Rub Insomnia Away with Homemade Sleep Balm
Insomnia got you up at night? Don’t take sleeping pills! It’s easy to learn how to make sleep balm and customize it to what’s keeping you from falling asleep.
As an insomniac, I’m always on the lookout for natural sleep aids. I like sleep balms because they’re a great drug-free way to fall asleep naturally.
To be honest, you could just run down to the store and buy some, but why do that when you can make your own sleepy time rub in less than 15 minutes?
What You’ll Need to Make your Sleep Balm
Before you begin, make sure you have everything you need in one spot. This recipe moves pretty fast once you start, and you don’t want your balm to set before you’re ready to pour.
===> To make it easier, I’ve put together an Amazon shopping list of everything you’ll need to make sleep balm.
Supplies you’ll need:
100% Organic Yellow Beeswax Pellets 1lb (16 oz)
- 1 Tbsp Beeswax Pellets (Hard to find, but I got mine from Amazon)
- 1 Tbsp Jojoba Oil
- 2 Tbsp Organic Coconut Oil
- 30 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
- 30 Drops Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil
- 20 Drops Sweet Marjoram Oil
- Mason pint jar
- Wooden Chopstick or Kebab Stick
- Small metal or glass tins
It’s important to use only glass or metal containers with tight-fitting lids. When you make your sleep rub, you’re making it without any preservatives. If your balm gets moisture or dirt in it, it will spoil and go rancid.
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Here’s some containers I recommend for this recipe:
CTKcom Screw Top Round Steel Tins,1-Ounce, For LipBlue Jars: 2 Oz Glass Jars with Lids
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DIY Sleep Balm Recipe: Step by Step
Bring a small saucepan of water to boil, then turn on low heat and keep the water on a low simmer.
I don’t like to use containers I eat out of, so I use a Mason pint jar to mix the oils and essential oils in. Place the Mason jar in the simmering water. Next, add the beeswax pellets and the coconut and jojoba oils.
Using your wooden stick, stir the wax and oils together until completely melted. High heat can degrade the effectiveness of the essential oils. Turn the burner off, then stir in the essential oils.
Lay out your metal tins or glass jars onto a cookie sheet, then pour the balm mixture in. Be sure to use a towel to wipe off the pint jar when you take it out of the pan because you don’t want any water running into your balm when you pour it into your containers.
Set aside your tins to cool, which should take about 30 minutes to an hour. Once it’s cool, screw on the lid and store in a cool place. Your sleep balm will keep for about a year.
This recipe makes about 4 ounces of sleep balm.
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How to Make Sleep Balm Work Best
The aromatherapy from the essential oils is what will help you sleep, so it’s important to rub your sleep balm into points on your body that will help them diffuse.
After you’ve had a nice long soak in sleep inducing bath salts, rub the balm on your lips, temples, other pulse points, like your wrists, and under your nose. You can even apply the rub to the soles of your feet and stomach.
Unlike most sleep aids, you can’t overdose on sleep balm, so feel free to use it as a body butter to moisturize your whole body and let the essential oils diffuse into the air so you can sleep better.
How to Make Sleep Balm Customized to Your Needs
One of the reasons I prefer to make my own sleep rub is because I can add different essential oils for different insomnia symptoms.
For instance, for a racing mind, add 30 drops chamomile essential oil to the recipe. If you suffer from sleeplessness, that’s when it’s best to add 30 drops clary sage essential oil.
It can be confusing to know which essential oils work best for sleep, especially if you’ve never used them before. Here’s a quick overview of the most common insomnia symptoms and which oils can help.
Sleepy Essential Oils
| Wide Awake at Bedtime | Valerian |
| Racing Mind | Chamomile |
| Stress and Anxiety | Ylang-Ylang |
| Waking Up in the Middle of the Night | Bergamot |
| Restlessness | Sweet Marjoram |
And if you have more than one of these symptoms, don’t be afraid to experiment and mix them together to create your own personalized sleep balm.
Not sure how to make sleep balm by using your own recipe? You can find a list of recipes in these posts:
- Creative Ways to Use Lavender to Sleep
- 5 Easy and Essential Oil Recipes for Sleep,
- The Best Essential Oil Sleep Recipes (and how to use them)
- Make Relaxing Diffuser Blends for Sleep with Just 3 Oils. The recipes there are for essential oil diffusers, but they will also work in your homemade sleep balm, too.
Make Sleep Balm a Part of your Nightly Ritual
Aromatherapy is a great way prepare your mind and body for a good night’s sleep. A sleep rub gives you the benefits of sleepy essential oils, as well as nourishing natural oils for your skin.
Once you know how to make sleep balm, you’ll wonder why you never made yourself a batch sooner. It’s so quick and easy, you’ll even want to make some as gifts to give to your friends. I mean, everybody loves to sleep, right? Make a personalized gift by slipping your DIY sleep rub into a homemade sleep gift basket.
Did you enjoy making your sleepy time rub? Check out these DIY sleep lotion and lavender sleeping mist essential oil recipes.
Hello! Is this sleep balm safe for babies? Thank you!
Hi,
You can modify this balm for babies by adding 15-20 drops lavender essential oil only. 20 drops is about 1% dilution in the four ounces of balm this makes which is a recommended dilution for babies. Hope it helps 🙂
FWIW, “dirt and germs” have nothing to do with rancidity. Rancidity comes when oils oxidize, and can be forestalled by refrigeration, but preservatives won’t help.
True! But dirt and germs are still something you do not want in your balm because it will cause it to mold. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Hi there!
They don’t really go bad, they’ll keep for a while. Keep the lid on when not in use so the EO doesn’t evaporate and keep in a cool place. You’ll probably run out long before this will go rancid. 🙂
This really sounds an effective one for sleep 🙂 Thank you for sharing.
Is there a vegan alternative to the beeswax?
Hi, this might be a good vegan alternative to beeswax, it’s vegan wax flakes. https://amzn.to/2rRWJed
Will this work if you use a cpap machine?
Hi there! To be honest, I really don’t know. 🙂
The recipe calls for only a few tbsp. this hardly seems enough to make a one ounce container rather than mutiple jars and the essential oils seem to be more than the carrier. How much does this recipe yield?
If you’re using high quality essential oils, a little bit does go a long way.
This looks so good! What a great remedy to have ready and to gift to friends!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
It should keep 2-3 months as long as it’s not in too warm environment. I’m not sure, I’ve run out by then so I can’t honestly say 🙂