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February 2008 THIRD THURSDAY:
Make Your Own Lip Balm
In keeping with the Third Thursday trend of late....February 21, 2008
was a miserable, cold & rainy evening - a perfect winter weather
backdrop for making our own lip balm!
Sherry Stocks welcomed us into her cozy
home, where we socialized for a moment or
two over snacks before settling in for a very
interesting and informative presentation on the
history of lip balm!  Did you know:
Lip balm was invented in the early
1880's by Dr. C.D. Fleet, a physician in
Lynchburg, VA.
The primary difference between lip balm
and "Chapstick" is that Chapstick
contains camphor, which can actually dry
out your lips!!
Lips exfoliate naturally every 28 days.
You can prevent chapped lips by keeping
yourself hydrated and avoiding an excess
of acidic foods (like tomatoes).
"Liplickers", dermatologists'
name for those who
habitually lick or chew their
lips, can be addicted to lip
balm!  Sound like you?  
WATCH OUT -  using too
much lip balm can dry your
lips out.  Doctors
recommend you discontinue
use once your chapped lips
have healed.
Making Lip Balm
Making your own lip balm is EASY and AFFORDABLE!!  Sherry
informed us that all of her supplies were purchased online, and she
procured enough materials to make 2 dozen "sticks" of lip balm for
under $15!  All you need is 1 ounce of beeswax, 4 ounces of
safflower oil, and approximately 1 teaspoon of any unsweetened
essential or flavored oil (Liplickers take note - it's important to use
unsweetened oil to decrease your temptation to lick!!!)
Sherry demonstrated how to fill the lip balm containers with the
liquid lip balm mixture (for complete instructions on how to prepare
and combine the ingredients, click here), and then invited everyone to
take a turn filling their own:
Sherry regales everyone
with an informative and
amusing history of lip balm.
It took about 30 minutes for the lip balm to set up......
Sherry displays some of the tools of the trade, and walks Katie Deese through the
process of pipetting liquid lip balm into a storage container (we used sticks).
Lip balm has other uses besides softening your lips!!  Use lip
balm to lubricate stuck zippers, rings stuck on your fingers, or
stubborn nails and screws; use it to groom your mustache or
eyebrows; use it to stop bleeding from shaving nicks and cuts;
and you can even use lip balm to keep hair dye from staining
your skin by applying it along your hairline!
The self-proclaimed founding chapter of
"Liplickers Anonymous".......
....and then we each got to take some
home!

Thanks Sherry, for hosting such a
GREAT event!!  We can't wait to try
out the recipe on our own!