You can make a great lipstick out of your favorite lip balm recipe. If you don’t have a favorite from-scratch recipe, you can use a pre-made base like the one here or I’ve designed a few recipes for making lipstick at home below. Remember, if the recipe calls for a liquid oil that you don’t have, you can substitute any liquid oil.
Sheer Lipstick
2 oz. Beeswax
2 oz. Grapeseed Oil
1 oz. Wheatgerm Oil
optional 1 tsp. Zinc Oxide (by volume – optional – may substitute titanium dioxide)
4 tsp. lip safe mica (by volume – mix and match color to perfection)
The Zinc Oxide will provide a opaque, matte effect to your lipstick. If you use just mica, you will have a more sheer lip balm.
Melt the beeswax in a double boiler. Once fully melted, add the Grapeseed and Wheatgerm oil. Pour your colorant into the double boiler and stir well. Let this mixture sit until it begins to thicken slightly (thus suspending the colorant better) and pour into jars or tubes
Matte Lipstick
Because of the Candelilla wax, this lipstick is a more waxy feeling lipstick than the Sheer Lipstick. The Candelilla wax helps the color adhere to the lips.
Phase 1
4 oz. Castor Oil
4 oz. Jojoba oil
.5 oz. Beeswax
1 oz. Candelilla wax
1/4 oz. wheatgerm oil
Colorant phase
8 full teaspoons of lip safe mica or lip-approved pigment
optional: 1 teaspoon of titanium dioxide
1 oz. Castor, Olive or Wheatgerm oil Hint: Castor provides more shine than Olive or Wheatgerm
Melt the waxes in a double boiler. Once they are fully melted, add the Castor Oil and Jojoba oil. In a separate bowl, add your mica to the liquid oil of your choice. Mix in well and make sure there are no clumps. Add the colorant mixture into your double boiler and mix thoroughly. Remove this mixture from the double boiler and let sit until mixture begins to cool and thicken (thus suspending the colorant through out the lipstick). Once cooled to an appropriate thickness, pour into jars or tubes.
Not sure that you’ve got the best color or the nicest texture? I like to freeze a few butter knives in the freezer for an hour prior to making the lipstick. By dipping the end of a frozen knife into your colored lipstick mixture, you can instantly test the color and texture of your homemade creation.
