Nourish your lips and give them some shine with this DIY tinted lip balm recipe. Made with natural ingredients like coconut oil and mica powder, this lip balm is an easy DIY beauty recipe
Nourish, moisturize, and have a bit of fun, this recipe is perfect for stocking stuffers, advent calendars, or part of a bridal shower gift bag!
I am not a makeup person. It simply doesn’t fit my lifestyle. I work out and sweat too much and cannot stand taking it off at the end of the day.
However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to feel a little dressed up or put on something more than normal sometimes. And this shimmery, DIY tinted lip balm does just that.
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Ingredients You'll Need
Shea butter: a nourishing butter and the base for this tinted lip balm. Shea butter helps keep the lips hydrated.
Jojoba oil: this oil can be subbed for another like sweet almond oil or apricot kernal oil. Just make sure not to sub it for coconut oil as that will change the texture of the lip balm.
Coconut oil: you want to use regular coconut oil here and not fractioned coconut oil or your tinted lip balm won't harden.
Beeswax: beeswax are what keep the lip balm together. I personally use pellets because they're SO MUCH easier to measure.
Beet powder: this is just another way to get the color for the tint. You can sub this out for more or a different mica powder but I personally like that it's completely natural. It also makes the hue a really cool deep color.
Mica powder: for this specific color I used red mica powder because it adds a shimmer to the beet. However, you can mix and match!
Though there isn't essential oils in this tinted lip balm, if you want to scent it you definitely can.
Why You Should Use Homemade Lip Balm
- Cost-effective
- Helps moisturize the lips naturally thanks to the oil and butters (learn more about choosing butters for DIY products)
- Dye-free
- Fragrance-free
- All-natural
- Helps moisturize the lips naturally thanks to the oil and butters (learn more about choosing butters for DIY products)
The ingredients in this tinted lip balm recipe are natural, nourishing, and health-promoting. You can check out where I buy my ingredients and my favorite brands here.
Tinting With Mica Powder
For this naturally tinted balm, I used a combination of beet powder and mica powder. Both are all-natural, food-grade options and part of the do's and don't for homemade lotions.
Mica powder is a natural stone mineral with shiny flakes, different from a pigment powder but works wonderfully (learn more about mica powder). Mica powder works well in:
- Lip chap recipes
- Soap making
- Easy homemade bath bombs
- DIY makeup of sorts
However, for me, it is a bit too shiny. Being in my thirties, I don’t need all-out sparkle, which is why I cut it down with beet powder (beet crystals would work too and be slightly brighter). A subtle tint and a bit of shimmer.
Other Natural Tint Options
Though mica powder is the most common way to tint a lip balm, it's not the only way. Below are a few other options you can experiment with.
- cacao powder
- beet powder
- beet crystals
- butterfly tea
- turmeric
- other roots ground up and boiled in
Storing the Tinted Lip Balm
When it comes to homemade lip balm, you can either make it and pour it into lip balm containers or use metal tin and put it onto your lips with your finger.
Personally, I always use lip balm containers as getting oil on my fingers drives me nuts.
So long as you don’t get water into the mixture (either from it boiling and splashing in when melting or in the lip balm tubes themselves), the homemade lip chaps will last a couple of months. I’ve actually had lip chaps for over a year.
It’s water that causes mold which obviously causes them to go bad so that’s what you need to be cautious of.
Common Questions About Tinted Lip Balm
Yes! mica powder is a natural, mineral powder that is safe to use in cosmetics. It's an easy way to add both color as well as shimmer to a lip balm recipe.
You want to add the powder after the oils and butters have melted and before your pour the mixture into containers. Remove the mixture from heat and add in the mica powder. Make sure to whisk it well so that it fully blends and no clumps remain.
Tinted lip balm is made by melting a combination of butters (shea butter, cocoa butter etc), oils like coconut and almond oil, and beeswax. Once melted, you whisk in the coloring agent (usually mica powder) and pour into lip balm containers to set.
The most common way to make tinted recipes is to use mica powder. Mica is an mineral-based shimmery powder that is safe in cosmetics. However, there are other coloring options like beet powder, cacao powder, and ground herbs.
Homemade Natural Tinted Lip Balm
Equipment
- Mini Whisk
- Mini Funnel
- Lip Chap Tubes
Ingredients
- 1.5 tablespoon shea butter
- 1.5 teaspoon jojoba oil
- 1.5 teaspoon coconut oil measured solid
- 1 tbs beeswax
- ½ teaspoon beet powder
- ⅛ teaspoon red mica powder
Instructions
- Melt all ingredients except the powders in a jar immersed in a pot at a rolling boil. Whisk to mix.
- While lip chaps are melting, set up the tubes. You need a small funnel also.
- Remove from the water and whisk in the beet powder and mica until no clumps remain.
- Pour into the tubes quickly as it hardens fast.
- Cap the lip chaps and let sit for twenty-four hours to firm up.
Video
Notes
- Makes 8-10 depending on the size of the lip balm tubes.
- Note: if you notice the lip balm mixture hardening while you pour, just let it sit in the pot of warm water for one minute to re-soften.
- Know that cocoa butter cannot be subbed for share butter.
- Grab all the ingredients you need from my DIY staples.
Making your own homemade tinted lip balm is simple, rewarding, and a great way to reduce chemicals in your skincare routine while still feeling pretty.
Plus, they make tinted lip balms make great gifts for neighbors, friends, and teachers. Whip up a batch to keep on hand and never be without soft lips!
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