I’ve been a lip gloss junkie since I got my hands on my first Bubblegum Bonnie Bell Lipsmacker. There is something magical about a soft pink shiny lip gloss that warms my inner little girl heart. Alas, while I used to happily buy it and skip through life, lips a shiny, a couple of years ago I started reacting to just about every brand of lip gloss out there. My lips would chap and the surrounding skin would turn pink and rough. Not so pretty… it turns out my favorite brand was loaded with nasty chemicals and synthetic fragrances. When I started going all natural and organic with food, it seems my skin was jealous and decided it wanted to be treated special too.
So it was time to search out the best recipe for lip gloss and of course it had to be shiny and PINK! After several attempts (no I’m not admitting how many failures) I found one I love that is super easy and I no longer have to drop $26 for a tube of lip gloss!
What you need:
1 cup Apricot Kernel Oil
8 teaspoon Beeswax
1/8 teaspoon Organic Vanilla Extract (Mexican smells the best) This is optional.
2 teaspoon Beet Powder
1 teaspoon Caster Oil
A couple drops Vitamin E Oil
Essential Oils (combinations below)
Containers (tins or tubs).
Optional but handy:
Glass Pyrex 2 or 4 cup measuring cup
Cheese cloth
Rubber Band
1. In a pan with about 3/4″ of water simmering (tiny bubbles but not boiling) put a 2 cup Pyrex
measuring cup in the water and add the apricot kernel oil and the beetroot powder. You can use a double boiler if you don’t feel comfortable keeping a close eye on the heat. It is probably safer but it goes faster this way. Mix well and heat for 5 minutes. It should turn dark red pretty quickly. (Don’t panic it won’t be that dark on your lips).
2. Take the cheesecloth and put over a measuring cup. Gently push your fist into the cheesecloth so there is a dip of about 4 inches. Then put a rubber band in place to hold the cheesecloth. Carefully pour the beetroot oil mixture into the cheesecloth to strain. I do it over the garbage and just toss the cheesecloth and rubber band into the trash.
3 Return the beetroot oil mixture to the double boiler and add the beeswax, caster oil and vitamin E oil. Stir constantly until the mixture is all liquid. It should be moving freely and be thin.
4. Pull from heat and stir in vanilla. This can be emitted if you don’t care for the scent.
5. Pour into containers. Ireally like the sliding tin ones. Set aside and allow to cool overnight. Because this is gloss and not balm it is soft and not suitable for chap stick style tubes.
Voila!
Essential Oil Combinations:
Chai:
4 drops each: Cinnamon, Ginger and Clove
Winter:
4 drops each: Helichrysum, Melaleuca and Geranium
Single Oils:
11 – 15 drops. My absolute favorite is Spearmint.
Please do not use Citrus oils in lip balm as they are photosensitive and can cause lips to burn.
All essential oils aren’t created equally. In this recipe I prefer to use essential oils that are safe for internal use and at a minimum safe for topical use. Check the label to see if it is safe.Why?…Essential Oil Grades
If you’d like to know more about what products I use please send me a message below.
PS: I’m not trying to keep it a secret… the brand doesn’t allow their products named or pictured on non-company websites. I’d tell you if I could!
