If you’ve been wanting a transparent lip gloss base from scratch, this is the formulation for you. You’ll need just three ingredients to make a clear and versatile gloss base that you can customize in oh-so-many ways, with different carrier oils, colours, micas, and more!
Lip gloss is one of the first things I ever made (this post from late 2011 is nearly a decade old, wowza), with my first batches pre-dating Humblebee & Me! I’ve experimented with many different ways to get that characteristic soft creamy, glossy consistency, and today I’m sharing another one 😄 Deep green blackberry seed oil stars in this luxurious gloss, with a small amount of colourant to give it a blackberry-hued tint. I’ve shared two variations of this formulation, each featuring a different thickener, leaving you to choose your version based on what you can get. One thickener creates a more glossy end product, while the other makes for a creamier gloss. I swatch both versions in the full video tutorial so you can see how they differ!
Today we’re fully embracing summer with a rich, sparkly Gold Dust Lip Cream ✨ A creamy base carries a generous helping of shimmery gold things to bring some beautiful 24 karat loveliness to your days. Enjoy!
Today’s DIY was inspired by a lip gloss advert I saw some time last year. It was for the Glossier lip gloss, and for some reason, the ad caught my eye. I clicked through and took a look at the ingredients, and the first ingredient was “Hydrogenated Polyisobutene”—and that made me think of some products I had from TKB Trading—specifically their gloss base and oil fusion, which they recommend combining to create easy-peasy lip glosses. Within twenty minutes of seeing the advert, I’d drafted a formulation using these ingredients, squished everything together, and piped the bright red mixture into a squeezy lip balm tube. Voila!
This punchy red liquid cheek and lip tint has become a fast favourite of mine. On first glance it’s a thin, vibrant red liquid. It’s less red than you expect on application, and the slip is divine; lightweight and satiny, with a finish that is unexpectedly rich without being heavy. I love it as a way to add a subtle flush to my cheeks and lips, with or without foundation or other makeup. It’s pretty easy to customize colour-wise, too!
When it comes to makeup I actually wear on a regular basis I find I tend towards subtle, easy-to-apply stuff (read: stuff that goes on easily and lightly enough that it disguises my amateurish makeup application skills). These lip tints were born of my initial experiments with TKB Trading’s new lipstick mold, and I was swept off my feet from the first application. A bright, punchy tube of pigment that blends in with my natural lip colour to create a fantastic, wearable, and easily applied hit of colour? Colour me sold.
Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup and Skin Care is now available at booksellers all over the world!