coffeeandtomatoes

When I get chapped lips or hands I make salve from beeswax and oil. It might not be rich enough to make it all go away, but it protects from water and magically makes the rough spots on your fingertips disappear. When used as a chapstick you might need to re-apply a couple of times to make the best of it, but it will be worth the effort.

It's really easy to make using only two ingredients and it also works as a base for other salves. You could add a bit of honey, but to get the benefits of the honey it's best to use raw honey.

How to:

Prepare a waterbath by using a small pan and fill it with a couple of inches of water in the bottom of the pan, how much depends on the size of your jar. Let it start to warm up while you fill up your jar.

Choose a jar that is suitable for the amount of salve you want.

Fill 2/3 of your jar with oil and add the amount of beeswax that you want.

You might need to start with a small amount and work your way to the consistency you want. I've read recommendations from 10 to 30% beeswax. 10% is a very thin salve while 25% gives a rather thick salve.

Put the jar in the waterbath and let it heat up until the wax has melted. Don't use to much heat since the jar is standing on the bottom of the pan.

Remove the jar from the waterbath, stir and add a small amount of honey if you like.

Let it cool off so that you can see if it has the consistency you want, otherwise you can add more beeswax or oil and reheat it again. I wouldn't reheat more than once.