Adding Ingredients to Your Lip Balm Formula

To enhance your lip balm formula with sunscreen, antioxidant, and preservative properties using ingredients available on MySkinRecipes, here are some suitable options:

Sunscreen

For adding sun protection to an oil-based lip balm, oil-soluble sunscreens are typically used. Consider these options:

• SPF Protect Ultra™ III: This is a blend of oil-soluble sunscreens that provides broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection and is easy to incorporate into oil phases.
• Individual oil-soluble sunscreens like Octocrylene or Homosalate can also be used, often in combination to achieve desired SPF and broad-spectrum protection.

Antioxidant (to prevent rancidity)

Antioxidants help prevent the oils in your lip balm from going rancid. Suitable oil-soluble antioxidants include:

• Protec™ OX: A highly effective synthetic antioxidant.
• tert-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) or Butylated Hydroxyanisole are also effective oil-soluble options.

Preservative (for microbial growth)

Traditional preservatives are needed to prevent microbial growth (bacteria, mold, yeast) in formulas that contain a water phase. If your lip balm is purely oil/wax-based (anhydrous), a preservative for microbial growth is generally not required. However, if you include any water-based ingredients or there's a risk of water contamination, you would need a preservative. For formulas containing a water phase, consider a broad-spectrum water-soluble preservative like:

• Mild Preserved™ COS
• NaturePreserve™ LB2

Remember to always check the usage rates and mixing instructions for each ingredient on the product page before incorporating them into your formula.