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I’ve been making natural lip balm, lipstick, and chapstick recipes for years, although it took me a while to actually get it to the point of a recipe. Typically I would just eyeball the ingredients, which shows you how easy this recipe is to make!
This homemade lipstick recipe mimics a creamy, full coverage lipstick and packs plenty of color. However, if you aren’t a fan of colored lipsticks, you can make this recipe without any added color options to achieve a basic natural lip chap.
That’s the beauty of making your makeup from scratch, like my DIY eye shadow, is you can make it exactly the way you like it!
Why Homemade Lipstick?
Wondering why you’d take the time and trouble to make your own natural makeup?
Surprisingly, conventional lipstick can be a source of harmful chemicals and since it is used on the skin (lips) and near the mouth, these chemicals can be easily absorbed. These homemade lipstick variations let you create a personalized lipstick color that is chemical-free and inexpensive to make.
Also, homemade just means more! Give these as an inexpensive but thoughtful gift at holidays or birthdays that friends and family are sure to enjoy.
Customizing Your Perfect Natural Lipstick Color
To get the hue in the picture above, I used a tiny pinch of beetroot powder (1/8 tsp or less), 1/4 tsp cocoa powder, 1/8 tsp bentonite clay, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and a drop of peppermint essential oil (just because I like the smell). Jump to the recipe for other color customization options, all from natural colorants.
If you like a darker shade, just add a little more cocoa powder after mixing to darken slightly until you reach your preferred tone.
Now let’s get into the recipe!
Natural Tinted Lipstick Recipe
This recipe makes a moisturizing tube lipstick with a good amount of pigment and coverage. For a lighter, glossier look, try this tinted lip balm recipe.
Homemade Lipstick Recipe
Yield
Materials
Base Lipstick Recipe
- 1 tsp beeswax pellets
- 1 tsp shea butter or cocoa butter
- 1 tsp coconut oil
Optional Color Add-Ins
- For Red Hues: 1/8 teaspoon of beet root powder or 1 drop of natural red food coloring with no chemical additives. NOTE: Add these very slowly as a little goes a long way!
- For Brown/Tan Hues: 1/4 teaspoon or more for color of organic cocoa powder, a tiny pinch of cinnamon or turmeric to get the shade you want
- For a more matte texture: 1/4 teaspoon bentonite clay- I use this with a color so it doesn't leave a white tint on the lips.
- For scent: A drop of essential oil of choice optional
Instructions
Homemade Lipstick Instructions
- Melt the beeswax, shea butter/cocoa butter and coconut oil in a glass jar without a lid in a small pot of simmering (not boiling) water. It should melt quickly because so little of each ingredient is used.
- When melted, remove from heat and add any optional ingredients like color or scent.
- Once all ingredients are mixed well but still liquid, use a dropper to pour into the lip chap container. I used the glass dropper from an old tincture bottle. Fill just below the top as it will expand slightly as it cools. Leave to cool for at least half an hour.
Notes
More Natural Makeup Recipes
- Natural Mascara Recipe – Easier to make than you’d think! It took many tries to perfect this recipe, but now I finally have it down to a science. 🙂 Nutures healthy lashes too!
- DIY Natural Blush Make-up Tutorial – For a fresh, natural glow, try this homemade blush recipe. I also love this creme version.
- Natural Liquid Foundation Recipe – Natural foundation can be pricey! Make it for so much less (and even customize it to your own skin type.)
- Natural Concealer & Highlighter Recipe – We all need a little extra coverage sometimes. Make this natural concealer for undereye or acne prone areas.
Ever made your own cosmetics? How did it go? What hue would you make of this recipe? Share below!
I have the same problem that many of the other commenters seem to be experiencing. Mixing the beet root powder into the oil-based waxes/butters simply does not work. The color clumps up sinks down to the bottom of the container, and does not mix at all. I really wanted to love this recipe for a natural lip tint, but it just didn’t work. 🙁
If you can grind down dried hibiscus flowers into a near flour (and I do mean a FINE powder – like you breathe it in by accident floating in the air), you can add them to straight shea butter (mash it around into the shea butter until it gets warm and loose, but do NOT melt), or you can add it to pure food grade Lanolin. The kind sold in the aisles for nursing moms. This way, the tint stays suspended and does not feel gritty, and it definitely adds color to your lips! I admit, I didn’t have any luck with beetroot, but I purchased it at a health food store, and noticed it also contained the leaves (maybe not good for tinting, and too gritty). I think you have to use just the beetroot, dry gently in the oven for a few days, and grind into near dust. Again, I have only tried hibiscus, but I have read this from other people who have had success. 🙂
when i added the beetroot powder …it isn’t mixing to add color! what to do?
The best way to add any water based colorings to chapstick/lipstick is to remove some of your mixture of oils and etc. You can put it into a little bowl or something. Let it solidify a bit, and mix your coloring in. Then mix the solidified part back into the melted oils and wax until it is melted and mixed together. Then you can pour it into your containers. I did this with red (food grade) dye to make my chapstick pink. (I use my own recipe for chapstick, and it is more like a lip gloss so I wanted color) It worked amaaaazing and I adore my homemade glossy pink chapstick.
I can’t use shea or cocoa butter… could I just leave that ingredient out?
FYI, if you add some (ultra mortar & pestle ground) cinnamon or cinnamon oil, it will slightly irritate the lips and give a natural ‘plumping’ effect 🙂
I too have tried this recipe but the beet root is grainy and then just sinks to the bottom of the container. I remelted it and added cocoa powder and the color looks great in the pot but goes on almost clear and then again the color is at the bottom of the lipgloss tin. Any tips for getting the color to go onto the lips? I do like the texture but want a little color.thanks
i had the same experience…wanting to make it in pink
Someone mentioned above infusing hibiscus in the oils worked better than beet root powder.
Hi! I love the recipe 🙂 but, my friend wants me to make a black lipstick…any idea what I should use to make that color?
Activated charcoal
Try a couple capsules of activated charcoal if you have any
I’m curious to see how well the color turns out before going through the process of making this myself. Would you mind posting pictures of your lips with and without the lipstick on? Thanks 🙂
*mind blown*
hello, i have just made my lipstick, but it ends up too oily and the colour doesn’t come out, what should i add more to give a stronger texture?? shea butter or beewax?? Thhanks
Shea butter
but when i put lots of oil, the colour is so oily and it doesn’t work
YUP!!! did I do anything wrong with the ingredients?? like too much shed butter?
Possibly…. maybe try adding more of the oil or beeswax?
Hello, I have follow the steps above to create my product but it ends up so dry after 2-3 days?? what did I gone wrong?? thanks
Hmmm. I haven’t had that problem… is it in a closed container?
I had that problem too, but only for the batch I used beet root powder and cocoa powder in. My husband is using the color free version and he loves it. I think the powders are absorbing some of the moisture so adding a little more oil may help. I am going to melt mine back down and see if it makes a difference. Hope this helps.
Will the red lipstick have the same effect if I apply beet juice to it? I can sadly not find ANY beetroot powder close to me. I really want to try this out.
I’m not sure that beet liquid would mix in with the oils…
Do you have a brand suggestion for the natural food dye you mention above? The only one I’ve found locally is beet liquid.
I have not had good success with beet powder or hibiscus powder- no matter how fine. I use natural food dye from whole foods, it is made out of Beet, it is a liquid like regular food coloring, but all natural. It mixes very well as long as your oils are not super hot. As soon as they start to cool you add the food dye and mix it. If it gets too firm you can heat it back up just until pourable and it wont separate.
Karla above said how to make your own. 🙂 “You could make your own beet powder. Peel and slice beets very thin, then put them in a dehydrator overnight. They should be nice and crispy, let them cool and them grind them to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.” I guess it would be worth a try, right?
How do you dry the beet if you don’t have a dehydrator? Is there any other way? Thanks!
If somebody makes this lip balm and then sell it by themselves, would you mind if they did not inform you in advance? Thank you.
I write the recipes to help others out, but if someone is using the exact recipe, I would appreciate attribution.
Love this recipe! I’ve been looking for an all natural lipstick recipe for the longest time! All the other recipes I’ve found said to add eye shadow or dye. I couldn’t find a natural alternative to dye my lipstick naturally. Thanks!
I mean do I have to put any preservatives in the product or how to I store it after to get longer shelf life? e.g refrigerator?
Coconut oil has natural anti-bacterial properties as does beeswax; if you add a drop or two of vegetable glycerine like I do for extra moisture, then that has anti-microbial properties too. I trust these as natural ‘preservatives’. As for shelf-life, as long as the oils/waxes are in tact, the lipstick is good. In other words, don’t store them in heat or sunlight where the oils might degrade. I have seen rough numbers of 4-6 months’ shelf-life all the way up to a year (the numbers depend on which oils/waxes you use, how much of each, and how you store them daily). I’ll be curious to hear others’ experiences.
I don’t know about this but it looks quite firm in the photo
Hello there! I tried with cocoa powder- it’s perfect, but I need help finding good beet powder! Where do you get yours?! Thanks so much!
You could make your own beet powder. Peel and slice beets very thin, then put them in a dehydrator overnight. They should be nice and crispy, let them cool and them grind them to a fine powder in a coffee grinder.
The coffee grinder doesn’t make them fine enough for me. Still grainy. I had to do both the mortar and pestle and the CG.
try using a sifter.. i used the metal basket that i use to infuse tea leafs in my tea pot. just pour it in the basket and shake lightly.. all the fine beet root dusk should come through
I wonder if a vita mix would work. It would sure be less work and effort than a mortar and pestle. I have an old vita mix that I use to grind my ingredients.
You can find some at mountain rose herbs(bulk herbs) but you can only order in largish quantities.
how do you store the product after ?
In small tubs or old lipstick tubes…
Can you make your own beet powder?
If you have a dehydrator, and a mortar and pestle grinder. You have to smash it to a near flour- like consistency if you don’t want gritty color. I prefer hibiscus, and oddly find it darker than beet. I have not tried this, but I read you can also put the oven on 200* F or lower, and leave them in the oven for 24 to 48 hours. From what I understand they don’t burn as long as the oven is just warm.
I tried adding hibiscus powder to both balmy amd glossy recipes and it was a gritty disaster even when i let it sit and infuse in the warm oil mixture for a good long time… Also tried using a tiny gadget for frothing milk to blend it up well. No luck. Any advice? I have this big old bag of hibiscus powder and no idea how to b properly use it. Thanks!
apart from coconut oil, what alternative can I use? also what can I do if I would like it smell like honey?
shea butter worked as good placeholder for me. Also makes it a bit more solid. I used a slight bit of aloe vera gelly to compensate