This pretty, ruddy russet-toned lip tint glides on with a pop of mint and a hint of golden shimmer. Everything comes together quickly and easily, leaving you with a fistful of little gifts for friends and family in no time.

How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

The colour comes from an infusion of powdered hibiscus flowers. “Hibiscus” is a large genus of flowers, and the one I’m using in particular is “Hibiscus sabdariffa“, also known as Roselle (I purchased mine from Saffire Blue). It’s a versatile plant—native to West Africa the green leaves are used in cooking, the fiber can be an alternative to jute in burlap, and many parts of the plant are used for a variety of homeopathic remedies.

How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

The part of the plant we’re using is the flower, dried and powdered. Because the powder is water soluble, I opted for an infusion to avoid a final product full of gritty bits of hibiscus powder (yuck). The infusion is as easy as making a cup of tea—just pop the powder in a wee empty tea bag, tie it off, and pop it in the liquified oils to infuse. Don’t use a mesh tea strainer here—it won’t be fine enough to contain the powder.

How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

When mixed with water, hibiscus is a pretty bright pink, but it isn’t here. As an oil infusion it’s a deeper, ruddy russet tone. Do keep in mind that there are variations in the colours of botanicals, though, so yours may be a bit different.

How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

We add the beeswax after the infusion is complete since the beeswax will solidify the mixture. Once the beeswax has been melted in, all that’s left is the essential oil and mica, and we’re done. Easy peasy!

How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint

2 tsp powdered hibiscus

10g | 0.35oz virgin coconut oil
6g | 0.21oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada)
16g | 0.56oz sweet almond oil (USA / Canada)

8g | 0.28oz beeswax (USA / Canada)

1 pinch | 1/32 tsp gold mica (I use these cute measuring spoons to measure tiny amounts like this)
20 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)

Measure the hibiscus powder out into an empty disposable paper tea bag or disposable infusion bag. Tie it off and set it aside.

Weigh the coconut oil, cocoa butter (USA / Canada), and sweet almond oil (USA / Canada) out into a glass measuring cup. Place the measuring up in a pot of barely simmering water to melt the oils.

Place the bag of hibiscus powder in the measuring cup with the oils, ensuring the part with the hibiscus powder is in the oils. Let it infuse for a few hours. If you leave the house or go to sleep please turn off your stove and let the oils infuse at room temperature. I popped mine back on the heat in the morning for another 20 minutes or so.

Once you have a nice, deep colour, remove the bag of hibiscus powder root, pressing it firmly with a spoon or spatula to remove as much oil as possible. Discard the hibiscus baggie (makes great compost!).

Remove the oil mixture from the heat and add the beeswax. Melt everything together.

Once the wax has melted into the oils, remove from the heat and stir in the gold mica and essential oil. Decant into lip balm tubes—this recipe should fill about 9.

Let set up before labelling (I use these cute labels!) and capping. Enjoy!

If you have dried hibiscus petals instead of the powder, that will work as well—you’ll just want to use 3 tsp of the petals as they’re not as space efficient as the powder.

How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint How to Make a Royal Hibiscus Lip Tint