A quick scroll through Pinterest or flip through a fashion magazine will tell you that sheers, bright colors, and those skirts with the front half missing (also called hi-lo skirts) are all very “in” this summer. This lovely lip balm is both sheer and bright, and feels just like summer to me.
It’s got a great glide and shine thanks to the coconut and kuikuinut oils. The coconut melts straight away, letting the balm slide right onto your lips, and the kuikuinut adds great gloss thanks to its thicker consistency.
There’s also great moisturizing benefits from all the oils, and even a hint of SPF from the jojoba and coconut (though don’t get cocky with it—wear a hat!).
The shimmer comes from micas, and the colour from an all-natural dye derived from paprika. It’s oil soluble, so it blends right in without any trouble.
Coconut Shimmer Lip Balm
4g | 0.14oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
5g | 0.17oz virgin coconut oil
3g | 0.1oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz kukuinut oil
1–3 drops Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)¼ tsp natural red oil-soluble liquid dye or a wee sprinkle of red iron oxide or a wee bit of carmine (liquid or powdered)
½ tsp flash copper mica10 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada) (or more or less, to taste)
Weigh the beeswax, coconut oil, cocoa butter (USA / Canada), jojoba oil (USA / Canada), kukuinut oil, and Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) out into a heat resistant glass measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in a pot of barely simmering water to melt the oils.
Stir in the colourant/dye, mica, and peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada) using a flexible silicone spatula. Pour the melted lip balm into four lip balm tubes and let cool. I like to use these labels to label my projects. Enjoy!
Don’t have the carrier oils called for in the recipe? Read this for a guide on how to choose appropriate alternatives.
This looks amazing! I love me some subtle colour 😉 Though I’m not sure I can afford to add any more items to my NDA cart… is there something I could replace the kukuinut with? More coconut oil, perhaps?
Castor oil would actually be a great choice! It’s nice and thick and shiny, just like the kuikuinut oil.
Also, where do you get natural red dye? I’d try beet juice, but I’m not sure if that would be very shelf-stable…
I bought mine from NDA (where else, lol?). It’s made from paprika! They’ve got a few different colours as well, which is nice, though trust the reviews when they say a colour tends more one way than another—the “strawberry red” is more of a dark orange/coral colour, as you can see in the lip balm.
What the heck? I had searched NDA for “red dye”, “natural dye” and “dye” and nothing came up–I didn’t think to look under “colo(u)r”. Thanks!
Yeah… their search function can be rather lacking, it’s nowhere near as smart as Google!
Do I sense a summer giveaway coming soon??
I believe you do! 😉 Are you reading my mind?
Hahaha, I may have secret skills even I don’t know about 😉 It’s such a pretty balm that I felt the “sharing” vibe all the way down in Louisiana, USA. In my family, I’m notorious for sharing things that I really love (food, clothes, makeup products). So, naturally, I think everyone likes sharing lol.
Ha, I bet you’ll someday be able to save the world with your new found superpower 😉 Stay tuned!
What is this NDA I’ve seen mentioned?
It’s New Directions Aromatics, where I buy most of my ingredients!
Thank you!
I really want to make some of this. The color looks great.
Enjoy it! Be sure to test out the taste of the natural dye before choosing an essential oil to go into the lip balm, it’s got a rather particular, paprika-esque taste 😛
thank you for this! I’m a chapstick addict and love coconut …. so this is right into my MUST DO list! xox, d.
http://www.inspirationrealisation.com
I have my own bee hives and barrels of bee wax. It’s nice to find more ideas to for uses!
Oh! Your own hives! I am so very jealous 🙂 All the things I could make! Be sure to check out my massage bars and my list of 10 uses for beeswax!
I just found your site and I love what it’s all about. Thank you.
Thanks for reading, Janet 🙂 I really appreciate it!
I love coconut anything. This lip balm looks so good!! I’m going to have to try making it!!
Me too! I’m so sad there’s no such thing as coconut essential oil, but I do just adore virgin coconut oil!
Where did you purchase the jojoba oil, the kukuinut oil, and the micah? How much does it cost to make these? Where can you purchase the empty lip balm containers? Thanks.
Hi Shelly—as noted above in that big grey box, I get most of my supplies from NDA and Saffire Blue. The overall cost investment for all the ingredients depends on what quantities you buy of each ingredient, but when all is said and done the cost per unit is generally well under $0.50 🙂
I was so excited to try out this recipe, but I looked and apparently NDA doesn’t carry the natural red dye anymore (though they still carry a yellow, orange, and green dye). Besides iron oxides and mica are there other alternatives to color?
Beyond iron oxides and mica your other option would be to mix their orange dye with some carmine lip tint to create a coral colour 🙂 It sure would be nice if they’d stop discontinuing products I use in my recipes 😛
Hi Marie! I stumble across this while thinking of ideas for bridesmaids. I’m wondering, will red food coloring stain the lips? Or would it be such an insignificant amount, mixed with other things, that it wouldn’t matter?
Can’t wait to try this!
Thank you!
Hi Morgan! You shouldn’t encounter any staining issues at this concentration. I’d recommend this lip balm recipe instead, though, the colour is easier to find as NDA discontinued the dye I used for this recipe :/
Thank you very much! I bought almost all of the ingredients for this one as I love the coconut aspect to it. But I didn’t get the Kukuinut as it’s slightly more expensive than everything else. Is it ok if I don’t add in the Kukuinut to this recipe?
The kuikuinut oil is there for boosted shine, so if you don’t have it, castor oil is a good choice for a substitute. If you don’t have castor oil either you can just use more jojoba oil 🙂 Have fun & thanks for DIYing with me!
Hey again! So I finally got a chance to try this recipe and it turned out slightly differently because I didn’t have the mica or the color. However, I used some substitutes. But, I used the red food coloring and it didn’t work well at all, unfortunately. It didn’t change the color, it just kind of…dissipated. Do I need to try to put more in or? Other than the color, it is super smooth on my lips and I really love it!
I think the problem with my recommendation of food colouring as an alternative is that most food colouring isn’t oil soluble :/ Sorry. That’ll be the problem. I’ve removed it as a recommendation. If you can find oil soluble food colouring, that should do the trick. You can also use some red oxide or a bit of a red clay to give it a colour boost 🙂 Sorry about the mix up, but I’m thrilled you’re loving the lip balm otherwise!
Just wanted to say I found Carmine powder here: http://www.soapconscious.com/Soapconscious.html
It’s an Australian online shop, so I don’t know if they ship overseas [I’m in Aus].
Awesome, thank you!
How much Vit E oil do you use? You don’t have an amount up there 🙂
Whoops, thanks for catching that! I updated the recipe to include an amount (1–3 drops).
Dear Maria,
how much of oxide or mica can I use in lip balm/lip stick? Is it possible to overdose it?
I used for about one pinch of red mica and a pinch of red oxide (10 tubes of lip balm) and it came out almost translucent on lips.
Thank you for your answer.
Maruska
P.S. I visit your blog every day without exemptions =)
Hi Maruska! If you take a look at some of my lipstick recipes that will give you an idea of how much oxide is required to create an opaque lipstick as opposed to a tinted lip balm. Use less for less opacity 🙂 I don’t see why you’d ever really need to use more than I use in that recipe, though—it’s already opaque, and that’s pretty much the end of the line for colours. Adding much more would start to effect the balance of the ingredients.
Thanks for reading!
Hi! I just discovered your blog and I am in love! I got excited and got some mica but then I started reading some scary stuff about it and I freaked out and stopped. Have you done research on it? I know it’s listed as safe on EWG but I got nervous to give away as gifts. Do you wear a mask? Thanks! Can’t wait to try the lipstick!
Hi Sarah! I do wear a dust mask when I make powdered products using my coffee grinder regardless of what’s in the recipe—you don’t want to be inhaling powders in general. I also make sure to add a bit of oil to all powdering concoctions to weigh them down so inhalation isn’t an issue. I have researched micas and feel they are a safe addition to products, but I can’t make that call for you.
Hi 🙂
I have a slight dilemma, I love your lip balms and wanted to make a few for my friend’s birthday which is in a few days. Because of the time issue I don’t want to have to order lip balm containers online, so was wondering if you know any (south east london) UK stores that sell them at reasonable price.
Thanks xx
Hi Natalie! I posted this question on my Facebook page for you and got some answers from my readers around the world 🙂
Hi Marie! I love your website and the pictures you take — you are definitely an artistic person!
I’ve been looking for a lip balm recipe that uses cocoa butter, coconut oil and beeswax only (and essential oil for fragrance) but haven’t found one that glides well. Most of my homemade lip balms don’t glide well and feel heavy on my lips. I’m looking for something light, barely there. Can you recommend the proportions for me?
Also, do you recommend a lip balm that’s made only with beeswax and coconut oil?
THanks!
Hi Ena! If you are only using those three ingredients I think you will find your glide problem is caused by wanting to use nothing but ingredients with above-room-temperature melting points. You’ll notice my lip balms are generally ~40% liquid oil, which is why they glide on so beautifully. Give this recipe a go—it’s just cocoa butter, coconut oil, beeswax, and a light liquid oil 🙂
I’ve made a very tacky lip balm from equal parts beeswax and coconut oil—it’s great when it’s SUPER dry out since it’s so sticky that it sticks around on your lips for ages.
Adore your site! I continue to learn from the most trustworthy and inspiring source of self-sustaining happiness on the internet.
Thanks, Brianna! 🙂
Love this recipe Marie! The addition of the liquid oils in your recipe fixed two problems I was having with my lip balms containing micas. The first problem was that mine felt waxy. The second problem was I felt like I had to re-apply every 10 minutes. I use a fair amount of mica (can be drying) so I doubled the liquid oils and voilà…. Beautiful, hydrated highly pigmented lips. Thank you!
Happy to help! Enjoy your lip balm 🙂