Winter 2015: Stock up cabinet with easy to make lip balms

New Delhi: Virgin coconut oil and cocoa butter balm or a peppermint one, you can make these and more at home to do away with chapped lips.

Manisha Chopra, cosmetologist, founder of SeaSoul Cosmeceuticals, has shared a few tips to make homemade lip balms:

* Virgin coconut oil and cocoa butter balm: Mix fresh virgin coconut oil well with cocoa butter. Then heat the mixture with an equal proportion of shredded beeswax along with vanilla extract. Once the mix reaches a thick consistency, pour it into an empty box which you can carry around with you. Refrigerate the box for some time before applying it.

* Lemon rosemary balm: For this balm, you need pretty much the same ingredients as above but to jazz things up, blend in lemon and rosemary essence to the mixture. Add about 15 drops of each essence after mixing the coconut oil, cocoa butter and beeswax. If you want to add a dash of colour, just infuse a little chunk of lipstick while the mixture is still heating!

* Peppermint balm: Take some petroleum jelly in a microwave-safe bowl and put it inside the oven till the jelly turns into liquid. Now add one teaspoon of honey and half teaspoon of sweet almond oil to it. Infuse the peppermint extract and mix everything together and microwave the mixture again for 20 seconds. After this, put the heated mixture in a lip balm stick which is easily available in the market today or in a small box. Let it rest at room temperature for an hour and use it when hardened.

* Mint chocolate balm: Besides the staples of coconut oil and cocoa butter, you also need three to four chocolate chips and some mint extract. Place all the ingredients in a heat-safe bowl. Heat a little water in a saucepan and once it starts to simmer, put this bowl on top of it. Melt the ingredients in the bowl and then pour the liquid into a sterilized container. As above, let it set and then pamper yourself with this little indulgence as many times a day as you like.