Surprisingly, cocoa butter is not a common ingredient for lip balms. Most are made with beeswax, glycerol, and something like tocopherol acetate (an oily version of vitamin E), with a cheap vegetable oil, like sunflower or cottonseed.
This is most likely due to cost. Cocoa butter is rather expensive, despite having fantastic skin conditioning qualities, and being loaded with oil based antioxidants, like vitamin E. It is commonly sold nearly pure as a beauty aid, and as a preparation to reduce the production of stretch-marks due to pregnancy. Comparatively, cottonseed and sunflower oils are produced hundreds of gallons at a time, and can be obtained for mere pennies per liter.
Natural beeswax has a faint honey like aroma, and distilled glycerol is naturally sweet and warming when placed on skin. 70% beeswax, 20% cocoa butter, 5% glycerol, 4.98% water, and .02% real vanilla extract whipped really good would make a fine lipbalm I think.
A tiny touch of actual honey might also work, but its easy to ruin a subtle hint with outright heavy handed flavor. (Raw wax has a scent, but not a flavor.)
I am compelled to perform experiments now. I will hit the beauty aisle of the local market to see if I can score some cocoa butter. I can get glycerol at GNC. It's sold as a reduced glycemic index sweetener there and at other healthfood stores. (It also has well known humectant and moisturizing qualities, as well as keeping the preparation smooth. It has the consistency of white corn syrup, and never dries out. It's a staple in moisture whips.)
Now.. do I dare produce a sweet, edible cocoa butter body lotion? No... the female human merchant caravans would never be safe if I did that.
(Ninja'd)
I don't think you are shallow or image insecure. Wanting to look attractive, and being jealous about appearances are not the same thing. Well cared for skin is as much about healthy skin as it is about attractiveness as well. The purpose of a lip balm is to hold in moisture, to keep lips fry drying and scaling. A runnier, more oil rich version produces a lip gloss, which may also contain crushed mica powder for added lustre. I clearly understand the line between petty vanity, and simply wanting to look and smell nice. My mom was the type that never used makeup ever, and never took care of her skin, and in her old age, it realy shows. Taking good care of your skin and avoiding a lot of the nastier chemicals in commercial preparations (cyclosiloxane? Dimethicone? Why not just slather refinery waste on your skin! Perhaps some coal oil!) Will help you live longer if you also practice good rules about sun exposure.
No, the cosmetic line would be formulated for application, utility, and skin health as well as cosmetic function. I personally don't wear the stuff, but I do use a good moisturizer. (One of the things that makes people wonder about my orientation.) My sister went so far as to call me "metro" once, to which I promplty drew attention to my walmart discount wardrobe, and lax festidiousness about my hairstyle, and spartan household furnishings. These days will all the crap in the air, skin protection is just prudent if you don't want spots when you are old.
I do spot test batches of cosmetics when I do make them for people, to make sure they wear well. I refuse to give friends grease paint.
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