So I do remember that it’s January and we’re posting healthy recipes and that this is lip gloss and not food and whatever. But I’m posting this recipe now for a couple of reasons. 1) Valentine’s Day is creeping up on us and this is a fun and easy little potential Valentine that is easy to make in large batches, but you might need to order or track down some semi-unusual supplies, so I wanted to give you plenty of time, 2) You can make all sorts of delicious flavors with 0 calories, and 3) part of being healthy is taking care of yourself. Not only are these lip glosses fun and adorable, but the base is all natural and, if you use essential oils to flavor them, they’re completely natural and perfect for making your lips soft and gorgeous even in the winteriest winters.
For the base of your lip gloss, you’re going to need coconut oil, beeswax, and Vitamin E (I just got the capsules).
Coconut oil. There are LOTS of different coconut oils on the markets these days, so take your pick. I tried out every brand I could find and from my (somewhat limited) research, this brand (Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil) was the only one that had a coconut scent/flavor. Even some of the other organic coconut oils were essentially scentless and flavorless. Now, which kind you use is definitely personal preference–you might want that coconut flavor in your lip gloss if you’re making strawberry coconut, but you might not want it if you’re making cherry cola (guess who grew up on Lip Smackers and had lots of fun playing with different flavors?).
Beeswax. You can get it at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, but it’s generally sold in chunks, which will need to be grated. You can also get pellets like these ones which will make your life easier.
You’ll also need some kind of container and, if you want, labels. I used 1″ round Avery labels and these 1-ounce plastic jars, 
but this site has a ton of fun lip balm containers and they’re not sold in lots of 10 million, which is always a bonus for those of us who don’t need 10 million empty lip balm containers. I wouldn’t recommend going any larger than 1 ounce–that’s a lot of lip gloss.
You’ll also need something to flavor your lip gloss with. I used candy flavor oils like these ones from Orson Gygi. Â They have SO many yummy flavors to choose from:
and also used different essential oils.
One of the funnest things was playing around with different flavors. I made coconut-lime because (shocker) that is my all-time favorite (and because when the late January doldrums set in, that’s my go-to smell to get me out of them) and grapefruit. Not with the coconut-lime, just by itself. Fun Kate fact: I hate grapefruit and grapefruit juice, but I love all things grapefruit-flavored. But seriously, the sky’s the limit when it comes to combinations.
Place the coconut oil in a 1-cup glass measuring cup (you can get one for, like, $2 at Target or Walmart that you use only for lip gloss making)
and then add the beeswax
and prick a Vitamin E capsule with a push pin and squeeze the oil into the measuring cup.
Heat the measuring cup for 30 seconds at a time, stirring well after each heating (I just used a plastic straw so I could throw it away when I was done) until everything is completely melted (in my microwave, it took about 90 seconds-2 minutes). Now…if you want to make a couple of different flavors from this batch, you could pour some of it into another couple of spouted heat-safe cups and add the oils separately, or you could just flavor the whole batch. For me and my oils and flavors, I ended up needing about 40 drops of grapefruit oil and 17 drops of coconut along with 8 drops of lime flavor. Keep the following things in mind:
- Some flavors are stronger than others–you might need to adjust how much oil you end up using.
- Flavors like vanilla, coconut, etc. are going to be milder than flavors like citrus, cinnamon, and mint, so keep things balanced.
- Dab a little of the liquid mixture onto your lips, but keep in mind that the flavors will get stronger after the lip gloss solidifies.
After you’ve mixed your flavors, pour them into your empty containers
and let them cool to solidify (about 15-20 minutes).
I made these labels to go on top:
Now…you totally could be using a different-sized container, but if you do use a container that has a lid that’s 1″ or bigger (square or round) and want to use these labels, click HERE and then use a 1″ Avery label, square or round, that’s on a 4×6″ sheet (my labels were Avery 5410); just set the paper size on your printer properties for 4×6″ paper.
For the bottoms, you could either print out the flavor or hand-write it and stick it on the bottom.
You could give them away like this or you could dress them up a little more with some cute washi tape:
This “recipe” makes 8 1-ounce containers or more smaller containers (you’ll have to do your own math there…)
Homemade Natural Lip Gloss
By Our Best Bites
Ingredients:
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut oil*
3 tablespoons grated beeswax or beeswax pellets*
1 1000 I.U. capsule of Vitamin E
25 drops of flavor oils or 40 drops of essential oils (add more or less if necessary)
*If making this lip gloss in tubes, use 3/4 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup beeswax.
You’ll also need…
Dropper (like this)
1-ounce or smaller jars, tubes, or tins
Labels (optional)
Washi tape (optional)
Instructions:
In a microwave-safe glass container with a spout, combine the coconut oil and beeswax. Heat on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, until the beeswax completely  melts. You can either flavor all the lip gloss one flavor or pour the mixture into a few smaller containers and mix up smaller batches of different flavors. After you’ve added the desired flavors, pour the mixture into jars, tubes, or tins and allow to cool completely. Decorate as desired.
Questions & Reviews
Ok so i just did this! It was really fun and I love the idea of knowing every indredient.
I have a question …. I made a few different flavors with the cake flavoring oils you suggested. I made coconut, pineapple, and strawberry. I noticed some of the flavoring settled at the bottom of the container. Is there a way to prevent that?
I haven’t gotten a reply??
Is it from the cake flavoring? Do the essential oils collect at the bottom at all?
I tried to remelt and mix it up really good, but it happened again.
Sorry! Sometimes the replies get grouped together in our inbox and lost. 🙂 Anyway, some of the flavorings sink to the bottom, but any flavoring oils (some are oils, some are not, you have to read the label and it’s not always super clear) or essential oils should be fine.
thank you! I am actually going to do this again today with essential oils 😉
Thanks Kate! I love mine!
Do you know if there is a different between essential oils and fragrance oils?
YES. 🙂 Essential oils are natural oils derived from plant sources. Fragrance oils are perfumes. Essential oils generally taste good, but fragrance oils don’t and in high concentrations, they can really irritate your skin.
Why do you need a 1-cup glass measuring cup only for lip gloss making?
See comment #21.1. 🙂
Do you know what is so funny? Just last night I hosted a Bunco night where my theme was your blog essentially haha. So I had prizes like kosher salt and a pepper grinder with a recipe that uses both, ramekins with a recipe for the molten lava cake, a tulle wreath, etc. One of the prizes was all of your spa things with how to use them and their recipes…and this would have been perfect to put with that prize!! Sorry for the long story but I couldn’t believe how ironic this post was 🙂 I am excited to try it though!
I love that Melissa! Wish we could have come to your party! 🙂
Do you sell the homemade natural lip gloss to those interested? Thanks.
No…my life is complicated enough. 🙂
where did you find your essential oil?
Amazon. 🙂
Wow! Very cool! Thanks for posting. My daughter and I are going to have a fun time making these in the future.
Kate, I think this qualifies as a “craft” since you used washi tape! Way to go!!!
This looks fun. I wonder though why do you need a 1-cup glass measuring cup only for lip gloss making? Thanks.
You don’t HAVE to, but if you plan on making it a lot, you might start getting a waxy residue inside–the beeswax can be hard to get out.
Thank you so much.
This reminds me of Amanda Wiseman Anderson!
I’ve seen many “recipes” for this, but you actually made it seem possible for me to do! 🙂 Thanks!
Fantastic!!
I’ve been told that if you want to add color to home-made lip balm, a small bit of crayola crayon (because they are non-toxic and wax) will do it. What do you think?
Totally! You could also use a Wilton Candy Melt or 2. 🙂
How long would you say this would keep? My daughters and I are wanting to do homemade gifts to put in baskets for gifts next christmas…..
I probably wouldn’t keep them that long, but you could make some now and some later. 🙂
I think I will try this using a pink colored pack of Crystal Light instead of the flavorings and essential oils to add color to my lips and flavor. I buy my beeswax here it’s $7.00 for a pound bag she ships really fast too.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/105721783/natural-yellow-beeswax-beads-1lb-bag
I’ve just been thinking about how I’m going to replenish my Cran-Grape flavored lip balm when the current one runs out. It was given away as a promotional and I can’t find it anywhere. Grazie!
Kate,
About how much did all these supplies cost you? I think this would be fun to do for a Relief Society activity, but just trying to see if it’s in the budget. Thanks!
You could shop around for sure and probably get lower prices, but I probably spent around $40. I bet you could get 80 1-ounce containers out of that and still have plenty of beeswax and flavorings leftover.
Hope that helps!
Yes it does! Thanks so much!
Homemade lip gloss is so fun. We did this as an activity for our Activity Days girls and they had a blast.
I think my daughter and I will make this for her friends for Valentine’s Day.
Thanks for the easy to follow recipe.
This looks so fun and easy! Thanks for all your fabulous ideas!
YOLO ITS AMAZING!!!!(:
I’m wondering how this would hold up in your pocket… I know coconut oil melts at body temperature, but does the beeswax help it hold together? These would be fun to put into chapstick tubes!
The beeswax definitely holds it together. I haven’t tried carrying it around in my pocket, and mine is all in jars, but the ones with more beeswax are nearly solid while the ones with more coconut oil are a little softer.
I recently made lipgloss at home and was so annoyed by having a brick of beeswax. I wish I knew where to get the pelleted kind before, but now I know for the future
So true Peggy… My brother, the ultimate man’s man, would love this. He is cursed with eternally chapped lips. I love crafty posts. Thanks!
Did you make any in the tubes? I was wondering if it would end up being less glossy since it has more beeswax. I am trying to come up with a recipe for boys… yes, boys or rather teenagers. One with perpetual chapped lips during the winter and one with braces… so they go through LOTS of chap stick!
With more beeswax, it’s less glossy, but it’s a tiny bit stickier (but not as heavy and sticky as, say, Carmex). Hope that helps!
Hey, I noticed you’re trying to make boys’ lip balm. I saw a diy lip balm from mountain rose herbs on their you tube channel. They used an herbal infused sweet almond oil (they used calendula for it’s soothing, cooling effect and it’s ability to fight cold sores-they had a video on how to make herbal infused oil too but I didn’t watch that one) in a 2-1 ratio with beeswax to make it more solid, so if you added more beeswax it would harden up more and be better suited for a tube. Or make sure they never keep it in their pockets….coconut oil becomes liquid in temperatures above about 73 degrees, so the colder it stays, the more solid it is. More beeswax would combat that. Hope that helps a little!
Does this end up shiny and glossy, or more matte like lip balm?
Definitely glossy.
Where can you purcahse Bees Wax?
Check out the section about beeswax–you can either buy it at a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michael’s or you can find it online. There are lots of online homemade beauty supply and craft stores that sell it, but I got mine from Amazon (there’s a link up there) so I could get free shipping.
If you have a local farmers market, you may be able to find it there. Usually anytime you find someone who keeps bees, to sell pure honey, you’ll find beeswax. I buy all my natural beeswax from our farmers market for $10 a pound (which is a lot). It’s all natural, unlike some of the stuff you buy in a hobby shop. If you don’t have a farmers market, call your local bee control company…most of them are beekeepers that sell honey as well as beeswax.
I love this idea! I just pinned it and I can’t wait to try it. So fun, and I love that you can make your own flavors 🙂
Great idea for my teen daughter to make and give to her friends. When I first saw the picture of ingredients, I totally thought you were putting corn in the lip gloss!! Thank goodness it wasn’t.
You are amazing.
Thanks so much–you made it look easy, I think someday I might actually do this!! (soon) my daughters would love this!
Jamie, A little tip, you may want to add the vit E oil into the containers, and add the melted oil to that, otherwise heating it could change the anti-oxiidant into an oxidant. Also, I found a great source for shea butter and beeswax, the quality is better than I can find at the box stores. Mountainroseherbs.com
Best wishes.