double boiler with melting tallow.

Step 1. In a double boiler, melt the tallow and beeswax over low heat.

Dropping essential oils into a melted bowl of tallow lip balm ingredients.

Step 2. Remove from heat and add in the vitamin E oil and peppermint essential oil. Stir well to mix.

Stirring a bowl of melted tallow lip balm ingredients.

Step 3. Carefully pour the mixture into empty twist-up lip balm tubes or small tins.

Step 4. Let the balm cool and harden completely at room temperature. Once fully set, secure the caps and store in a cool, dry place.

Helpful Tips

We calculated the essential oil amount using an online fragrance calculator. You can always reduce the essential oil or omit it altogether if you are sensitive.
Be careful not to leave this lip balm anywhere hot, like the car, because it will melt. If your house gets extremely warm in the summer, you may want to store it in the refrigerator.
You can add some color to this lip balm by including a little bit of ethically sourced mica powder. Learn exactly how to do it in our DIY tinted lip balm recipe.

Holding a container of tallow lip balm with more containers in the background.

Recipe FAQ

What is tallow?

Tallow is rendered animal fat, usually sourced from cattle or sheep. It’s commonly used as a cooking oil and skincare ingredient. Because tallow is a byproduct of meat production, it’s affordable and eco-friendly. It’s also amazingly effective for moisturizing and nourishing the skin. We love using tallow in a variety of homemade products, such as this tallow lip balm and our homemade tallow soap!

Is tallow vegan-friendly?

No, tallow is a fat derived from animals, so it is not considered suitable for vegans. If you want a vegan-friendly chapstick, see our homemade vegan lip balm recipe!

Does tallow smell bad?

While tallow does have a faint but distinct smell, we don’t find the tallow scent to be noticeable, especially with the peppermint essential oil in this recipe. If the smell bothers you, you can try adding more essential oils or opt for a different lip balm, such as DIY coconut oil lip balm.

How long does this lip balm last?

To determine the shelf life of your tallow lip balm, check the expiration date on your beef tallow. That will give you a good use-by date for the DIY lip balm.

More DIY Lip Care Recipes

If you tried this tallow lip balm or any other tutorial on our website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

5 from 1 vote

Tallow Lip Balm Recipe

By the studio Ascher Prep: 5 minutes minsActive: 20 minutes minsTotal: 25 minutes mins Yield: 3 containers Three containers of tallow lip balm on a table with one empty container.

Three containers of tallow lip balm on a table with one empty container.

SaveSaved Pin Print Homemade tallow lip balm moisturizes and soothes dry lips with simple, natural ingredients. It's easy to make and lovely to use!

Equipment

Double Boiler
Lip balm containers

Ingredients

2 oz beef tallow
0.75 oz beeswax
0.01 oz vitamin E oil, about 10 drops
0.02 oz peppermint essential oil, about 20 drops

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Instructions

In a double boiler, melt the tallow and beeswax over low heat.
Remove from heat and add in the vitamin E oil and peppermint essential oil. Stir well to mix.
Carefully pour the mixture into empty twist-up lip balm tubes or small tins.
Let the balm cool and harden completely at room temperature.
Once fully set, secure the caps and store in a cool, dry place.

Notes

We calculated the essential oil amount using an online fragrance calculator. You can always reduce the essential oil or omit it altogether if you are sensitive.
Be careful not to leave this lip balm anywhere hot, like the car, because it will melt. If your house gets extremely warm in the summer, you may want to store it in the refrigerator.
You can add some color to this lip balm by including a little bit of ethically sourced mica powder. Learn exactly how to do it in our DIY tinted lip balm recipe.

Tried this recipe?Mention @our_oily_house or tag #ouroilyhouse! This recipe is for your own viewing pleasure and is not meant for healing purposes. Readers must perform their own research and tests before making any recipe.