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tinted lip balm
  • Beauty

Natural Tinted Lip Balm Recipe

Katie WellsOct 12, 2022
Reading Time: 3 min

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Beauty » Natural Tinted Lip Balm Recipe
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm
  • Ingredients in DIY Tinted Lip Balm+−
    • Best Oils for Lip Balm
  • Lip Balm Containers
  • DIY Natural Tinted Lip Balm+−
    • Best Tinted Lip Balms to Buy

This natural tinted lip balm is a nourishing part of any skincare routine. Kiss dry lips goodbye and add a little shimmer to your day. This DIY is a great alternative for those (like me) who don’t regularly wear lipstick. But If you’re a lipstick girl, also check out my homemade lipstick.

My daughter loves this lip balm! Since it’s a natural recipe I’ll let her use a tiny amount and she feels special because she’s wearing “makeup.” It also makes a great gift for birthdays or as a stocking stuffer at Christmas.

Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

Tinted Lip Balm is smoother and glossier than lipstick, and more like a traditional lip gloss. Matte versions just use pigment to tint the lips, while glossier versions offer shimmery lip color. They’re different than a lip stain which gives a hint of color but can dry out lips.

Especially during the winter months, I like using lip butter or lip balm to soothe chapped lips. Having a barrier there can also provide some mild sun protection. Coconut oil and shea butter both have mild SPF properties and I use both in my homemade sunscreen. While they’re not SPF 15 like conventional SPF lip balms (they’re more like SPF 7) I still like using them to nourish and hydrate.

Ingredients in DIY Tinted Lip Balm

This DIY lip tint version is made with completely natural ingredients. And a little really goes a long way! I colored my original version with a tiny drop of natural red food coloring for a pop of color. I also added lemon and vanilla for scent. You could leave it unscented if you prefer, or opt for a different essential oil.

I settled on a refreshing mint version that offers subtle color and reminds me of Burt’s Bees lip balm. Instead of oxides for a wash of color, I opted for sparkly rose mica. On days I want more color coverage, I’ll add a little bit of cocoa powder or natural food coloring to the recipe. One of the best parts about making your own beauty products is being able to customize the recipe how you want!

Best Oils for Lip Balm

There are a lot of different choices when it comes to lip care. I kept it simple, yet functional with coconut oil, shea butter, and beeswax for the base. You could sub in a little jojoba or avocado oil for the coconut oil if preferred though. Castor seed oil adds a little bit more of a glossy feel, but too much can make it feel sticky. Some drugstore brands, like Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm, use sunflower seed oil and other vegetable oils, which is something I try to avoid.

I’ve also added a little vitamin E oil. It helps the product last a little longer and provides some antioxidants. If you don’t have any on hand though, don’t worry, it’s optional. And if you want a firmer lip balm or don’t have shea butter, then cocoa butter will also work.

This recipe has many of the same ingredients as my homemade lotion bars, homemade lotion, DIY deodorant, and more. So if you keep these ingredients on hand, you can make endless variations of natural beauty products.

Lip Balm Containers

I re-used an old tin for this recipe, but you can also find cute, small tins online. I like to use these 1/2 of 1-ounce tins when I make lip balm for gifts. Just be sure your hands are clean when applying. Adding slightly more beeswax also makes a great lip balm in a chapstick container.

tinted lip balm

DIY Natural Tinted Lip Balm

Katie Wells
This natural DIY tinted lip balm is simple and easy to make with soothing ingredients to hydrate thirsty lips. Also makes a great gift!
4.23 from 9 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 4 mins
Melting Time 7 mins
Total Time 11 mins
Servings 2 ounces

Equipment

  • Double boiler OR glass bowl and pot
  • 1 ounce metal tins

Ingredients
  

  • 2 TBSP coconut oil
  • 1 TBSP beeswax pellets
  • 1 TBSP shea butter
  • ½ tsp red or rose mica powder
  • 4 drops peppermint essential oil optional
  • 10 drops vitamin E oil optional
  • 1 drop natural red food color optional

Instructions
 

  • If you don't have a double boiler, then place a glass bowl on top of a small saucepan halfway filled with water.
  • Add the coconut oil, beeswax, and shea butter to the bowl or top of the double boiler and heat over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until melted.
  • Once melted, turn the heat off and add the essential oils, food coloring, vitamin E, and mica.
  • Carefully pour the mixture into the tins and allow it to cool completely.

Notes

Storage and Shelf Life: Use a clean finger to apply and store in a cool, dark place. This will last about 6-12 months when stored properly. 
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Best Tinted Lip Balms to Buy

Don’t have time or ingredients to make it? Here are some paraben-free, cruelty-free, and clean brands to get instead.

  • Honeybee Gardens Tinted Lip Balm
  • Earth’s Daughter Tinted Lip Balm
  • Cliganic Tinted Lip Balm
  • Honest Beauty Tinted Lip Balm

Ever made your own lip balm or chapstick? Ready to try this one? Leave a comment and let me know how it went!

Category: Beauty

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

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Reader Interactions

Discussion (148 Comments)

  1. Ann

    December 7, 2012 at 9:15 PM

    How much will this make? I am trying to figure out how much to make if i want to have 30 of them …xmas presents

    Reply
  2. Martha

    November 29, 2012 at 6:59 PM

    Does it matter if the Cocoa powder has been “processed with Alkali”? I recently bought some organic baking cocoa, and was thinking about using it for this recipe, but don’t know if I should…

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      November 29, 2012 at 8:53 PM

      What is the brand?

      Reply
      • Martha

        November 30, 2012 at 2:15 AM

        Equal Exchange baking cocoa

        Reply
        • Wellness Mama

          November 30, 2012 at 1:11 PM

          From what I can tell, it should be fine

          Reply
          • Martha

            December 5, 2012 at 12:26 PM

            thank you!

  3. Stephanie Madriaga

    November 7, 2012 at 9:17 PM

    What if I tinted the balm with steeped tea? ie: hibiscus tea

    Reply
    • Stephanie Madriaga

      November 7, 2012 at 10:51 PM

      Please disregard my question. Clearly I wasn’t thinking this through. I’m going to get the natural food coloring:)

      Reply
  4. Stacy

    October 15, 2012 at 7:46 PM

    I used beet root powder in mine and it just floated in the mixture, it didn’t really tint it. Maybe I should put it in in the beginning next time so it has time to infuse?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      October 15, 2012 at 7:49 PM

      That is strange… putting it in at the beginning probably would help though.

      Reply
  5. Safi

    September 9, 2012 at 11:33 PM

    Any idea where you can get a glass container with a stainless steel rollerball applicator? I have been using coconut oil on my lips and was thinking about tinting it, so this recipe is awesome-thx for sharing!

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      September 10, 2012 at 10:05 AM

      Have you tried Amazon? I haven’t seen those, but if you’re able to find them, please share the link! 🙂

      Reply
      • Phoebe

        January 24, 2016 at 11:25 AM

        where would you get the containers

        Reply
    • Tiffany

      October 20, 2014 at 10:42 PM

      There is a rollerball applicator in mountain rose herbs (containers, bottles) but the rollerball is made of plastic.

      Reply
    • Lisa

      June 7, 2015 at 6:17 PM

      I believe perfumeoils.com has glass roller bottles with stainless steel balls

      Reply
    • Christina

      August 24, 2016 at 9:38 AM

      I found roller ball containers on Amazon. Sold as a pack of 6 for around $10.

      Reply
    • Shelby

      May 8, 2018 at 5:44 PM

      I ordered a 6 pack of glass tubes with stainless rollerballs from Amazon for 6 bucks. The are perfect for essential oil scents or lip balm/gloss

      Reply
  6. Nan

    September 6, 2012 at 1:55 PM

    Where do you get natural food coloring?
    Didn’t you have the recipe before as 1 parts each ingredient? Why did you change the shea butter/cocoa butter quantity?
    I made the previous recipe and it was perfect consistency for a lip balm container. 1 part coconut oil, beeswax, shea butter.
    Thanks for the blog, one of my favorite sites!

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      September 6, 2012 at 2:32 PM

      I just recently published this, so I don’t think it has changed, but there are a lot of recipes online… so perhaps it was a similar one? The equal parts recipe of coconut oil, beeswax and shea butter is great too! There should be a link to the natural food coloring above, but I got mine on Amazon… Thanks for reading! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Lisa Oedekerk

    September 2, 2012 at 10:36 AM

    I made some, but used a little ice cube like piece of bee’s wax, and it was about twice as much, so I got chap stick instead. The beet root powder that I got didn’t break down into color, just floated to the bottom. It was cheap by the ounce at the local store, but I’m going to order some of the natural color drops for next time. This was my first time making anything like this, there’s definitely a learning curve 🙂 I love lip gloss and use it constantly, I’m probably addicted, so thanks for this recipe.

    Reply
    • nfiori

      January 13, 2013 at 6:04 PM

      I have the same problem, hmmm…Did you ever figure out why the beetroot powder was sinking?

      Reply
    • Donna

      October 9, 2013 at 7:16 PM

      I have the same problem with beetroot powder too. I gave up on it, and will look for the natural food coloring. I have never seen hibiscus powder before, and was wondering if that was more fine. In a pinch I will use my mineral red pigment. All minerals, and also natural. Frustrating. Just keep trying different things.

      Reply
      • Ashley

        January 20, 2014 at 3:48 PM

        Did you find a tried and true method of tinting your balm?

        Reply
        • Joyce

          October 19, 2014 at 4:47 PM

          If you want to make a tinted balm/gloss with beetroot, you’ll have to infuse the pigment into some water or glycerin, strain out the powder, and use an emulsifying wax instead of beeswax. You could also use alkanet root powder, which is soluble in oil. Infuse the alkanet into your oil of choice, strain out the powder, and use beeswax or any other wax. You can get what you need at Mountain Rose Herbs. Cinnamon essential oil is a great lip plumper too!

          Reply
          • Ashley

            October 19, 2014 at 5:59 PM

            You are amazing. Several friends and I have been wondering how to tint w beet root powder. We knew it had something to do with oil vs water. I can’t wait to share. Thanks again!!

          • Christina

            August 23, 2016 at 8:00 PM

            I wish I saw this an hour ago haha!! My beetroot also just floated to the bottom. I made lip balms and use eyeshadow cups to hold them. But the beetroot powder would not mix no matter what I did. Thanks for tip!!

        • Jen Davis

          January 28, 2015 at 8:25 AM

          I use a natural mica powder and get a nice color with it that provides a great shimmer and color.

          Reply
          • Cal

            December 23, 2020 at 2:54 AM

            I wonder which Mica did you use? Mine just makes a tiny shimmer effect but certinaly no color. I ended up buying color pigments from a friend and that worked nicely.

        • Katherine

          October 11, 2015 at 8:58 PM

          I just made this today with a couple tweaks:
          – used sunflower oil instead of coconut (since I had that on hand)
          – used Cocoa butter instead of Shea butter (I am making this as a gift for my sister, and her son is allergic to tree nuts – shea butter comes from the shea nut, so as a precaution I decided not to use it!)
          – used beet root powder
          As others mentioned, the beet root powder sunk to the bottom and did not mix in. The most likely reason being that it is probably polar (like water) and the rest of the stuff is nonpolar (like oil). So I added some honey to it (which is polar), and the dye mixed right into the honey. There were still two layers, though (one yellowish and one red/pink). As it cooled, I stirred it a lot, and was able to get it to mix that way! As long as it doesn’t warm up too much, it will stay mixed together. If you want to use beet root powder, I’d definitely recommend adding something polar to dissolve it in so that it mixes better as you cool and stir it!

          Reply
      • Vita

        May 8, 2016 at 6:57 PM

        The hibiscus powder isn’t fine enough. It floats to the bottom, too. It gives the balm a tiny bit of color, but it doesn’t really translate to the lips. I think mica or some mineral coloring is most reliable, but all of those products seem to come out of China. So, no. Not for me. There is another root powder that I’ve read about, alkanet root, I think it’s a blue-red. Never tried it, though.

        Reply
    • Serena

      June 20, 2017 at 3:43 AM

      Mix your powders and or even your coloring to the coconut oil. Mix thoroughly THEN melt and you will have very little to no sediment! 🙂

      Reply
    • Diana Thompson Sorric

      January 22, 2023 at 11:09 AM

      I’ve been doing a little internet sleuthing about rose lip balm and read that rose powder does not dissolve in the lip balm. I’m assuming it’s the same for beetroot powder as well. The author recommended cosmetic grade mica powder as it dissolves into the butters and oils.

      Reply
  8. Wendy McKenzie

    September 2, 2012 at 7:39 AM

    Just checking…..you still put the shea butter or cocoa butter in the lip balm, you are just crossing out the link……………not the ingredient, correct?

    Reply
    • Lisa Oedekerk

      September 2, 2012 at 10:37 AM

      Yes, still use the shea butter 🙂

      Reply
      • carsyn

        October 3, 2014 at 8:39 PM

        can I buy some from you or how does it work

        Reply
  9. Kristina Greene

    August 30, 2012 at 6:15 PM

    I love making lip balm. My daughters and I made a bunch last year. They gave them to their friends as gifts. I’ve never tried adding color. Have to give that a go this year!

    Reply
  10. Carrie

    August 30, 2012 at 3:42 PM

    I’ve been using your face powder recipe for a few months now and I love it. My daughter is still very little, but when she starts wanting to put on makeup like mommy, I won’t worry one bit about brushing a tiny poof of powder on her face, just for fun. I have a feeling this lip balm is going to fall under the same category!

    I actually have had a really hard time finding a lip balm I love, all because of the color. I’m really excited to try this and make it work perfectly for my complexion. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
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