How to Make Naturally Tinted Lip Balm: 3 Colors

DIY Lip Balm

I get most of my ideas for DIYs when I am walking down the aisles of the grocery store. I always take a walk down the cosmetics aisle just to see what is new.

The ingredients and the price tag are always surprising. If it is affordable, chances are the ingredients are terrible. If the ingredients are wonderful, chances are the price is outrageous. That’s why I don’t buy makeup if I don’t have to. I prefer to do it my self – it’s cheaper and better quality.

Making DIY Tinted Lip Balm

Lately I’ve been searching for a quality tinted DIY lip balm recipe. I prefer something that is subtle, but brighter than my own lip color. Loud reds and bright pinks are nice but are really hard to make with natural colorants.

Natural Colorants

Alkanet root powder and Madder root powder are wonderful additives when making naturally tinted DIY lip balm. They provide beautiful reds and browns and can be used to make quite a variety of shades. It took me some time to find my own personal favorite blend of the two powders.

The tricky part is getting the powder to completely mix well. To do this, you need to infuse the powder into a light colored carrier oil. Sweet almond oil, sunflower oil, or macadamia nut oil are all great choices. Infusing the oils is a simple process during which you heat the oil in a double boiler, then add the desired amount of powder, and stir until completely combined. Lastly, you strain with a cheesecloth or tea strainer.

DIY Lip Balm Base

From there, making a DIY lip balm base is really simple. My recipe is 2 parts oil to 1 part beeswax. You can really choose any oil, but I tend to use a combination of hard and soft oils. This makes a slightly harder lip balm.

For this recipe I chose cocoa butter as my hard oil because it already has a great light brown color and it is wonderfully moisturizing. Cocoa butter moisturizes skin and provides a protective barrier as well.

Finally, it wouldn’t be lip balm without beeswax. I use beeswax pastilles which are easier to melt. Beeswax lip balms also have a great silky feel and last for quite some time.

As you can see, my recipe is very simple. It makes enough for three 1-ounce lip balm tins and one tin will last you at least a month.

Step 1: Making the Infused Sweet Almond Oil

Ingredients

For Maroon:

• 1½ teaspoons alkanet root powder (find it here)
• 3 ounces sweet almond oil (find organic sweet almond oil here)

For Deep Red/Maroon:

• 1 teaspoon madder root powder (find organic madder root powder here)
• ½ tsp alkanet root powder
• 3 ounces sweet almond oil

For Brownish Pink:

• 1½ tsp madder root powder
• 3 ounces sweet almond

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a double boiler. (I use a glass pyrex mixing bowl in a saucepan of boiling water.)
2. Add desired amount of powder (alkanet, madder, or both).
3. Stir until the oil has reached the desired color.
4. Strain into jars.

Step 2: Making the DIY Tinted Lip Balm

(makes enough for three 1-ounce tins)

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces Infused Sweet Almond Oil (from recipe above)
• ½ ounce beeswax pastilles (find them here)
• 1 ounce cocoa butter (find unrefined, organic cocoa butter here)
• lip balm tins or tubes (find tins here or tubes here)

Instructions

1. Melt beeswax and cocoa butter in a double boiler. (I use a glass pyrex mixing bowl in a saucepan of boiling water.)
2. Once melted, add the infused sweet almond oil.
3. Stir well.
4. Remove from heat carefully (it will be hot!).
5. Pour into lip balm tins or tubes.
6. Allow to cool completely and then cap.

I make a double batch of these and hand them out as gifts or store them in a cool, dry place for year-round use. The lip balm is pretty hard, so it should stay solid unless left in the sun.