If you’ve been reading WellnessMama.com for very long, you know that I’m not a fan of using chemicals that I can’t pronounce to clean my house or rubbing them on my face where they can be absorbed in a lovely 26 seconds. I am a fan of things like using coconut oil for face wash, or mouthwash, or just about everything,
The logical extension of harmful chemical adverse and using coconut oil for everything was finding natural options for personal care products and makeup. I’d replaced my shampoo (with mud) and my toothpaste with homemade, but finding natural makeup options that I loved was difficult.
The good store bought ones were expensive and it took a lot of experimenting with homemade options before I finally found ones that I loved as much or more than store bought options.
I’ve already shared my:
- Easy homemade powdered makeup recipes
- Liquid Foundation recipe
- Creme Brush and Bronzer
- Homemade Mascara
and I love them. The liquid foundation offers great coverage and covers acne and skin discoloration, but it is thicker than some people like and since I don’t wear makeup every day, I wanted something lighter that could be used daily to offer a tiny bit of smoothing/color without looking like I was wearing makeup at all. My solution?
Tinted Face Lotion
This is similar to the natural foundation but thinner and with less coverage. It doubles as a natural face lotion and a very slight bronzer so I can use it daily but it never looks or feels like makeup.
I used a store bought lotion in this recipe because I had it on hand and already knew I loved the texture and how it worked on my face, but you could also use the homemade face lotion in this recipe and just change the powders that are added to make this a tinted lotion instead of foundation.
For the tint/color, there are several options:
- mica powder in color of choice (I used bronze and gold) and
- organic cocoa powder
- OR natural mineral makeup in your color (in place of ingredients above)
I used a mix of bronze mica powder and cocoa powder in mine. Note that Mica powder does have a very slight shimmer, so if you don’t want that, stick to cocoa.
Making this is super easy, especially if you’re using pre-made lotion:
Tinted Face Lotion Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of natural lotion or 1 batch of homemade face lotion from this recipe
- 1/2 teaspoon mica powder in color of choice (I used bronze) + more if needed to get the desired shade for your skin
- 1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder (or more to get desired shade)
- OR 1/2-1 teaspoon of natural mineral makeup powder in color of your choice
How to Make It:
- Mix the lotion and the colors to get the desired shade. I started with a tiny amount of each color powder and worked up slowly to get the desired shade. It will look darker in the container than it will on the skin. Test on the inner arm to get your desired color.
- Store in an air-tight container. If using pre-made lotion, this will have the shelf life of the lotion you are using. If using homemade, it will last up to a month (the reason I make small batches).
- Use daily as desired for a smoothing/polishing natural tinted lotion.
Ever made your own face lotion or other makeup? Share below!
where do you purchase your containers?
Aromatools.com has the prices anywhere.
What can I use as a substitute for mica powder or isn’t there any substitute???
If you want shimmer, mica is it. Otherwise use cocoa powder.
Okay, Thanks..
As long as it’s clean, moisturized and sunscreened, my face is healthy and looks perfectly fine. Have saved thousands of dollars over the years by not using any makeup; not going to start now, even with the more natural ingredients shown here.
Then why bother reading (and commenting on) this? Most of us are not as blessed as you to have such perfect skin. BTW, what are you using to moisturize your skin? Pretty sure it’s a lotion of some sort, which is EXACTLY what this recipe is.
Why bother? Because it bothers me that so many women have bought into the cosmetics industry hype that they all need to “improve” their looks, when healthy skin looks far better than paint any day.
My red-haired, milky white-skinned sister’s complexion finally cleared up from severe acne when we convinced her to stop slapping cosmetics onto her scars. Several weeks of just cleansing and moisturizing with natural products lessened her acne scars to pretty much not there anymore, and she looks great.
I used a challenge to the female soldiers under my command who thought they couldn’t survive severe field conditions without painting their faces. First, they didn’t understand that their cosmetics attract insects, and the scents could be tracked by good scouts (or Military Working Dogs). Second, water and sleep are precious commodities in the field; lose either to a cosmetics regimen and very soon we had unfit soldiers. Third, no one in the field looks good and no one cares — getting the mission accomplished is the goal — why were they trying to be “attractive” out there? So the challenge was to bring to the field nothing but unscented natural products. After three weeks, every woman who followed the program had improved skin. Quite a number of them decided to shuck all the face colors afterward, and it didn’t seem to negatively affect their social lives.
My skin is no more perfect than anyone else who uses natural products. The difference is that I am comfortable with my face’s natural colors and don’t add any colorization to those products.
What do I use? Depends on the weather, frankly.
Cleaning: Olive oil or coconut oil as a cleaner, baking soda as exfoliant (also cleans sink or shower at the same time)
Facial: Honey/ground oats/fresh lemon juice
Moisturizing: Pure coconut oil or shea butter. If additions seem necessary, it’s usually tea tree oil (melaleuca alternafolia) and/or an essential oil(s) appropriate to the season
Sunscreen: Great big wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses (mandatory if you live in Texas). If a sunscreen is absolutely called for, it has to be unscented and frankly, I haven’t settled on anything in all these years that consistently does the trick. Open to suggestions.
Burns, scrapes, shallow cuts, etc.: Honey. Once I started using just honey, I noticed my left cheek’s acid burn from high school was no longer starkly visible. Many years later and it’s not visible at all.
Being nasty allergic to all adhesives except surgical super glue, I frequently have to deal with rashes after a visit to the cardiologist. For rash alleviation, depending on severity:
Coconut oil and cool moist compresses
Olive oil and honey and cool moist compresses
Honey and bee pollen powder blended into a paste
Tomato puree, lemon juice and cayenne pepper blended into a paste
Any of the above with Benedryl and maybe prednisone if it’s really, really bad (like the one I’m dealing with now) and cool moist compresses
Frankly, the cool moist compresses are the key. Most recommend compresses 3-4 times daily. I go for as many as possible, because they work wonders for discomfort relief.
All of these are readily available on the internet nowadays.
The link above says homemade face lotion but when I clicked it, it takes me to the natural liquid foundation recipe. Is this the right recipe or should it be the lotion recipe?
Love your site! Have made so many of your natural recipes already and learned so much. Thanks!
For those of us with freckles or blotchy skin, this sounds wonderful! How much coverage do you get? I rarely wear foundation but would love to have something moisturizing giving a bronzed look. Sounds like this may be it. Do you have a recipe that adds SPF to it?
And where is a photo of you with it on your skin? (Very big grin!)
This recipe for liquid foundation has more coverage or you could add more zinc oxide to this to increase coverage. Here is a pic of me with the makeup https://instagram.com/p/zAWCsOGZoa/?modal=true
Excellent! Thank you. You are such a beauty, I’m jealous:)
Not all moisturizers will accept mineral makeup powder, and it will be streaky on your skin. I think this happens with lotions that have a high water content. Adding jojoba oil helps the minerals mix in well with the lotion. For years I’ve made my own sunscreen by combining non-nano zinc oxide with bronzer, then adding a little jojoba oil.
Do you use anything for eye cream? I’ve read a couple articles recently about how every woman should use one, but I absolutely refuse to buy one with chemicals! I use coconut oil as my moisturizer twice daily, do I really need something else specifically for under my eyes?
I use a dab of shea butter once in a while…
First off I love your website!!! Lately I have been making more and more products for my body myself. However I am curious to how you know the length of shelf life. I sell some of the lip balms I make and they seem to be used before I know time frame but when it comes to making makeup I have no idea. Your help and information on the life span of these wonderful natural organic products would be great! Thanks in advance.
First off, I LOVE your blog. Everything is so easy to follow for a DIY newbie like me. I wanted to ask about a homemade moisturizer for oily skin (mine). I’m worried about using coconut oil, as it has clogged my pores in the past. I’m interested in making a whipped moisturizer, but am wondering about different oils/butters to use instead? I’ve also read about using beeswax as an emulsifier, but that seems a little shady to me. Any experience with beeswax on your face? Thanks!!
Hi,
This is my first time posting here. I have made a couple of your recipes and love them! I am interested in some others. I see you recommend mica powders. I did a bit of research on them and they can contain titanium dioxide which has recently been shown to be carcinogenic. Unfortunately the specific mica powders you recommend do not show the ingredients. Do you know if they contain titanium dioxide? I am toxic in lead an mercury and am also trying to stay away from other metals that could cause problems. Are there other things I can use that would not contain potentially harmful ingredients? Thanks.