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I love making my own cosmetics. I’ve made foundation, natural bronzer, homemade lipstick and even mascara (recipe coming soon!).
In the comments of my homemade lipstick post, I had multiple people ask if there was an alternative to the beet root powder since theirs didn’t seem to be incorporating correctly.
A natural option that shines…
After much experimentation and research, I finally found another option that I absolutely love.
It is called Mica and it also provides a wonderful, subtle shimmer. Mica is a brittle silicate mineral and it comes in many colors. It is considered safe and non-toxic, with a green rating of 2 by the Environmental Working Group.
I’ve been experimenting with Mica in homemade cosmetics a lot lately and have a lot of new recipes to share in the next couple of months, but this shimmer lip balm was by far my favorite. It provides a slight shimmer and subtle color that accentuates the natural color of the lips and brightens your smile without looking fake or unnatural.
Why not just use regular lipstick? Glad you asked (but you might not be…)
Though they seem harmless, many lipsticks contain toxic ingredients, which is especially problematic due to the close proximity to the mouth. Some things found in conventional lipsticks:
- Cochineal Beetles– These beetles eat the prickly pear plant in South America. They are collected, boiled, dried and crushed into a powder to make a red dye used in many cosmetics (and some foods!)
- Ambergris– Street name: whale vomit. This waste from the digestive system of sperm wales (eww) is sometimes used in perfumes and lipsticks.
- Chemicals- Lipsticks are also notorious for containing artificial chemicals
Finding Natural Ingredients:
In this recipe, I used the following ingredients:
- Organic virgin coconut oil
- Raw, organic Shea Butter (can also use Cocoa Butter)
- Beeswax
- Rose Red Mica Powder and Natural Gold Mica Powder
I also found the following supplies really helpful for this recipe:
It is hard to see in the photo, but this natural lip balm provides subtle color and shine. Here’s how to make it:
Shimmer Lip Balm Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon shea butter or cocoa butter
- 1 tablespoon beeswax pastilles
- 1/2 tsp mica powder color of choice (I used a mix of red and gold)
- 15 drops peppermint essential oil
What to Do:
- Melt coconut oil, shea butter/cocoa butter and beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat.
- When melted, stir well and turn off heat.
- Add mica powder and (optional) essential oil.
- Using a glass dropper or [url:7]plastic pipette like this one, carefully transfer the mixture into [url:8]empty lip balm containers. This must be done quickly before the mixture hardens. I filled 8 empty containers when I made this.
- Let cool for an hour until mixture has completely hardened.
- Use as regular lipstick/lip balm.
Ever made your own lip balm or lipstick before?
Lemon Basil Natural Cleaning Spray (Borax Free)
Thank you so much for your blog; I read it every day. I am concerned about the Mica in this recipe. I’m not understanding how they pigment the mica. When I emailed the company they said their mica powder is natural but that doesn’t necessarily mean the pigmentation is natural. If you have information about how they color the Mica that would be really helpful to me.
I’m working on getting a full list from them as well as their sourcing and I’m planning to write a post about it once I get it 🙂
Does the mica just add color to the balm so it looks pretty, or does the color actually transfer to the lips? Is it more of a natural look, or does it look intense like a lipstick? I hope that makes sense. Thank you!
It does add color that transfers to the lips but it is more of a natural shimmer look than an intense lipstick.
I just have to say I absolutely love your blog and I want to thank you for all that you do! Awesome recipe!
Last year I made sugar scrubs, lotion bars and chocolates for gifts from this website. All were a hit! I found myself using my lotion bar for chapstick, but it wasn’t packaged so I could take it places with me. So this year I decided to make the chapstick and try my hand at this lipstick recipe. So far I love it!! I used the red mica, and the color is great! I can’t wait to give these to my friends and family!
I have been searching for a “Natural” colored lip balm on Pinterest all evening, most I found most used Petroleum Jelly which I really don’t consider natural. I read your blog a lot and should have known just to go straight to Wellness Mama and see what you had available. I won’t make that mistake again; save myself some time.
After much research I decided mica was an okay product to put on my skin, my largest organ which absorbes everything I put on it very quickly. Thanks for your careful consideration and instructions in all the things you SUGGEST to us. After you suggest each of us has to decide for ourselves what we want to use or not use.
Love this recipe! Quick and easy. Put half a cap ful of peppermint oils in mine! 🙂 oh my mica settled a bit to the bottom of the container even though it looked great and shimmery at first. Did I not heat long enough? I even stirred in the individual balm pots
just finished making this and plan on making more fore Christmas. I absolutely love it but i did it without the mica powder due to various reasons.
Katie- question, I just made my second batch, I used mica and beet root powder for color. The mica mixes really well, the beet root powder was clumpy when I poured it in, any suggestions?
Also, weird question, how did you clean up? can you clean the supplies in your sink without clogging? It was kinda messy and afterwards my hands and sink were beet colored 🙂 any tips?
You can leave out the beet… if you use it, it does need to be really finely ground and you have to wait until it is thickening to transfer to get even distribution. I always wipe down with old rags before washing.
Can you use mango butter instead of cocoa butter? My kids hate almost anything that smells even tho’ I think cocoa butter smells amazing.
Yes.
also, the company i order my mica from has lip safe and non lip safe colors.. so might need to watch out for that.