Help Me Pick Ingredients — Balm Wizard
How SoapMath Recommends Ingredients for Anhydrous Balm Products
Anhydrous (water-free) balm products — lip balms, body balms, lotion bars, whipped butters, oil serums, and more — depend on getting the right balance of waxes, butters, and oils. Too much wax and it's waxy and draggy. Too much oil and it won't hold its shape. The Help Me Pick Ingredients wizard in BalmMath recommends specific ingredients and ratios tailored to your product type, desired texture, and ingredient preferences.
This guide explains how the wizard selects and balances ingredients so you can build better balm formulas faster.
How to Use the Wizard
- Select Your Product Type — Choose what you're making (lip balm, body balm, lotion bar, whipped butter, oil serum, perfume roller, or cleansing balm) in the calculator first.
- Open the Wizard — Click the "Help Me Pick Ingredients" button that appears in the balm calculator.
- Set Preferences — Choose your texture preference and optionally filter for natural or vegan ingredients only.
- Review & Add — Browse the recommended ingredients with suggested percentages. Click "Add" on any ingredient to add it to your formula.
Product Types and What They Need
Lip Balm
Firm enough for a tube, smooth glide on lips. Needs wax (15–25%), butters (20–35%), and oils (40–60%). Beeswax or candelilla wax provides structure.
Body Balm
Solid at room temperature, melts on contact with skin. Lower wax content than lip balm, more butters and oils for skin-melting texture.
Lotion Bar
Hard bar that melts when rubbed on skin. Higher wax content for firmness. Equal parts wax, butter, and oil is a common starting ratio.
Whipped Butter
Soft, fluffy texture. Very low or no wax. High butter content (shea, mango, cocoa) whipped with liquid oils for an airy consistency.
Oil Serum
100% liquid — no waxes or solid butters. Blend of carrier oils and oil-soluble actives for face or hair treatment.
Perfume Roller
Lightweight oil base (jojoba, fractionated coconut) designed to carry fragrance. Very simple formula with high fragrance load.
Cleansing Balm
Solid balm that melts and dissolves makeup. Uses emulsifying wax so it rinses clean with water. Needs oils with good solvent properties.
How Ingredients Are Selected
Scoring System
Each ingredient gets a score based on how well it suits your product type and preferences. The wizard considers melting point (hard butters vs soft oils), skin feel, absorption speed, and compatibility. Top-scoring ingredients are recommended with percentages that create a balanced formula.
Percentage Balancing
Percentages are set to achieve the right consistency for your product type. Lip balms get more wax, whipped butters get almost none. The wizard ensures total percentages leave room for fragrance and any additives you might want to add later.
Filters
The natural and vegan filters remove ingredients that don't meet those criteria. For vegan formulas, beeswax is replaced with candelilla wax (used at roughly half the amount since it's harder), and lanolin is replaced with plant-based alternatives.
Tips for Best Results
- Select your product type in the calculator first — the wizard uses this to determine ingredient ratios
- After adding wizard ingredients, check the hardness prediction bar to see if the formula is in the right range
- Leave 2–5% room in your formula for fragrance or essential oils
- For lip balm, add vitamin E at 0.5–1% as an antioxidant to extend shelf life
- Use the IFRA calculator to verify fragrance amounts are within safe limits for your product category