Tis the season for making homemade gifts, at least at our house!
A few days ago, I had a mom’s night out at my house and we made all kinds of homemade gifts like lotion bars, vapor rub lotion bars (recipe soon!) and homemade lipstick.
The lipstick was the biggest hit and it was so much fun to create our own customized flavors, scents and colors with natural ingredients like (click on the link to see the exact brand I used):
- Coconut oil
- Shea Butter
- Cocoa Butter
- Beeswax
- Mica Powders: Red, Bronze, Rose and Pearl
- Essential Oils
We made dozens of tubes of lipstick for pennies each and they will be great gifts and stocking stuffers this year. I’m also packaging up some ingredients to give as DIY lip balm and lipstick kits to friends and family.
Homemade Lipstick Recipe
Some natural products can take time to get used to, like natural shampoo and it can be tough to find the right mixture for your hair, but homemade lipstick is completely customizable and works better than the store bought right away.
You can make them in plastic lipstick tubes or little glass lip balm containers. If you want to keep it simple, little glass jars also work. Here’s how to make it:
Natural Shimmer Lipstick Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP coconut oil
- 2 TBSP shea butter (or cocoa butter)
- 3 TBSP beeswax pellets
- 10 drops essential oil of choice
- ½ tsp mica powder of choice (or more)
Instructions
- In a double boiler, melt the coconut oil, shea or cocoa butter, and beeswax.
- Remove from heat.
- Stir in the mica powder and essential oils of choice.
- Dip a small amount onto the end of a spoon and let it harden for a few seconds.
- Test the mixture on the spoon for the desired color and scent with your finger or on the skin of your wrist to make sure you like it.
- Add more mica powder or essential oil if needed.
- Use a pipette or glass dropper to quickly transfer the mixture to the lip gloss containers or whatever container you are using.
- Let cool for 1 hour. Cap and use as needed.
Notes
What homemade beauty products have you made?
I made some chap stick from your old recipe, but I think it’s growing mold!? How can I make sure that doesn’t happen?
What gives the color??
The Mica powder
The mica powder in this recipe gives off the color. But you can substitute with food coloring, beet powder, and even beet juice. You can even make your own food coloring using stuff like berries, red cabbage, all sorts of stuff. 🙂
Amazon won’t ship either the colour or the tubes to Australia. The tubes I can find on ebay, but was wondering if there is another colouring you recommend. Can I use a mineral eyeshadow or blush?
Thanks
Danielle
You could certainly try it, although I have not.
Danielle – there are some Australian companies that carry these items – aussiesoapsupplies.com.au & newdirections.com.au
Hi there! I have been making my own chapstick, lotion, deodorant, laundry detergent and counter spray for about 2 years now. Tomorrow, I am having a girls day with a cousin who I think would benefit from some of the cool things I make. We will try your lotion and vapor rub. I have already started your ginger bug recipe and already have tiny bubbles after 3 days of feeding. Thanks for your recipes and time, you have quickly become a go-to website when I’m looking for something new.
P.s. made the burlap garland with my 9-yr old and it looks great! Can’t wait to try your lipstick ????
Lol, those were not supposed to be question marks. I was going for a smiley face. 🙂
How long will this last and do I have to refrigerate it?
is this recipe safe to use on kids? i am looking for a better alternative than store-bought lipstick for my 8-year old & 5-year old when they have stage performances and need to wear lipstick.
thanks for all your recipes! we love your lotion!
You might enjoy the crayon version. I know that one is safe and your kids will love making it. It’s just coconut oil and crayons. It works great.
I’m afraid that the crayons are filled with chemicals, though… And it’s also particularly dangerous if ingested. This recipe if perfectly fine for the kids as long as they aren’t allergic to any of the ingredients. But just to be safe, I’d leave out any essential oils.
Does this work better than your homemade lipstick recipe https://wellnessmama.com/5830/homemade-lipstick/ I attempted that one a couple of times using beet root powder and cocoa powder and while the stick itself had color, no color transferred to my lips and the beet root powder’s individual particles were visible rather than blended into a smooth lipstick. Does the mica powder in this recipe work better?
Hm… I haven’t had the difficulty that you are describing in the first place, so it is hard to say. I’d say in comparison that it is mostly just more of a shimmery or pearly look than the lipstick.
I am actually having the same problem with THIS recipe; the color looks gorgeous in the stick but doesn’t transfer to my lips. It looks more like a lightly tinted lip balm. I used a good deal of mica powder. Am I messing up the other ratios or something? I followed the recipe… Any tips? I really want this to work because I love the idea! 🙂
I just made lipstick and it took 4 teaspoons of colorant. I used burgundy oxide. Came out perfectly. It takes A LOT OF COLORANT.
I’m having the same issue. I’ve used the other recipe where you use beet powder and as I wanted to get red color, beetroot powder didn’t dissolve at all. When it hardened and I tried it on my lips I could see the beetroot powder particles 🙁
I suggest using Beetroot Crystals in place of powder. Whenever I dissolve them in my Beverages, the stain stay on my lips when I drink them.
I had the same issue the first time I made the beet root powder chapsticks, but the second time I added a bit of bentonite clay and ground the beet root powder with my mortar and pestle into an even finer powder. Now I have a lip balm that gives me a nice wash of color on my lips. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this. Can I use mango butter in place of the shea or cocoa butter? Thank you!
You could try it… Mango butter has a reasonably similar consistency.
I like peppermint and cinnamon also!
I’m looking forward to giving this a try! I do have one question about the safety of powdered mica. I have heard that it could potentially be dangerous to work with mica due to the risks of inhalation. I’m wondering if there is any advice you have for protection or if this is even a concern when working in small quantities?
If it concerns you, I suggest maybe using a mask.
It’s also made in China, so I don’t really feel like it’s a safe ingredient. I wish I had realized that before I ordered it.
What essential oils do you recommend for these?
Coconut oil or she a butter or vigil olive oil
Those aren’t essential oils. They are just oils/butters.
I liked what I chose for mine: tangerine or orange
Peppermint is awesome for this… I also like spearmint and cinnamon. Orange is pretty good, also.
I like peppermint and cinnamon also!