This post is part of the Humblebee & Me Archives
I’ve learned a ton since launching Humblebee & Me in 2011, so some older posts no longer live up to my formulation standards. This is one of those posts.
Rather than delete these posts I’ve moved them to the Humblebee & Me Archives so you can see the steps of my making journey—and hopefully avoid some of my missteps!
Homemade lip gloss
In the spirit of doing pretty much everything myself, regardless of added difficulty to my life, I also make my own homemade lip gloss (though it really isn’t difficult at all). I’m well aware that you can purchase lip gloss made for pretty much any price you care to name, from a 99¢ Lip Smackers that smells like soda pop and candy, to north of the $50 mark with stuff that probably isn’t much different from the $5 stuff. Not that I’d know anything about $50 lip gloss other than what the packaging looks like.
This is my own recipe, and I’m pretty pleased with it. Unlike many glosses that tend to vampire the moisture out of your lips, this one provides a great dose of moisture and shine. You can adjust the viscosity of the gloss by tweaking the amount of beeswax by a gram or two, but I’d recommend making at least one batch of this recipe before messing with anything.
Homemade Lip Gloss
5g | 0.17oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
12g | 0.42oz virgin coconut oil (USA / Canada)
33g | 1.16oz castor oil (USA / Canada)
15g | 0.53oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
5g | 0.17oz kukuinut oil
2g | 0.07oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)
5g | 0.17oz vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada)
20 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)
Micas, for colour (optional)Melt the beeswax and oils together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Fill a shallow roasting pan with some ice and ice water, and place the saucepan into it. Whisk the oils until they’re no longer liquid, but soft soft and semi-opaque. This will happen pretty quickly since we’re working with such a small amount.
Take the saucepan out of the water bath and add the vegetable glycerine (USA / Canada). Whisk vigorously to incorporate the glycerin into the melted oils. Add essential oils to scent, and micas, if using.
Decant into squeezy tubes or hard tubes with a wand lid (a syringe or funnel helps greatly here), and enjoy!
Notes as of February 2020
- I highly recommend scaling this DIY down as it currently makes ~77g of lip gloss, which is an insane amount og lip gloss! I have instructions on how to do that here.
- Because I did make such a large batch of this in 2011 I’m able to report on how long it lasted and was stable. I kept this gloss until early 2017 (5.5 years-ish) and it never seperated (despite the inclusion of water-soluble vegetable glycerin and no emulsifier) and never showed any signs of microbial spoilage.
- If you’re looking for substitutions, please look up the ingredients in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia.
- This DIY could be simplified by using all of either jojoba or kukuinut oil—you could also use a different lightweight liquid oil in place of either or both.
This looks neat, I need to try it sometime! Where do you get your lipgloss and lipbalm containers from?
Thanks! I get my containers from a variety of different places. The lip gloss container that you see in this entry is from a little shop called Soap and More in Calgary. You could try local craft stores or the American version of NDA, http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com. They’ve got a good selection of packaging things, though not the tube with wand I used here.
Hii , i am wondering that what we can use instead of bees wax like candelila or carnuba or any other wax ? I want to ask you so many questions if can respond me
Is the lip gloss peach in color like pictured or is it clear?
What do you use to color it or make it a certain flavor/sent.
If I wanted to add 9.24 grams of an oil soluble lip plumping peptide (12%) would I be able to just add it? Add more beeswax? Lower the castor oil or other oil concentration? Thank you!
Thank you for sharing. Could this lip gloss be put in a little ‘pot’ type container (a carmex style)?
Hey Shari! Yes, you could put the gloss in a pot, but you would want to be careful when opening it, as it isn’t as thick as lip balm. If you’re planning on putting it in a pot, you might want to experiment with adding a bit more beeswax so you don’t have any ‘sloshing’ accidents.
I love your recipes. Thanx for sharing them. I have made a few of your lip balm recipes with a few of my own tweeking depending on what I have in my stash. They all come out so awesome!!! I made this recipe tonight (w/ a few tweaks) and I’m loving it. I put some of it in a squeeze aplicator and some in a roll-on glass bottle. My sister loves the squeeze aplicator and this luscious lip gloss just oozes out so Lovley! Thanx again for sharing!
Hi Shelley! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me 🙂 I’m so thrilled you’re loving what you’re making, and having lots of fun experimenting—that’s the best part!
Hi, this is a pretty stupid question but, I’ve seen a lot of very similar recipes for lip balm and lip gloss, so I was wondering if this one came out solid or not
This one is soft—not hard, but also not a runny liquid.
may i ask is there any substitute for kukuinut oil?
I have written an article on carrier oil substitutions that should help 🙂 You’ll want something relatively thick and slow absorbing, like castor oil.
Was wondering if I could substitute mango butter for the coconut butter?
How would I have to adjust the beeswax or wouldn’t I have to do that.
Thank you
Hi I’m wanting to make this recipe with my little. I think she’d love it. Question when adding coloring how much would you add. I’m looking to do more natural like beet root and or coco or something like that
may u ask how much mica i should add?
It is just “to taste”, add as much as you need to get the colour you want 🙂
Would it work to use a white/silver mica and add a tiny bit of red oxide to color it?
Yup! That should give you a pale pink with a hint of silver shimmer 🙂
I substituted sunflower oil for the jojoba and castor oil for both kuikuinut oil and vitamin E. It worked really well. This made enough to fill six 11 ml tubes.
However, the mica and oxide didn’t mix in very quickly. There were a lot of specks of mica/oxide clumps floating around, and no amount of stiring broke them up. I eventually mashed each one against the side of the bowl, and then they mixed in. Do you have any suggestions on how to avoid this problem in the future? Thanks! 😀
If you blend the mica and oxide into a smaller amount of oil before combining them with everything else you’ll find it’s easier to incorporate everything without clumps 🙂
HI, I just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog. The color of this lip gloss is fabulous, could you tell me your combination of micas? After this I want to try making the Homemade High beam Highlighter and Gentle Argan Silk Milk. Ok who am I kidding I want to make them all 🙂
Hi Kelley! Thanks so much for reading 🙂 Honestly, I made this lip gloss over three years ago, so I have no idea what micas I used 😛 It looks like gold and a touch of red? Have fun DIYing!
Hi. Love your work. Is there any way I can make this vegan. What should I substitute it with – soya, carnuba or candelilla wax and what should be the quantity
I have a vegan lip gloss formulation in my book, Make it Up: The Essential Guide to DIY Makeup and Skin Care. I don’t think I have one here on the blog at this point in time 🙂 You can make a wax substitution, but you’d have to re-develop the formula to ensure the results you want—I can’t just tell you what to do off the top of my head 🙂
Do you know how long this will last?
I have some from 2011 that’s still going strong!
I made this today, and I love it. I was wondering how you decant the proceeds into the tubes? I ended up using a syringe I had, but wondered if there was an easier way. It worked, but too a long time as the syring was small.
By the way, I love it. Doubt I’ll every buy lip gloss again.
Hi Dee! I just use a funnel, which generally requires rapping the tube on the counter to get the product to fall through. It’s a good thing I only make one or two tubes at a time—my method is not bulk friendly in the slightest!
I was wondering. This will be the first time making your lip gloss recipe. What kind of scale did you use to measure out the oils?
The two scales I’m using these days (+ some purchasing tips) are listed here 🙂
Hi there! 😀 I’ve had a fantastic time reading through your blog as I’m in a desperate need of a hobby and natural skin care seems to be the right way to go!
I’ve just got a rather idiotic question (as I am clearly a noob), but I’ve noticed that you melt beeswax directly on the stove in a pot, and I’ve been reading other sites which tells me to melt it in a glassware in a pot of boiling water. Is this only related to items which requires more beeswax?
Any feedback helps! 😀
Hi Mesha! Those recommendations were likely made because beeswax, if overheated, will spontaneously combust. It doesn’t boil or anything, it just goes from liquid to on fire. When you aren’t using pure beeswax, and you’re paying close attention to your pot and removing it from the heat as soon as everything has melted, instant fire isn’t really a concern. That said, you can still scorch the oils. These days I tend to do all my melting in glassware over boiling water unless my ingredients need more heat to melt 🙂
Heya Marie!
Thanks for the answers to my question! Oh man, really would love to try some on my own! Just seems like a somewhat expensive hobby though :O
Well… if you’re in the habit of buying even moderately nice lip balms and glosses the hobby pays for itself pretty quickly! That and it’s super fun 😀
If you want to use something other than a water bath – I melt all my lipstick/gloss ingredients in a wax pot – specifically designed to melt wax for body waxing but you can put the ingredients in and let it do its thing – don’t need to watch the pot. Melt the waxes first then add the oils.
Good tip, thanks Sarah!
so I need a preservation because of the water base glycerin?
Technically, yes, though I must admit I didn’t include any in my earliest batches and they were still totally fine three years later.
I’m wondering if I could use candelilla wax instead of beeswax to make this vegan. Could the coconut oil be easily replaced by shea butter to add moisturizing properties to the gloss?
There is a vegan lip gloss recipe in my book 🙂 And I would recommend making it as is before swapping in shea butter, it is already quite moisturizing!
How much does this recipe make with the hard tubes with the wands?
Read this 🙂
Hey! I love your recipies, but Im kinda broke a bit no after spending all my money on little mix tickets, im trying to make myself some lip gloss out of things you would normaly find in the kitchen, any sugestions?
Not really… not unless you regularly keep cosmetic grade pigments, glycerin, beeswax, and other such ingredients in your kitchen… that’s a bit like asking for a woodworking project using kitchen ingredients :/
I made this recipe and it was great! Replaced the coconut with shea to make it coconut free and used vegan wax instead. Turned out great! I used a mix of spearmint and peppermint for the essential oils so that it wasn’t so strong. Getting this into tubes was the hard part but I just ended up using a syringe I found. No mica’s this time, maybe next time. I also got Make it Up and it’s a great book. I’ve been enjoying my reading and learning of oils.
Yay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it 🙂 Try babassu next time for an even better coconut oil alternative; it is much closer in texture and melting point than shea 🙂 Thanks for buying my book and happy making!
Hi! Love your blog and recipe! I made a lip gloss using beetroot powder instead of mica, however when I transfer the solution to the lip gloss tube with the wand, all of the color stays on the bottom, rather than the entire formula dispersing throughout the bottle. I tried another time by quickly filling and then putting the wand cap on quickly and shaking, and the coloring is still off in different areas of the tubes-meaning no consistent red/pink color throughout the tube. Am wondering if you have any solution for this? Thank you!
Good morning Shira!
And you probably noticed your final product is something very gritty too! Unfortunately, beetroot powder and the like are massive (size and weight) in comparison to something as teeny tiny like micas. You won’t get the same dispersal with beetroot powder as you would with a mica. In later formulas, Marie actually states, “Do not use powdered botanicals like beetroot powder or powdered rosehip extract; they will create an awful, gritty lip balm.”
Please take a look at this article.
Good luck and happy making!
Barb
I am looking for someway to make a roll on clear glossy gloss. Will this work with a roller type bottle?
I would probably drop the amount of wax to make it a bit more liquidy, but I wouldn’t eliminate it entirely as that’ll make for a very drooly final product that likely won’t stay on your lips. Have fun experimenting and take lots of notes!
Would you consider making 2-3 bottles for me using a metal roller type ball? Just want it to be clear, very glossy but not sticky. Maybe a little flavor (that isnt super important though) LOL
Nope—read this FAQ for a detailed explanation of why.
May I ask how many tubes this recipe will fill ?
That depends 🙂
Can i substitute beeswax with lanolin
What is the natural colour of this gloss without the mica? Is it completely clear?
It won’t be clear in the tube because of the wax, but it’ll go on clear.
Thanks x
Is it necessary to use all the oils listed? Or can I miss out some?
Check out this article and this one 🙂
hey where did you get the oils
If you take another look at the recipe you’ll notice every ingredient is a link 😉
I love how your recipe and instructions are easy to follow, I can’t wait to try it. I just have one question; how many lip glosses do you get out of this one batch? I plan on making a lot at a time. Thank you.
I’ve got an FAQ on this 🙂
This stuff is AWESOME! I used sweet almond oil in place of the kukuinut oil, and I used ‘bubble gum’ candy flavoring! ( It was for our 4th,5th,6th grade girls’ Sunday school class) It filled 25, 1.2mL lipgloss tubes. There was about a teaspoon left 🙂 The girls loved it and we had a great lesson on letting our words please the Lord!! Thanks for a great recipe!
Yay! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it 🙂
Can this recipe be put into roller bottles?
Hello Hope!
I honestly don’t see why you couldn’t put this into roller bottles! You might want to make it in a small beaker to double check the viscosity to ensure it will apply well in a roller bottle. You might need to drop your beeswax or up your liquid oils to make it work better, but yes!
Would you need a preservative since the recipe calls for glycerin?
Hello D!
Your exact question was asked back in 2016, and this was Marie’s reply, “Technically, yes, though I must admit I didn’t include any in my earliest batches and they were still totally fine three years later.“.
This is wonderful feeling on the lips I love the recipe however I tried to put mine in roller tubes and it just wouldn’t roll out it seem like it was a little too thick any suggestions or should I use a different tube?
You should use a different tube 🙂 A wand or squeeze tube would be a good choice!
Some of the oils are difficult to find/expensive in my country, is it okay if I just use VCO and castor oil? I saw your article on substitutes for carrier oils and seems like some the other oils are under the same category or have similar consistency
You could be able to make that work, but you might have to make some adjustments to get things just right 🙂
I made this recipe, but it came out too liquidy and runny! Is there anything I can add to it to make it stickier/thicker without compromising the batch or should I just start over?
I just remelt and add more beeswax myself
Hi is it possible to replace the beeswax with an emulsifying wax like glyceryl stearate SE?
Please read this FAQ 🙂 It’s written for the opposite viewpoint, but the answer stands. Happy making!
Hello, can i just ask if the gloss have separated overtime? i have formulated one using a similar recipe ( shea butter, beeswax, and oils) and my formula has been separating overtime. i also tried playing with the percentages and i am getting the same results, any suggestions?
No, it didn’t seperate. I recommend reading this 🙂
Hi!
Can I replace the kukuinut oil to sweet almond oil?
Hi! I moved too quick and melted the veg glycerin with the other ingredients. Did I ruin the recipe?
Made two of your lip balms this weekend! This one and an winter wonderland (both adapted).
Im more of a balm girl but was feeling “fancy” and you my go to fit cosmetic recipes.
Made the full recipe of this and doubled the winter wonderland since I plan to share. Made both fragrance free since I’ll be sharing with my migraine/MCAS pals.
I don’t buy ingredients unless I feel ill have multiple uses for them so I subbed the castor oil with olive oil in this one and Sunflower oil in winter wonderland.
I did not add any pigment to this one so it’s a a bit darker than beeswax color due to the lecithin.
Im looking forward to using both. My lips greatly prefer cocoa butter but I’ve never seen it in a gloss recipe (too hard to emulsify?) but I’m already enjoying the texture the lecithin contributes!
Anyway just letting other people know don’t be afraid to substitute. I used avocado oil instead of the more exotic options as well.