Tinted Lip Balm With Mica Powder Recipe

We all love a lip balm - in summer they keep thirsty lips hydrated and in winter with all those harsh winds they become a daily necessity!

We decided to add a little more fun to our lip balms by adding some colour, and so TheSoapery tinted lip balm recipes were born!

We've given them a thorough road test, and they give a lovely colour and their natural ingredients will keep your lips soft and moisturised.

How to make tinted lip balm

Making lip balm is relatively simple, you just need a mixture of natural oils and waxes that set to the right consistency. But how do you create tinted lip balms that add colour to your lips?

There's a couple of options:

1. Mica powder
2. Alkanet root

So which is best for created DIY tinted lip balm?

Mica powder vs alkanet root for lip balms

Mica is a naturally occurring mineral found in rocks all over the world. These small, shiny flakes from the rocks are then ground down to form mica powder.

This powder looks like a fine glitter and comes in a wide range of colours and effects which give you a huge range of option for your tinted lip balms.

Our cosmetic mica powders are created from blends of naturally occurring minerals, and our mica powders are not artificially or chemically dyed - unlike some poor quality mica.

However, they're not quite as natural as plants.

If you're looking for something that feels a little more natural, you may start to think of alkanet root.

Alkanet is a plant from the borage family, and the root is a deep purple, ruby colour with a strong musky aroma. The roots are dried and made into small wood pieces.

Alkanet root is most commonly used as a natural dye in soap making, lip balms, lip sticks and lotions

You can infuse alkanet root into oils like sweet almond oil and olive oil. The downsides are that it takes weeks to infuse properly, and it doesn't leave much tint on your lips at all.

The top three lip balms are made with alkanet root, and the bottom three with mica powder.

You can see that mica powder creates a much stronger colour, that's why we recommend mica powder for homemade tinted lip balm.

Read on and uncover our tinted lip balm with mica powder recipe...

DIY tinted lip balm - the mica powder recipe

Ingredients:

• Fantastia pink mica powder 3g
• Calendula oil 25g
• Refined shea butter 40g
• Jojoba oil 12g
• Vitamin E oil 2g
• Yellow beeswax 20g

Method:

This recipe will make enough to fill 6-8 lip balm tins

1. Weigh out the ingredients

• Weigh the shea butter, jojoba oil, calendula oil, vitamin E oil and beeswax together in a heatproof bowl.
• Weigh the mica powder separately.

2. Melt the oils and wax

• Melt the oils together using a heatproof bowl over boiling water. Alternatively, you can melt them in a microwave using short bursts.
• If you mix the oils regularly the beeswax will melt a lot quicker.
• Stir thoroughly to make sure the oils are combined.
• Add the mica powder.
• Stir well until thoroughly mixed and the colour is even.

3. Pour the liquid lip balm into containers

• Pour into clean containers. You can recycle lip balm tins you might already have or use small jars.
• Allow to cool and they are ready to be used!

FAQs

Why is my homemade lip balm grainy?

This is usually caused by your mixture cooling too slowly. Try melting your lip balm again and letting it cool in the fridge. 

How do I store homemade lip balm?

Damp and heat are enemies of lip balm! Always in a cool, dark, dry place.

How long should homemade lip balm last?

We’d expect at least 3 months. You'll get a longer life from your lip balm if you sterilise your mixing and melting containers with isopropyl alcohol first

Why is my lip balm too soft?

We've created our recipes for UK weather (did anyone say unpredictable!?). For summer lip balms we suggest using 25g of beeswax, in winter you can use 16g.

Continue Reading

If that's inspired you to give natural cosmetic making a whirl then take a peek at some more recipes for inspiration:

• Looking for a tinted lip balm without using mica powder? Try our tinted lip balm with alkanet root recipe.
• Want to make you lips extra soft? Try our sugar lip scrub recipe.
• Give soap making a try! Our new chai soap recipe is naturally coloured with cocoa powder.

Did you try our tinted lip balm recipe? Let us know in the comments!