How to Make Lipstick

Do you want to start making your own lipstick? 

Don’t worry--we’ve got your back.

 

 

First, let’s start with some essential facts…

5 Facts You Need to Know Before Starting

1. Lip products are basically a blend of oil and wax. 

2. The more oil in a recipe, the softer the product. The more wax, the harder.

 

3. A lip gloss in a bottle that you apply with a wand is almost entirely oil, while pencil-like lip liner is mostly wax. Traditional lip sticks and lip balms fall in the middle, being an artful blend of just the right amount of wax and oil.

 

4. Castor Oil is by far the most commonly used oil used in making lip products because it’s thick and shiny.

 

5. Many people use beeswax simply because it is inexpensive and easy to find.

Here’s a very basic lip balm you can make with beeswax:

Almond Oil	8 ounces
Beeswax	2 ounces
Honey	1 teaspoon
Melt everything together and pour into pot container.

 

How To Create a Lipstick Shade

Now check out how beauty guru Koren Zander mixed up a special Lippie for his sister with TKB's lipstick mold.

 

Directions:

1. Use a microwave to melt Uncolored Base in a melter cup in 20 second bursts until it turns liquid.
   (Warning: TKB's melters cup are microwaveable for short periods of time, but they will melt if you overheat them.)
2. Add Lip Liquids to create a lipstick shade. Add as much or little as you wish.
3. Add Colored Micas to change or intensify the shade.
   (Tip: Don't add more than about 1 part mica to 3 parts lipstick base--it'll get too frosty looking.)
4. Prep your lipstick mold with a cotton swab and some mold release (dimethicone or a lightweight oil such as fractionated coconut oil).
5. Reheat the colored base and add 1 or 2 drops of Love 10 fragrance or a flavoring oil to your melted lipstick base. Stir well.
6. Now pour your pretty lipstick shade into the 4-cavity Lipstick Mold!
7. Put the 4-cavity Lipstick Mold in the freezer.
   (Tip: While Koren recommends only 5 minutes, we suggest 20 minutes prior to unmolding.)

 

WAX: How to choose?

Knowing how to make your lipstick shade is the first step, but choosing your ingredients are important, too. To begin with, you have to decide what waxes you’d like to use for your lipstick project.

 

Vegetable Waxes 

Favored among the waxes are Candelilla (pronounced can-da-lee-yah) and Carnauba (pronounced car-now-bah).

Petroleum Based Waxes

Some choose to use Ozocerite and Microcrystalline waxes, and swear by their importance to a finished product.

To give you a better overview, this is the ingredient list from Burt’s Bees All Natural Lipstick.

Sunflower Oil	A vegetable oil
Castor Oil	A vegetable oil
Beeswax	An animal-derived wax
Coconut Oil	A vegetable oil
Candelilla Wax	A vegetable wax
Lanolin	An animal-derived wax/oil
Cocoa Butter	A vegetable oil
Vitamin E	A natural preservative/antioxidant
Peppermint Oil	A flavoring oil
Carnauba Wax	A vegetable wax
Comfrey Root Extract	Allantoin is the active ingredient, soothing/protects skin
Rosemary Extract	A natural preservative/antioxidant

 

DYE, PIGMENT, MICA: Which Should You Use?

The typical lip balm/lip stick will usually be colored with a blend of dyes, pigments and micas so as to get the best of all worlds. In total, the color portion of a lip products recipe will usually be about 10-20%.

Learn more about their distinct characteristics:

Dye

What: Color additives that dissolve into and ultimately stain whatever you are working with.

Use if: You’re making a liquid lip gloss.

Pigment

What: Color additives which don't dissolve. Think of sand in the ocean. 

Use if: You’re making a solid lip pencil

Mica

What: Natural mineral that adds shimmer and shine.

Use if: You want a stain or frosty finish.

 

Now that we've covered all the basics of lip product making, you're all set to go!

See more lip products here. Get started with these products!