This soft, sparkly Winter Wonderland lip gloss has a lovely champagne hue in the tube, but goes on sheer with a hit of shimmer and a hint of sparkle. It’s also a bit thicker than some of my previous lip glosses, as per some reader requests, meaning it sticks around longer, helping keep your lips protected and hydrated (and also just a wee bit looking like you kissed a unicorn). It smells like soft, minty awesomeness—in short, it’s winter perfection.
A blend of slippery coconut oil, glossy castor oil, and rich meadowfoam seed oil form the base of this gloss, with added beeswax to thicken it to a thick, creamy consistency. I’ve included a hint of lecithin for its softening, moisturising, and antioxidizing qualities. The lecithin is also what gives this gloss its characteristic champagne hue in the tube, since lecithin is a deep orangish-yellow.
To bring that winter wonderland-y goodness, I’ve used a blend of white-silver mica and glitter. The mica gives us a subtle, low-level shimmer, so I’ve used more of that, while the glitter brings some proper snowdrift-in-the-sun sort of sparkle. Make sure you’re choosing cosmetic grade glitter—don’t just raid the craft box for this project! You could also branch out to some other wintry glitter colours—TKB has a rainbow of glitters large enough to make your head spin! I used a white-silver one, but a cool blue or a soft pink could also be downright lovely.
The choice of meadowfoam seed oil helps this gloss be a bit thicker and richer, making it a great choice for drier winter days as it’ll stick around longer than thinner lip glosses, helping lock in moisture and keep lips soft and happy. It also makes this Winter Wonderland Lip Gloss a fantastic choice for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers!
I found that creating a wee “bouquet” of the lip gloss tubes in a small mason jar made it easy to fill them as I didn’t have to worry about them falling over.
Glitter!
Winter Wonderland Lip Gloss
6g | 0.21oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
6g | 0.21oz virgin coconut oil
10g | 0.35oz castor oil (USA / Canada)
16g | 0.56oz meadowfoam seed oil or jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin1/16 tsp titanium dioxide (I use these tiny measuring spoons for tiny measurements like this)
1/4 tsp silver mica
1/16 tsp white glitter20 drops spearmint essential oil
4 “blobs” benzoin essential oilPrepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer over low to medium-low heat in a small saucepan.
Weigh the beeswax, coconut oil, castor oil, meadowfoam seed oil, and lecithin into a small heat-resistant glass measuring cup. Place that measuring cup into your prepared water bath to melt everything through—that’ll take about 20 minutes.
Once everything has melted through, stir the mixture with a flexible silicone spatula and remove the measuring cup from the water bath. Dry it off, and then blend in the titanium dioxide, mica, and glitter. Once the mixture is uniform, add the essential oils and stir to combine.
With this particular lip gloss I was able to easily pour it directly into a couple squeezy lip gloss tubes, just using the pouring spout on my Pyrex measuring cup. Depending on how quickly you work, the temperature of your kitchen, and the size of the opening of your containers, you may also want to consider using a large syringe to do your filling—it can be a total game-changer if pouring just is not happening.
Once you’ve got your containers filled, you’re reading to gloss it up! Because this Winter Wonderland lip gloss is 100% oil based it should easily last a year or two without any preservatives.
Want to learn more about these ingredients, including information on substitutions and where to buy them? Check out their entries in the Humblebee & Me Encyclopedia!
Looks heavenly! ‘Wondering’ where you got those lip gloss tubes??
I’m sorry just saw the link!
🙂
I’ve tried other recipes with coconut oil in lip balms, glosses and can’t have it near my lips. I experience a slight burning sensation. I looked up subs for coconut oil and in your encyclopedia it says Babassu butter is the best sub. Would you recommend it in place of Coconut oil in this recipe ? Thanks
Yup, I’d recommend babassu anywhere you don’t want to use coconut oil 🙂
Thanks Marie !
Meadow foam oil is one I can’t seem to get yet. According to Bing searches, jojoba oil is a good alternative (as is sperm whale but whales are just a no no). I’ll give it a go in the morning! My kitchen hasn’t seen a good lippy mess in a week or so and lippy messes are much easier than soaping messes.
Yup, meadowfoam and jojoba work great for one another 😀 Happy mess making!
Where can I find the tubes that you used?
Click the links in the post 🙂
Thank you
I’ve been looking for something my daughter and I could make together for her to give out for Christmas gifts. This is perfect. Good for younger and older ladies. Thanks, Marie!
Woohoo! Happy making 😀
I noticed that TKB is a U.S. supplier, are there any good Canadian suppliers that you would suggest?
I’ve got a big list of them on the Where to Buy Ingredients page 🙂 If you are specifically looking for something more cosmetic-angled, check the Make it Up stuff pre-order page for a more detailed breakdown of what to get where.
I’m a little confused to see titanium dioxide in this recipe.. does it help the glitter to be more effective?
i know if a lipstick recipe it gives greater opacity but in a glossy recipe like this I’m not sure what the purpose is?
Im not sure about that Emily. But, I made this this morning and I tried the gloss out before I added the titanium dioxide. It worked lovely! But I thought the colour was a little gross. Kind of like that ugly Baltic Amber colour. When I added the titanium dioxide, the colour came out looking like a rich cream colour. It allowed me to add in a few drops of cocoa absolute to enhance that black rum of the benzoin without the colour changing.
It helps with adhesion, gives a touch of brightness, and gives it a nicer, softer tone in the tube 🙂
Hey Marie,
Can’t wait for your book to be released! Question on getting powdered colourants into lip products. How do you get powders (iron oxides, carmine) to mix with the oils? I tried yesterday and it was clumpy. I didn’t put the powders through a grinder first as I was using such a little amount that I thought most of the powder would get stuck on the side of the grinder anyway. A spoon didn’t seem to work and the clumps settled to the bottom of the mixture. Do you have any tips? What’s your experience with this?
Hey Kaylee! Check out this video to see what I do for tips 🙂
Ah Marie, so good! Very informative, thanks. My key takeaway is to stir till you think you’ve stirred enough, and then stir even more. Got it. Also, love your vid. its so funny to see you on video after reading your blog for so long. I had an idea of what you were like in person and then seeing your video is SO different from what I imagined. Kind of like reading a book and then watching the movie 😀
Yup, pretty much haha. And those spatulas really help! Squish, stir, smear, blast up those chunks… and then do that more!
I can definitely understand the oddity of seeing somebody walking and talking when you’ve only seen them typing before. That was actually a large part of why I was so nervous to launch a YouTube channel; I was worried that people had a well-defined version of who they thought I was, and that I would be letting them down. Hopefully it’s not too much of a shock to adjust how you’d thought I’d be to how I am
No way!!! Your videos compliment your blog so that you just seem more, well, you! And that is an awesome thing. I tried the recipe from the video. Smooshing everything up in a frying pan (all I had on hand) worked very well. I am now anxiously awaiting the the shipment of your book. I am an DIY cosmetics addict, help help!
I’m glad 😀 And three cheers for being addicted to homemade cosmetics—we can start a club haha. You should definitely get some little prep cups/bowls, they are super useful for lipstick and other cosmetics, and they really help with clean up as there is much less surface area to scrub!
Thank you so much! I just want to say that this is my favourite blog of all time, I have learned so much from you! I love your recipes, videos and all the hard work and research you do 🙂
Greetings for Norway 🙂
Thank you so much, Anniken! I really appreciate your kind words and support 😀
After years of following you I swear your recipes only get more and more amazing!
I used some Alkanet Roof infused coconut oil for a beautiful tint that I’d highly recommend.
Aww, thank you so much Zil! And three cheers for alkanet, it is so pretty 🙂 It’s the only herb that made it into my book because I just had to show people how pretty it is 😀
I love this gloss! I usually wear it on top of whatever lipstick I’m wearing (usually Plum Magic) as I find it gives it a softer feel. I’ve even just been wearing it on it’s own to be honest.
My friend and I were talking about how amazing this gloss is when I got the wonky idea to take your lip butter recipe and the titanium dioxide and mica and mash it together. I cannot apply glosses without a mirror and a few minutes, and with my schedule, I teach tiny humans all the time and have no breaks to visit a mirror. And this gives me the beauty of sparkles, with the cream of the lip butter!
And I need a fresh cup of coffee before I go find the Scottish Rose Salve post and comment!
Woohoo! I”m so glad you’re loving it 😀 I love lip glosses for popping a soft touch of moisture and shine on top of longer wear lip colours. And I love your idea of mashing up the sparkle and butter… perhaps I’ll try even more of a hybrid… I’ve been finding the butters are a bit hard with these -20°C days. Hmmmmmmmm. 😀
I was thinking the same thing today! I love the feel of the Scottish Rose Salve in this dry cold weather and have been thinking of using that type of base with a smidge of cocoa butter and the Winter Wonderland sparkle to make an ultimate winter Lippy.
Ooooooh. Let me know how that goes 😉
I shall! Had to order more lip chap tubes as mine are in Hangzhou on their way to Ontario on Saturday! Yay!
😀
Made these today! I modified the recipe a bit, so I didn’t use glitter or lecithin. I also doubled the batch. I tinted half the batch with a tiny bit of red oxide as well. Turned out really awesome! Will be handing out these as gifts. Thanks so much for this recipe!!
Woohoo! What lucky recipients 🙂 Enjoy and happy making!
🙂
Hi Kathryn. Did you just leave out the lecithin or did you replace it with 4g of something else?
Hi Carrie!
I just left it out.
🙂
My daughter and I want to make this gloss but we don’t have the lecithin and it’s pretty expensive for just needing a small amount. I checked your encyclopedia but didn’t find this listed. So can this be left out and increase something else in the formula or can I sub it out for glycerine? Thanks
Check out some of my other lip gloss recipes for ones that don’t use lecithin 🙂
Hi, I’d love to try a lip gloss recipe and I have bought squeezy tubes and everything! Is there a good substitute for the soy or sunflower lecithin? Is its purpose to help emulsify the gloss? Could I use emulsifying wax instead of beeswax?
Thanks. 🙂 Sorry to be a pain and want to modify a perfectly good recipe. I did check the encyclopedia and FAQ section but didn’t find anything about substituting for lecithin.
Check this out 🙂
Thank you so much, Marie! I have vegetable glycerin on hand!!! I will try this recipe soon.
Happy making!
Sorry Marie, but for this recipe, instead of the lecithin can you use Cera Bellina, and if so, is it 1:1, or do you need more/less Cera Bellina?
Hey! That’s a big definitely no, sorry—one is for thickening and creating the spreadable consistency (cera bellina), while the other is a humectant that contributes a great glossy texture (lecithin).
I use a lot of carmex, especially in winter, since I have very dry lips. Do you have a recipe for a handmade mix without the terrible petroleum? On another site, I saw a recipe for a non petroleum jelly lip balm, using only beeswax and olive oil. However, I no longer have confidence in her recipes. I love all your recipes that I have made, and hope you will be able to help me.
Honestly, petrolatum is a very unique ingredient that is very difficult to replicate with more “natural” ingredients (read this, it’s really interesting!). It is an amazing occlusive ingredient (meaning it traps water/prevents it from evaporating out of your skin, which is why it helps your lips) while also being non-comedogenic, and its level of occlusiveness is unmatched in nature, especially if you want its silky, glidy consistency. Safety wise, there’s nothing wrong with petrolatum; cosmetic grade petrolatum is highly refined and extensively purified (I find when certain sources rail against it like it’s evil, they are usually talking about industrial grade and conveniently neglecting to clarify that point). A mixture of beeswax and liquid oil can have a similar consistency, but you aren’t going to get that same level of occlusiveness that petrolatum provides, and that’s what makes Carmex work. I find this lip balm to be highly occlusive and very effective in really dry weather, but it certainly doesn’t have the glide that petrolatum lip products do. Lanolin can also be quite effective, though I do need to experiment with it more (I finally got some more after years and years!)—it’s definitely not as glossy/non-tacky as petrolatum, and can cause pimples. I hope that was somewhat helpful! I would try the Sticky Coconut Lip Balm, but if that doesn’t work for you, don’t feel bad about using Carmex; there’s no need to feel bad about using something that works and is safe 🙂
Thanks for your quick reply, Marie! I have tried several of your recipes and love them. The hard part is keeping enough for myself. Adult daughters and grandchildren keep my stash depleted. Guess I need to get sneaky.
Ha! It’s not too bad of a problem to have—my stash is absurdly oversized because my dog has little need for lip gloss 😛
Hi-
I tried to make the lip gloss base from your book but I am having trouble finding a lip-safe preservative. Any suggestions?
Thank you
The best I’ve found is likely phenonip—this is a very irksome topic to research! You can also use this lip gloss base, which doesn’t require a preservative 🙂
Do you think the wand lid and hard tube would be ok with this recipe ? I’d like to use up some of my coffee bean infused Sunflower seed oil, and some cocoa absolute…think it might work ???
Yup! Just be sure to make a small batch whenever you’re trying something new—a small batch of lip gloss is still a lot of lip gloss 🙂
Hi! Wondering if the ratio would be the same if I used a vegan (c wax hehe) instead of beeswax? It may work. I just have to do some experimenting. I was thinking on using synthetic beeswax since it’s in all my cruelty free cosmetics but if I can stray away from it I will. Any ideas? I’m stumped
No, the c-waxes are much harder—check out my experiments here 🙂 I’ve also heard promising things about soy wax, just make sure if you buy some it’s cosmetic grade, not candle grade.