You Can’t Beet This Balm Alternative!

^{Photo: Steve Wisbauer / Getty}

Beets are great. Not necessarily great to eat (for some), but those rounded red veggies sure do help to make the world a little greener.

Maybe beets aren’t really good for anything except your compost heap, but the juice. Ahhh. The juice. It’s a frugal-minded treehugger’s dream come true. As long as you like the color red, that is.

Not only can you use beat juice to color Easter eggs, dye delectable dishes, and indicate pH levels in your home and garden, but beet juice is a natural and safe dye you can slip into your favorite natural chap stick or lip balm recipe too. Your luscious lips will stay hydrated and they’ll turn a nice shade of red or pink.

The Teens for Safe Cosmetics have come with a recipe for natural lip balm that is absolutely to die for. Are you ready? Here you go:

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons beeswax
• 6 tablespoons calendula oil
• 8 tablespoons almond oil
• Approx. 3 tablespoons beet juice (depending on the desired color)
• 4-5 drops of orange essential oil

Directions:

Grate the beeswax and melt it in a double broiler. Add almond and calendula oils while stirring. Remove from heat. Add the desired amount of beet juice for color and mix. Add essential oil. Cool to room temperature. Store in a small container.

^{[Via Ecofabulous]}