Dear Valerie: I’m looking for a way to add some sweetness to an anhydrous lip balm without it being flavored. What are options you suggest?  – Sweet Lips

Dear Sweet:

There are a few options you can consider adding to reduce any negative taste perceptions from the waxes and oils, without the lip balm being flavored.

The first consideration is to actually use a flavor, but in low quantities by weight—just enough to give it a tinge of something without coming across as a flavor. A flavor house can make flavor recommendations that impart that sweet aspect and lip-lickability in this use case. If your requirement is to not be flavored because you want to claim flavor-free, this obviously won’t be an option to explore.

Another option is to add a sweetener to the lip balm—aspartame or stevia. These aren’t soluble in oils or waxes, but they are dispersible. By milling them into a fine enough particle size, they will be suspended well through the balm without grittiness. When the consumer licks her lips or the product seeps into his mouth, the sweetener will dissolve from the water in saliva. They are used in the food industry and can, therefore, be ingested.

Lastly, I would recommend adding monoammonium glycyrrhizinate. It’s a salt of the licorice root extract that’s made during the extraction process of glycyrrhizic acid from the licorice root. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, but also has GRAS status, and can be used in lip products, as it imparts a little sweetness. This is highly regulated thanks to licorice root extracts having real pharmacological activity in the body. Have you ever heard about someone dying or having a heart attack from consuming too much black licorice? Glycyrrhetic acid reduces potassium levels in the body, and thus MAG is permitted up to 0.02% as a flavor or flavor enhancer. It might not seem like a high use level, but just a smidge makes a huge impact.

As an aside, I would like to make a public service announcement. If you know one of the rare individuals who cites black licorice as their favorite candy, and you are concerned they may be enjoying it a little too much, please share with your loved one a 2012 paper from Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism, titled “Licorice abuse: time to send a warning message.”¹ 

References:

1. Omar, Hesham R et al. “Licorice abuse: time to send a warning message.” Therapeutic advances in endocrinology and metabolism vol. 3,4 (2012): 125-38. doi:10.1177/2042018812454322

Valerie George is a cosmetic chemist, science communicator, educator, leader, and avid proponent of transparency in the beauty industry. She works on the latest research in hair color and hair care at her company, Simply Formulas, and is the co-host of The Beauty Brains podcast. You can find her on Instagram at @cosmetic_chemist or showcasing her favorite ingredients to small brands and home formulators at simply-ingredients.com. Her email is [email protected].