Lip Butter Recipe with Maple Syrup

Made without beeswax, this vegan, creamy lip butter recipe with shea butter is the stuff of dreams, infused with all the natural goodness of—wait for it—maple syrup! Since I’m living in Montreal, Canada, I couldn’t resist but to use maple syrup as we have an abundance of it in Quebec.

With the change of season, fluctuating temperatures, and wind that dries up your lips. Do yourself a favor and repair the flaky dry lips with this luscious, deeply hydrating, whipped lip butter recipe!

Say hello to soft, hydrated lips with this creamy and moisturizing lip butter recipe.

What is a lip butter?

Just like a body butter rejuvenates parched skin, homemade lip butter is a creamy lip care DIY product that provides intense hydration and nourishment to dry and chapped lips. Usually rich in fatty acids, antioxidants, and nutrients, lip butter contains natural emollients that strengthen your lips’ natural barriers and lock in moisture, resulting in healthier, plump and more beautiful lips.

How do you make lip butter?

Combine oil, butter, and a wax. For the perfect consistency, be sure to be careful about the ratios and follow my recipe below—it should be about 10% wax, 35% butter, and 55% oil.

My lip butter will be first soft like in the photo below and then harden slightly as it cools down. The final product has a buttery texture, that is soft and melts on the contact with the skin, perfect to apply to your lips.

Which butter is best for lip balm?

The best choices for any kind of lip balm would hand down be either shea or cocoa butter. Both are excellent moisturizers, rich in fatty acids that provide immediate and long-lasting relief to damaged lips, leaving you with soft, smooth, kissable lips. This is why I included both of them in my lip butter recipe.

Lip butter recipe key ingredients

• Shea butter: Fat extracted from the nuts of shea trees native to West Africa, shea butter is a rich emollient with excellent healing properties for dry and parched lips. Rich in fatty acids and antioxidants, it’s commonly used in lip care products to make lips smooth and plump.
• Candelilla wax: Wax derived from the leaves of the Candelilla shrub, this wax is reputed to add a beautiful shine and gloss to lips. Rich in nutrients, it’s often used as a vegan substitute for beeswax in lip care products.
• Cocoa butter: Vegetable fat obtained from the cocoa beans, the seeds of the cacao, or “chocolate tree”, cocoa butter contains a high concentration of natural antioxidants. Revered for its restorative and healing abilities, it provides long-lasting hydration to chapped lips.
• Safflower oil: Oil extracted from the seeds or petals of the Safflower plant, Safflower oil contains useful antioxidant-rich vitamins that help lock in your lip’s moisture while the linoleic acid in it works to maintain the integrity of the outer skin layer, thus preventing flaky lips.
• Castor oil: A multi-purpose vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the Ricinus communis plant, castor oil is known as a magical remedy to get rid of bad lips. Full of fatty acids, it helps retain your lip’s moisture, forming a natural barrier to prevent dried, chapped lips. It also gives a nice glossy and shiny effect to this DIY lip butter.
• Maple syrup (optional): Processed from the sap water of the Canadian maple tree, maple syrup will take your lip butter from a 0 to a solid 10 real quick. It gives a nice flavor and sweet taste to your homemade lip butter.

How to choose the best maple syrup?

Choose nothing less than the very best quality maple syrup you can find. If possible, use syrup that’s organic certified. Be sure to check the ingredients before buying to confirm that it’s made of 100% pure maple syrup. This means that there’s only one ingredient in the bottle– maple syrup obtained from trees that were grown with little or no chemicals or pesticides.

Another thing, beware of imitation products. Do not fall for brands that sell maple “flavor” or high-fructose corn syrup under the guise of pure maple syrup.

Best containers for a homemade lip butter

Plastic containers

Lightweight and compact, these cute little jars are the perfect containers to store your homemade lip butters in. Made from heavy plastic, they’re available in sets of 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 in 10 different colors. Me being me, I love how classy and feminine these look, especially the frosted pink shade. But what I really love about these is that just like branded cosmetics have little liners with pull up tabs on them, these too come with inner liners and dome lids with each jar. The airtight packaging prevents any leakages and keeps your product away from any moisture, thus helping it last longer.

Glass containers

As a general rule, glass jars are a much better choice than plastic when it comes to storing your DIY concoctions. Not only is glass more stable, but it can also be safely used for hot mixtures. It is of course a more environmentally friendly choice and you can reuse them again and again. These thick wall jars also come with airtight inner seals and the packaging looks really chic and sophisticated too!

Is Nivea Lip Butter good?

Don’t fall for this product’s deceiving marketing–the following chemicals found in this lip butter make it anything but safe:

• Triisostearin : An emollient and skin conditioning agent, triisostearin has been shown to cause low levels of non-reproductive organ system toxicity and high contamination concerns.

(Source: https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredients/724654-TRIISOSTEARIN_PEG6_ESTERS/)

• BHT: Studies have shown that long-term exposure to high doses of BHT is toxic in mice and rodents, leading to liver, thyroid, and kidney and lung problems. BHT can also lead to tumor formations.

Moreover, limited evidence suggests that high doses of BHT may mimic estrogen, the primary female sex hormone which can result in adverse reproductive effects.

( source: https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/dirty-dozen-bha-bht/)

One more reason to make your own lip butter with all-natural ingredients! (Just in case I did not convince you yet with another recipe 🙂

If you are looking for a whipped lip gloss, take a look at my luscious whipped lip gloss recipe or my pink lip gloss recipe with beetroot!