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Have you ever wondered how to make lip gloss at home? Learn how to make natural DIY lip gloss with only 4 ingredients! This easy recipe is made with all-natural ingredients, is soothing to dry lips, and is a very cost-effective DIY.
DIY lip gloss is so fun to make and can be customized any way you want.
The main ingredients needed to make lip gloss at home are olive oil, coconut oil, mango butter, and beeswax. I recommend taking it a step further by adding in color as well as essential oils for a beautiful scent, added benefits, and flavor.
My daughter was pretty excited about this project and quickly decided that all of her friends and cousins needed a tube, too.
She is right; this homemade lip gloss would make the perfect gift for anyone on your list or a fun DIY to do on your next girls’ night.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Customizable: You can customize nearly every aspect of this lip gloss to make it your own! Change the color, use different essential oils, swap moisturizing ingredients, and select your favorite lip gloss container.
- Natural ingredients: Making your own DIY makeup products is a great way to know exactly what’s in them. This recipe uses only simple, natural ingredients.
- Moisturizing: I’ve always found commercial lip gloss to be rather drying. With nourishing ingredients like olive oil, coconut oil, and mango butter, this DIY lip gloss will moisturize and soften your lips!
Ingredients and Supplies
- Olive oil: An affordable and nourishing carrier oil, olive oil has antioxidants, vitamins, and moisturizing properties that are great for the skin.
- Fractionated coconut oil: My favorite of the 10 best carrier oils, fractionated coconut oil is moisturizing and soothing to the skin.
- Mango butter: You could also use shea butter, cocoa butter, or a combination of all three. Mango butter is my favorite for lips because it is very smooth and hydrating. Mango butter also works well in homemade whipped body butter and my baking soda-free deodorant recipe.
- Beeswax: Beeswax hardens at room temperature. When it’s mixed with the liquid oils in this recipe, it gives the lip gloss a nice, thick consistency.
- Essential oils: Choose your favorite scent or make your own blend! You can also leave the oils out for a very mild scent and flavor.
- Natural coloring: An optional ingredient, natural colorant gives this gloss a lovely pink tint (or any color you want!).
- Empty lip gloss container: You can use a lip gloss tube, a squeezable lip gloss container, or a small lip balm container to store your lip gloss. I do not recommend using a roller top tube as this gloss will not be a thin liquid and could clog up in one of those dispensers.
How to Make Lip Gloss
Step 1. Melt the olive oil, coconut oil, mango butter, and beeswax in a double boiler.
Step 2. Once all the ingredients are melted, remove them from the heat. Add in essential oils and coloring if using. Stir well to combine.
Step 3. Pour into lip gloss tube or small lip balm container. A small funnel helps with this.
Step 4. Apply to the lips as needed and store with the lid on in a cool, dry place.
Recipe Tips
- You will need to work fast when making this recipe, as the ingredients will harden pretty quickly. For best results, have everything set up and ready before starting. Make sure your lip gloss tubes are open and standing upright, ready to pour the liquid in.
- The olive oil and fractionated coconut oil will not harden, but the mango butter and beeswax will. This will make the perfect consistency for your lip gloss.
- If you live in a warm climate, you may want to store your lip gloss in the refrigerator to keep it from melting.
Essential Oils for DIY Lip Gloss
Adding in essential oils is optional in this lip gloss recipe. If you decide to, there are a few things you need to know.
- It is important to note that some citrus essential oils are photosensitive and should not be applied before exposure to direct sunlight. I love the smell and taste of wild orange essential oil, but this one should be used with caution.
- If you are sharing this lip gloss with a child, it’s a good idea to skip the essential oils.
- Be sure to avoid using hot essential oils such as oregano, clove, cinnamon, thyme, and ginger in your homemade lip gloss. These oils can cause skin irritations if not diluted properly and when used on sensitive skin such as the lips.
- Some of my favorite essential oils to use in lip gloss are lavender, frankincense, and peppermint (I use this in homemade chapstick often!).
How to Tint Lip Gloss
Adding different shades of colorant is a great way to customize your homemade lip gloss even more. You can most certainly leave it the way it is, and it will have a creamy yellowish color, depending on if you use white or yellow beeswax.
I actually color these using the same tints as my DIY blush cream and DIY lip liner by using beetroot powder, hibiscus powder, or even cocoa powder.
Or you can use skin-safe natural dyes, similar to what you would add to a relaxing bath bomb recipe. Ethically sourced mica powders are also an excellent colorant that I use in homemade lipstick and DIY eye shadow.
If you are using powders, I suggest starting with a small amount, about 1/4 of a teaspoon, and adding more until the desired color is reached.
If you are using skin-safe colorant, you can start with 2-3 drops and add more as needed.
To lighten or darken any color option below, add in arrowroot powder or cocoa powder.
- Red: Beetroot powder
- Orange: Ground paprika
- Yellow: Ground ginger
- Pink: Hibiscus powder
- Green: Macha powder
- Brown: Cocoa powder
Recipe FAQs
Because we are not using any water in this recipe, it is OK to skip the preservative. The ingredients in this lip gloss will last for at least a year at room temperature. Be sure to store it in a cool, dark place and in an airtight container to keep the lip gloss fresh longer.
If you are vegan or prefer not to use beeswax, you can substitute it for soy wax or candelilla wax, as you’ll find in my vegan lip balm recipe. Use the same amount, and the lip gloss will come out with a similar consistency. You can also omit the wax altogether if you want the lip gloss to be more of a liquid.
Related Recipes
- DIY Lip Balm
- Lip Oil for Moisturized Lips
- Homemade Coconut Lip Scrub
- How to Make a Lip Plumper
- DIY Lip Liner
If you tried this DIY Lip Gloss or any other tutorial on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
DIY Lip Gloss
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 oz olive oil, 4 tbsp
- 1 oz fractionated coconut oil, 2 tbsp
- 0.7 oz mango butter, 2 tbsp
- 0.35 oz beeswax pellets, 1 tbsp
- 10 drops essential oils, optional for fragrance
- Natural coloring, *optional, see notes below.
Instructions
- Melt the olive oil, coconut oil, mango butter, and beeswax in a double boiler.
- Once all the ingredients are melted, remove them from the heat.
- Add in essential oils and coloring if using. Stir well to combine.
- Pour into lip gloss tube or small lip balm container.
Video
Notes
- For visual guidance, I’ve included the complete step-by-step video tutorial above!
- You will need to work fast when making this recipe, as the ingredients will harden pretty quickly. For best results, have everything set up and ready before starting. Make sure your lip gloss tubes are open and standing upright, ready to pour the liquid in.
- The olive oil and fractionated coconut oil will not harden, but the mango butter and beeswax will. This will make the perfect consistency for your lip gloss.
- *If you are using a liquid food coloring, you will only need about 2-3 drops. If using mica powders, I suggest starting with around ⅛ tsp and adding more if needed.
Hey, I love your recipe but i had a couple questions if that’s ok.
1. Do you recommend any liquid pigments
2. Will the liquid pigments ruin the texture of the gloss
Thx
Hi! I have some pigments linked in the very bottom recipe. Look for “mad micas” online.
I meant to type versagel.
I tried several of your recipes and I lv them
Thank you for your time and knowledge.
That’s great to hear! Thanks!
We made this lip gloss and tinted with mica powders! Came out great!
Yay! Love hearing that. Enjoy!
Hello,
Thank you for sharing this 4 ingredients recipes that recetly my daughter interested making lip gloss.
I have a question is that can I use jojoba oil instead of olive oil ? Thanks
Yes, you can!
Tried this recipe for the first time and loved it! Was going for pink and put too much tint in the first batch so I reduced it quite a bit for the second round. Looking forward to playing around more. Only problem I had is that it starts out a good consistency, however the beeswax gets lumpy after a few weeks in the tubes. What did I do wrong?
Possibly try using a different container. Maybe the one you are using is not completely sealing.
Hello Laura,
Today I had tried the recipe but omitted essential oil and colour because prefer the natural coconut smell and used the refined mango oil but it turn out nicely during double boiler but after insert into tube, it isn’t runner anymore, do you know what’s the reason?
This is good but I think you should have added a bit of gelling agent to give the lip gloss a bit of body. That’s what makes it not a lip balm formula. Like versatile for example. What do you think?
Can I use lanolin oil in this recipe?
I have not tried that yet, so I’m not certain how it would turn out.