Allow me to start this blog off with a confession. This clay cream blush was supposed to be liquid lipstick when I made it. There. I said it. Unfortunately, it ended up being really… weird… on the lips. Much better suited to the cheeks. And, in the spirit of never throwing something away when it can be re-purposed (into something useful, that is), I now have a lovely recipe for clay cream blush that I think you’ll like.
Since this was supposed to be liquid lipstick, I started off with a lip balm base, minus about half the beeswax so it would be nice and creamy instead of solid. I added titanium dioxide for some opacity, and then added some French pink clay to start to get some colour.
The clay ended up steering the colour in a rather brown direction, so I added a bit of red iron oxide to bring it to a nice, deep red tone.
Very brownish, and not much coverage. We need some strongly pigmented red in here.
Thanks to some red iron oxide, now it’s properly red!
The resulting creamy blush can be easily blended into your cheeks for whatever intensity of red you’re looking for.
Before
Dab it on…
Blended in! (This is pretty subtle, I know.)
Clay Cream Blush
2g | 0.07oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
7g | 0.25oz virgin coconut oil
4g | 0.14oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada)
15g | 0.53oz avocado oil
1g | 0.03oz magnesium stearate (optional, it’s for slip and adhesion)1/8 tsp oil-soluble titanium dioxide
4–5 tsp Australian Pink Clay
~1 tsp red iron oxideMelt all the oils and butters together with the magnesium stearate in a small sauce pan over medium low heat.
Remove from the heat and stir in the titanium dioxide. Slowly add the clay and red iron oxide until you reach a colour you like. You may wish to add a pinch of blue ultramarine for a more purpley red, or a bit of yellow iron oxide for more of a coral tone.
To use, lightly dab on your cheeks and quickly blend in. Enjoy!
By any chance would pink kaolin clay work instead of Australian pink clay? Also, you should do a post on all the clays you use because I’m often not familiar with the types that you use.
I’ve never used it before, but assuming it’s similar in colour to what you see in the photos, I don’t see why not. You will have to tweak & intensify the colour with some oxides in the end, so the clay you use isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of the colour.
This is *gorgeous* and season appropriate! Fabulous job 😀
Thanks, Victoria!
I’ve never tried making my own blush yet….this looks very interesting. I also like how you admit it was suppose to be something else then a blush in the first place!
Blush might be the easiest of all the cosmetics 😛 No colour matching as with foundation or concealer, and it’s so much more forgiving than lipstick or eyeshadow with application, haha. And hey, why not let the people know I’m not perfect? 😛 I still must figure out that liquid lipstick, though…
Approximately how many grams is a teaspoon of colored oxide? When looking at Saffire Blue’s oxide options, the minimum purchase order is 10g. Would 10g of red iron oxide be enough, for example, to make your clay cream blush?
Right now I’m putting together an exhaustive excel spreadsheet detailing prices of ingredients and ingredients needed in my first batch of recipe attempts, aka the healing concealer and cream blush.
Thanks for posting all of these DIY endeavors!
Because oxides are a relatively light powder, a gram is actually quite a lot. If you take a look at a couple photos I have of jars of oxides (here and here), you can start to get an idea of what 30g looks like. Those jars are close to full when I get them, and that’s 30g. The jars are about 5cm across and 2.5cm deep—hopefully you can get a good sense of scale from looking at some of the other photos in that second link. So, yes—you could totally make the clay blush with 10g of red oxide, with some to spare 🙂
Have fun!
I made lipstick with mica and rose clay. But after I poured it in containers I remembered I shouldn’t let the clay get in contact with metal bowl. Do you think the lipstick is now harmful? Should I throw it away?
No worries, you’re fine 🙂 When people say not to let clay come in contact with metals they are generally talking about bentonite in particular, and at any rate, the only thing it might do is decrease the potency of the clay, not make it harmful. Lipstick away!
Would I be able to make a mix of Aus Ivory Clay and a bit of French Red or Aus Red Reef clay to substitute the pink? 🙂
It’s worth a try—I’d probably start with the reef red since the French red isn’t very red 🙂
I just LOVE reading your blog. You have such a way to captivate your readers. I can’t wait to try out this recipe on my own.
Thanks so much, Jen!
Can I add a bit more titanium dioxide if I want to make it more pink? Or should I just use ultramarine pink oxide instead of the red oxide?
You might actually want to try out this blush recipe instead—I find it is much easier to tweak the shade of that recipe than this one 🙂 More titanium dioxide will help brighten up the colour, but too much can start to add opacity to it as well, which you might not be looking for.
Thanks Marie! I liked the idea of a cream blush but the colour of that other blush you recommended is gorgeous so I will try that one instead!
If you love cream blush, check out some of my lipstick recipes—they all make lovely creamy blushes as well, and I have lots of different colour blends!
I don’t know why I didn’t think of that! I will definitely try some of them. Thanks Marie!
No worries, have fun!
Dear Marie,
I have made this blush without magnesium stearate and substituting all the liquid oils with rosehip seed oil. The clay I used was very fine but when added to the blush, it formed small clumps which I couldn’t break while mixing. But I was able to break the clumps while applying. Do you think the clumps formed because I have used a light oil?
If you can break the clumps up while applying it this is likely just because you didn’t blend the mixture as thoroughly as possible. It’s often useful to add the pigments slowly to ensure even, thorough blending.
thank you Marie. I do seem to remember that I dumped the clay all at once. will keep in mind next time 🙂
🙂
Hi , I was wondering if you use any preservative in your handmade products? There’s such contradictory do you use a preservative ,natural,synthetic. I prefer not to but worry of nasties that can grow in the products that are not visible. What’s your opinion and recommendations?
Thanks in advance and love what you do!
I wrote an FAQ on this 🙂
Hi Marie,
I literally just discovered your blog and have been reading all your makeup recipes back into 2013! I recently ordered ingredients for diy makeup/ skincare and while waiting for them to arrive I thought I should do more research.
I am curious why do you say that this formula is “weird” on the lips? I have been trying to look at liquid lipstick ingredients of popular brands, and it seems like occ lip tar would be the easiest to start from. While waterproof ones involve volatile silicone, the occ LT is oil based with added clay to mattify. The long wearing properties depends on how fast the oil evaporates, but clay does not prevent it from smearing, like the texture of NYX SMLC. Overtime the lipcream will sit into fine lines, even though it remained matte looking. I think adding beeswax/carnauba wax may make it long wearing, as understood from Jeffree Star/ABH “kiss-proof” formula. The challenge would then be to suspend all these in a natural oil. Correct me if I’m wrong! It sounds somewhat similar to your clay mascara formula…
Anyway, I’m sure you are already testing things out so I’ll make sure to check back! I can’t wait to start making my own blends, so pardon my rant. I hope I can be of any help 🙂
Hi Maeve! Welcome to my blog 🙂 Don’t forget to head all the way back to 2011 😉
Honestly, it’s been 2 years since I made this and I don’t remember a lot about it. It didn’t have very good coverage for lips, and just wasn’t the right consistency. I have been looking at a lip tar that a reader pointed me towards for further inspiration in this area, and I suspect it’s mostly the ratios of colourant to carrier oil/wax.
And you are very tight about me currently experimenting—my kitchen is a disaster right now! Stay tuned 😉
Hi Marie,
I stumbled across your blog while trying to find a recipe for a DIY cheek stain online and my eyes have been opened to all of the possibilities after reading your blog! I have been on the search for my ideal shade of red blush, one that is not too orange or too pink but have so far failed. Now I am going to try and make my own with your recipe. I just have a quick question about the red oxide that I purchased. On the website it said non toxic colorants so I purchased some red oxide needing no further explanation. Unfortunately, after the fact, I read that even though the red oxide from this specific company is non toxic, it is not pharmacitical grade. Since I have already purchased it, is it safe to use or should I just toss it? Here the link of the company: http://www.earthpigments.com
Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful discoveries and recipes with us!
Hey Taylour! Hmm. You don’t need pharmaceutical grade, you just need cosmetic grade, but they say that their pigments aren’t for cosmetic use, either… so what are they for? I’m guessing for colouring cement, from poking around their site a bit? Odd :/ This looks identical to what I use, but who knows; perhaps there’s a chance of heavy metal contamination? Perhaps contact the company and ask about how whatever they sell is different from cosmetic grade? I’m afraid I can’t offer much advice here :/
Hi Marie,
I did end up contacting the company and apparently their pigments aren’t cosmetic grade because of the actual particle size in which the are ground. In cosmetics, very fine particles are used because larger particles can cause dermatis and/or rashes, according to the associate that is. Well, I have purchased cometic grade oxide from another company so wish me luck.
Thank you for the response!
Hmm, that’s a bummer :/ Perhaps you can paint your patio red or something? 😛 At least we both learned something, though 🙂
If I wanted more of a thick, solid cream as opposed to a more liquid-y, would I just increase the clay/oil ratio?
Nope, you’d want to increase the wax 🙂 Clay is a pretty poor thickener when stacked up against beeswax!
Hi Marie.
I love all your videos and the book is amazing. But in this recipe can you substitute the oil for another? You are a joy to watch.
Thank You
Lucy
Hey Lucy! Read this for more info 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Isn’t there a way to make the color from dehydrating fruits and vegetables? I think I read it somewhere. I love your posts
Not really—my experiments with plant based colourants have found them to be weak and inconsistent. They fade over time, they have poor pigmentation, they are typically uneven in colour within themselves, and they tend to be gritty in products like this. I highly recommend sticking with real pigments for reliable, high-performance results 🙂