Sustainability made simple

How to Make Lipstick: Step-by-Step Guide with Natural Ingredients

how to make lipstick
Photo: Sarah Gairing/ Utopia

Learning how to make lipstick is easier than you think. We’ll show you how to use natural ingredients to create your own DIY lipstick. The best part? You’ll know for sure that there are no chemicals in your makeup.

DIY Lipstick: What You’ll Need

DIY lipstick ingredients
When buying your ingredients, remember to choose organic and fair trade as much as possible. (Photo: Sarah Gairing/ Utopia)

To make two sticks of DIY lipstick base, you’ll need:

  • 1 tsp beeswax
  • 1tsp cocoa butter
  • 1 tsp coconut or jojoba oil
  • 2/3 tsp olive oil

Note: To help support the environment and to protect your health, remember to choose local, fair trade, and organic products whenever possible. When buying coconut oil and cocoa butter for your lipstick, make sure they are cold-pressed and virgin. 

Did you know? You can also use coconut oil for your hair, e.g. as a conditioner or for heat protection.

To add color, you can choose from ingredients such as:

Tip: Old lipstick can also be used to dye your new one. Of course, this means it will no longer be all-natural, but your self-made lipstick will still be a step up from conventional makeup.

You’ll also need: 

  • Empty lipstick tubes 

Tip: If you don’t have any old lipstick tubes that you can reuse, you can also buy them online, like these natural bamboo lipstick tubes on Amazon**. 

How to Make Lipstick

making lipstick
Melt your beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and olive oil together. (Photo: Sarah Gairing/ Utopia)

To make your own lipstick, follow these three steps:

  1. Combine the beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and olive oil in a bowl and melt them together in the microwave. Do this slowly, in thirty-second increments, stirring in between. If you don’t have a microwave, you can use a bain-marie instead.
  2. Depending on what color you’ve chosen, add your natural dye. Start with a small amount and slowly add more, until you’ve reached the exact shade you’re looking for. For red tones, use beet or fruit powders. For earthier tones, choose cinnamon or cocoa. Turmeric will give your lipstick a coppery color. Remember: the color of the lipstick will look darker when it is in liquid form; as it hardens, it will lose some of its intensity. 
  3. Fill the liquid into your empty tubes and allow to harden. 

Tip: To add a pleasant scent to your lipstick, add a few drops of essential oil to the liquid mixture. 

Why Make Your Own Cosmetic Products?

how to make lipstick
When adding your natural dye ingredients, remember that as your lipstick hardens, it will lose some of its vibrancy. (Photo: Sarah Gairing/ Utopia)

Making your own lipstick is more than just a fun DIY project. Studies have found that conventional lipsticks often contain a high amount of lead, as well as other toxic metals like cadmium and chromium. In general, there is a long list of concerning chemicals in all sorts of cosmetics, including not only all different types of makeup but also hair and skin products.

If you are using only store-bought conventional cosmetic products, there’s a good chance that you’re exposing yourself to harmful chemicals on a daily basis. By learning how to make your own DIY lipstick, you’ll be able to knock one more thing off that list.

Tip: Looking for more ways to eliminate conventional cosmetic products from your daily routine? Try making your own homemade deodorant, or try out one of these three soap recipes or seven homemade DIY facial tonors.

** Links to retailers marked with ** or underlined orange are partially partner links: If you buy here, you actively support Utopia.org, because we will receive a small part of the sales proceeds. More info.

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