DIY Lipstick

Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 10 lipsticks

Making your own lipstick can seem daunting at first, but once you’ve made your first lipstick, you’ll want to keep making more! Not only can you make sure you only use natural ingredients, you also get to do the fun part of playing with colours. For extra fun, why not make it a girls night in and turn it into a crafty lipstick party?

PS For a lipstick party, just make double or triple the amount of lipstick base, separate into different containers, and each person gets to colour one of the containers. Fill the tubes and share the colours!

ONE: Measure out all the oils and waxes into a small pot. I’m using a blend of white beeswax and candelilla wax that will give you a solid, yet still spreadable and smooth texture. Both candelilla wax and the castor oil will bring gloss and shine to the lipstick. As will the jojoba oil with the extra benefit that it will condition and soften your lips. Shea butter will also add moisture and protect your lips.

For a vegan option, replace the white beeswax with half the amount of carnauba wax.

TWO: Place the pot on the stove and on a low-medium setting, warm the ingredients until they are completely melted. Don’t walk away, because it will only take a few minutes at the most. You do not want to bring the ingredients to boil!

Take the pot off the stove and set it aside. Don’t worry, it will stay liquid, while you mix the colour.

THREE: In a small bowl combine 1-3 tablespoons of lip-safe mica and 1-2 teaspoons of jojoba oil, and stir to a smooth paste. If you want a sheer colour, like I did, use only 1 tablespoon of mica in 1 teaspoon of jojoba oil. For a more richer colour add 2  tablespoons of mica to 2 teaspoons of jojoba oil.

For a more opaque colour, add 1/4 teaspoon of micronised titanium dioxide to the paste. The titanium dioxide will add opacity to your lipstick (make it less sheer and more like a colour), with the added bonus of providing natural UVA and UVB protection.

FOUR: Add the mica paste to the liquid oils in the pot and stir briskly until all the colour is evenly dispersed throughout.

FIVE: Carefully pour the mixture in the lipstick tubes. Unless you have one of those handy lip balm pouring trays (and I don’t) or a very steady hand (and I don’t have that either), this will be a very messy part. The best way is to tie a rubber band around all the lipstick tubes to hold them together. If you can’t find a rubber band, you can place the tubes into a little cup to keep them from falling over. Either way, it will become a bit messy!

Leave the lipstick to harden and cool down completely before putting the lids on.

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