There are advantages to making lipstick and gloss at home. You can customize it down to the last ingredient and the natural oils will leave your lips feeling moisturized. If you're ready to start, this article can help. It includes tips for coloring your recipes, as well as a few blends to try.
Find DIY lipstick and gloss supplies here.
Make sure to choose lip-safe colorants for your recipes. You can find that information in the colors category, just select "lip safe" on the left-hand side to filter it.
If you're new to making lip products, check out this article for more information.
Sheer gloss/lip toppers
These add a beautiful shimmer to the lips. They can be used on their own or on top of another color.
You don't need a lot of mica for this option - we used about 3/4 teaspoon per ounce of lip gloss. Of course, you can use more or less depending on your preference. Shimmery colors look great because they catch the light - we love Rose Gold and Snowflake Sparkle Mica.
First, add your colorants to a container and mix in about 1/2-2 teaspoons of a lightweight liquid oil with a neutral color - something like cucumber seed or sweet almond. That prevents clumping and gives you an idea of what the finished product will look like. Then, mix it with the lip gloss for a few minutes until everything is fully incorporated. The best way to tell if you like the color is to try it on and adjust from there.
Gold Lip Topper
- 3-4 Lip Gloss Tubes
- 1 oz. Natural Lip Gloss Base
- 1 tsp. Cucumber Seed Oil
- 1/2 tsp. Light Gold Mica
- 1/4 tsp. Snowflake Sparkle Mica
- 1/16th tsp. King's Gold Mica
- 1/2 mL Peach Bellini Flavor Oil
Colorful gloss
This is similar to the lip topper, it just uses more saturated colors. We still used about 3/4 teaspoon per ounce of gloss. Any color would look beautiful - you can do matte pigments, shimmery mica, or a combination of the two. We recommend micronizing the pigments in a coffee grinder to prevent clumps in the finished product. Then, mix them with the lightweight oil and add your gloss.
The end result will still be quite sheer on the lips. You can add more color, or use a lipstick underneath for a custom shade.
Pink Gloss
- 3-4 Lip Gloss Tubes
- 1 oz. Natural Lip Gloss Base
- 1 tsp. Cucumber Seed Oil
- 3/4 tsp. Party Pink Mica
- 1/16th tsp. Rose Gold Mica
- 1/2 mL Lavender Lemonade Flavor Oil
Sheer lipstick
If you like your lip products a bit more matte, this is a good option. Lipstick is typically made with more wax and hard oils/butters. We love using the Lip Balm Base, which is made with skin-loving coconut oil and beeswax.
Before you get started, put a few spoons in the freezer. When you dip them into the melted lipstick it will harden and you can check the color.
To get a light wash of color, we used about 1 1/2 teaspoons per ounce of lip balm base. It does take quite a bit to get the color to transfer to the lips. Use micas if you want a bit of shimmer and pigments if you want a more matte look. Because handmade lipstick is made with oil and butter, it will be naturally shiny on the lips even with a matte color. We've been asked how to create a fully matte lipstick and we haven't been able to recreate it with natural ingredients.
For the following recipe, we used 2 teaspoons of oil because there's more color. You want enough oil to create a fluid mixture. If you want a bit of warmth, adding 1/16th teaspoon of a color like Nuclear Orange Pigment will give you what you're looking for. We added more for a bright and fun summer shade.
Coral Lipstick
- 5-6 Lip Balm Tubes
- 1 oz. Lip Balm Base
- 2 tsp. Cucumber Seed Oil
- 1/2 tsp. Coral Mica
- 1/2 tsp. Red Mica
- 1/2 tsp. Nuclear Orange Pigment
- 1/2 mL Lemon Drop Flavor Oil
Colorful lipstick
To get a more vibrant shade, we added around 2 1/2 teaspoons to 1 ounce of base. You'll notice it still looks a bit sheer - if you add more color than we did, it can start to clump and create streaks on the lips. We recommend no more than 1 tablespoon per ounce of base.
One thing that helps is titanium dioxide. In smaller amounts, it helps the color look more opaque. We also added a bit of Red Blue Mica to make the lipstick more cool than warm.
Berry Lipstick
- 5-6 Lip Balm Tubes
- 1 oz. Lip Balm Base
- 2 tsp. Cucumber Seed Oil
- 3/4 tsp. Burgundy Pigment
- 1 tsp. Red Mica
- 1/2 tsp. Titanium Dioxide
- 1/4 tsp. Red Blue Mica
- 1/2 mL Vanilla Mint Flavor Oil
This image shows what the colors look like on fair skin. While the berry and coral lipsticks contain quite a bit of color, they are still sheer.
