Swiped across the lips, beeswax leaves a fine film that slows water evaporating from the skin, and since the wax doesn't melt until 61–66°C, that film holds at body temperature. In a beeswax lip balm the wax also binds a softer butter (usually shea) with a plant oil into a stick firm enough to push out of a tube.
Lips need that film more than the rest of the face does. The outer layer of the lips holds less water, and loses it faster, than the skin on the cheek, according to a 2020 study in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science (Tamura et al.).
Occlusives, emollients and humectants
Cosmetic chemists sort moisturizing ingredients by what they do. Occlusives are oils and waxes that sit on the skin and physically stop water escaping. Emollients such as fatty acids smooth and soften the surface, and humectants pull water into the skin. That's the scheme laid out in a review in Clinical Medicine & Research by Purnamawati and colleagues (2017). A stick balm contains no water, so it relies on occlusives and emollients, and beeswax falls in the first group, classed with lanolin as a wax ester.
Beeswax
Beeswax is far more complicated than it looks. A review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences counts over 300 substances in it: wax esters make up the largest share, with hydrocarbons at 12–17.8% and free fatty acids at 12–14%. The film it forms is occlusive, which in the review's terms means it reduces transepidermal water loss.
Its behavior with heat is what makes it suit a pocket-sized stick. The wax turns plastic, or workable, at around 32°C (90°F), so the stick gives under the pressure of a swipe, yet it stays solid until 61–66°C (about 142–151°F), well past anything a coat pocket will reach. The same review counts over 50 aroma compounds in beeswax, which is why an unflavored balm has a faint honey smell rather than none.
What do shea and cocoa butter add?
Butters make the stick feel less waxy. They're solid in the tube and soften at skin temperature, filling the space between hard wax and liquid oil.
Shea butter is the fat of the shea kernel, and stearic and oleic acids make up 85–90% of its fatty acids, per the Purnamawati review. It's also one of the ingredients the American Academy of Dermatology suggests looking for in a product for dry, chapped lips.
Cocoa butter has a much narrower melt. It's a hard solid at 15–25°C (59–77°F) and melts at 30–35°C (86–95°F), close to body temperature, according to the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy's compounding notes. A cocoa butter balm therefore feels firm in the tube and slick the moment it touches skin. The UNC notes also warn that overheating cocoa butter during mixing leaves it in a less stable form that melts at 25–30°C.
Plant oils do the last job. They loosen the blend so it spreads in a thin, even coat instead of dragging. Ours uses coconut oil.
Flavor is the part to watch
Essential oils and extracts give a balm its flavor and smell, and they do nothing for moisture. Citrus flavors usually come from the peel: citrus essential oils are pressed mainly from the flavedo, the colored outer rind, and limonene makes up 90–97% of sweet orange oil, according to a 2019 Frontiers in Plant Science review.
Most of what we make is flavored, so we'd rather be plain about the trade-off. The AAD's list of things to stop using on chapped lips includes flavorings, and it names cinnamon, citrus, mint and peppermint. Fragrance and menthol are on the same list, as are camphor and eucalyptus. For cracked lips the AAD's advice is to choose products labeled fragrance free and to stop using anything that burns or stings. An unflavored balm is the one to reach for then.
Is beeswax lip balm better than petrolatum?
At sealing in water, petrolatum wins. The Purnamawati review calls it "the most effective classic occlusive moisturizer" and reports that at 5% or more it can cut transepidermal water loss by over 98%. The AAD's advice for very dry, cracked lips is a thick ointment such as white petroleum jelly, which "seals in water longer than waxes or oils."
So why choose beeswax? Mostly for the feel, and for the ingredient list. Beeswax is a stiffening agent, so a beeswax balm is a firm stick rather than a soft ointment that can feel greasy.
A beeswax balm can also be made from a short list of things that come from bees and plants. Per swipe, you get less seal.
How much seal a balm gives depends on the whole formula rather than one headline ingredient. In the Tamura study, 20 women used one of two balms made of ordinary oils and waxes for 4 weeks. The more occlusive formula improved lip roughness, and the authors put the difference down to occlusivity itself, with no special care agent involved. For a shopper, that argues for reading the base of a balm before its flavor or its claims.
Reading the flavor on the label
Flavored beeswax balms tend to sort into families: citrus from peel oils (orange, lemon, grapefruit, lime); florals such as lavender, rose or violet; warm spices like cinnamon and clove, often paired with orange; fruit and dessert extracts such as date or vanilla; and unflavored.
Ours follow the same lines. The Citrus Variety 4-pack holds Navel Orange and Eureka Lemon alongside Pink Grapefruit and Key Lime. Our Date Shake balm is flavored with Coachella Valley dates and Mexican vanilla.
Our base, and where the wax comes from
Our balms start from beeswax softened with shea butter and coconut oil. The Simply Beeswax 4-pack is that base and nothing else, which makes it our pick for cracked or sensitive lips. Each flavored balm adds one thing: lemon essential oil in Eureka Lemon, prickly pear extract in Prickly Pear. Every tube holds 0.15 oz.
The wax comes from local beekeepers our family has known for four generations; their bees have pollinated local orchards for nearly 90 years. Our story has more on them, and each flavor's full ingredient list is in the lip balm collection.
Photo by Sperry Honey on Unsplash.
