How To Make Homemade Lip Gloss That Looks & Feels Great

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Ever wanted to replicate your favorite lip gloss? I’ve got a homemade lip gloss recipe that will help you do exactly that.

And, due to the moisturizing power of its ingredients, and the way it glides across the lips, I’m going to describe this particular recipe as a cross between a DIY lip gloss and a DIY lip balm

Homemade lip gloss

Introduction

The Simple Way: Creating your own lip gloss can be as simple as mixing Vaseline with a bit of your preferred lipstick or blush for color. Just mix 2 tablespoons of Vaseline with a teaspoon of your chosen lipstick, a little blush, or beetroot powder if you’re going for a natural tint.

Something Better: However, In this post I’m going to show you how to take things further to create something more comparable to shop-bought lip gloss.

I have given this homemade lip gloss a fresh, minty scent but feel free to substitute this with a cosmetic-safe flavoring you want. You could use a drop of lip-friendly essential oil, such as Lavender or orange. 

While this will give your lips a lovely, shiny appearance, the biggest draw to this recipe for me is how amazing it is at softening the skin of your lips, as well as protecting it from the elements. 

I find that sometimes it’s a choice of aesthetics over practicality. But if you make your own lip gloss it allows you to do both. You can look great and feel great at the same time! 

What’s In This Homemade Lip Gloss Recipe

Ingredients such as lead found in commercial lip gloss definitely give me cause for concern. So let’s take a close look at some of the key natural ingredients we’re using in this recipe.

Liquid Lecithin

Plant-derived Lecithin is a good replacement for synthetic emulsifiers and has been used for hundreds of years. It adds a lovely thick creaminess to your homemade lip gloss that’s both sticky and slow penetrating. This is exactly what you want!  

how to make lip gloss

If you’ve never heard of Lecithin; it’s a wonderful natural ingredient that is suitable for all skin types and is one of the best moisturizing ingredients on the market. 

It is full of nourishing goodness that traps moisture within the skin while adding a protective layer, making this the perfect gloss for anyone prone to dry and chapped lips. 

On the downside, it can have a bit of an odor, so I would always recommend adding a couple of drops of essential oil or flavoring here. 

Carrier Oils

add your vitamin e oil

Castor oil is my number one choice for a homemade lip gloss, as it has a naturally glossy look and easily glides across the skin. 

Coconut oil is another high-shine, slow-penetrating oil. It has some lovely skin-softening values and is suitable for the most sensitive areas. 

Last but not least is the olive oil. This can be replaced with another slow-penetrating oil, but honestly, why would you? It’s so easy to get your hands on it. You can buy it at your local grocery store! It has some good anti-aging values and has been used in skincare since ancient times.

Beeswax

Beeswax

Beeswax will thicken the gloss and give it some good stability. It’s a common ingredient in lip balms due to its softening abilities and the way it gives the lips a protective barrier against the elements.

Lip gloss base without beeswax

Our vegan friends will want to make use of candelilla wax as a substitute. However, it has double the stiffening power of beeswax and so you will want to use half as much. This will lower the weight of your homemade lip gloss, though, and may make it less glossy overall. Check out my vegan lip balm recipe for more vegan options.

Colors, Tints & Dyes

mica/pigment for a lip gloss recipe

I’ve used red iron oxide and a silver sparkle mica in my lip gloss. This will give the lips a nice red shimmer (depending on how much you add). You can totally replace the red oxide with mica but unlike oxides, mica doesn’t transfer any color to the lips. Mica just gives your lips a dewy gloss. 

There are some fantastically vibrant colors and glitter around that can be teamed up with a fruity flavoring, too. Either way, you will want to add a bit of color or you will end up with a beige-looking lip gloss that doesn’t look very appealing, and who wants a beige day! 

You can also color your lip gloss by using other natural ingredients such as beetroot powder for red lips, hibiscus powder for pink lips, or cocoa powder for brown lips.

Does Natural Lip Gloss Need A Preservative?

Before I show you how to make lip gloss, it’s worth mentioning that this recipe has been made with only oil-based products. This is great because you don’t need a preservative and it will last about a year (approx). Vitamin E oil is included in my recipe as an antioxidant which helps to slow down oxidization.

Best Lip Gloss Containers

Transfer DIY lip gloss to acontainer, you may need a syringe if you're using lip gloss bottles

You can buy small 10ml lip gloss containers and tubes on Amazon for a very reasonable price.

If this is your first time purchasing these, do yourself a favor and choose the ones that come with the syringes, it just makes this job so much easier and they can be washed and stored ready for next time. The lip gloss isn’t suitable for a pot or tin as it isn’t solid enough.

Homemade lip gloss

How To Make DIY Lip Gloss At Home

A natural homemade lip gloss recipe that moisturizes and glides across the lips, A few passes of this over your lips in the morning and it'll keep your lips looking and feeling amazing!

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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Active Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 10ml Tubes
Difficulty Level: Easy
Author: Angela Wills

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you buy via the links here I may earn a small affiliate commission at no cost to you.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Start making your homemade lip gloss by weighing out the castor, olive, coconut oil, and beeswax, into a heatproof container.
    16 grams Castor Oil, 10 grams Olive Oil, 6 grams Coconut Oil, 3 grams Beeswax
    Start by weighing out your oils and wax
  • Place the container with the oils into a water bath or double boiler to melt. You can do this by filling a pan with a little water and bringing it to a boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and place the container into the water. Continue to simmer gently until the wax and coconut oil have both melted.
    Melt them together in a waterbath
  • Once the oils have melted, remove the mixture from the heat and let them start to cool. You will need to stir them whilst they are cooling.
    Allow to cool until it begins to look opaque
  • As the oils cool they will begin to look more opaque. Once this happens it’s time to stir in the Lecithin. You may be wondering why I'm adding this at the cooling down phase rather than adding it to the heating phase. Let me explain. 
    Lecithin can sometimes separate when it's overheated and I wanted to make this DIY lip gloss as foolproof as possible. Lecithin doesn't need to be heated unless it's being used as an emulsifier. As we’re not emulsifying anything, why bother?    
    4 grams Liquid Lecithin
    Add the lecithin
  • As the lipgloss cools below 40c we can stir in the vitamin E.
    1 gram Vitamin E Oil
    Once it is below 40C you can add your vitamin e
  • Once you're happy with the color, add a couple of drops of essential oil or flavor. Im using pepermint essetial oil.
    Add your essential oil
  • Now the fun part, creating the color! Whether you are using an oxide, mica or a mix of both like I am, you will only need small amounts. 
    Remember that you can always add more, but can’t take any out. I find it useful to add a little then try it.
    Red Oxide, Mica Powders
    Add your mica/pigment
  • When the lip gloss is completely cool it can be transferred to a lip gloss applicator, wand, container or tube ready for use.
    4 10ml Lip Gloss Tubes
    Transfer to container, you may need a syringe if you're using lip gloss bottles
  • As this lip gloss recipe contains no water, you don’t need to worry about a preservative. It should keep for up to a year.
    Your lip gloss doesn't need a preservative, and should stay good for up to a year (approx)

Notes

This recipe makes 40g (fills four 10ml tubes), but you can use the slider above to increase or decrease the recipe
Category: DIY Makeup
Cuisine: N/A
Difficulty: Easy

Tried This ProjectMention @savvyhomemade or Tag me! #savvyhomemade

Final Thoughts

A few passes of this over your lips in the morning and it’ll keep your lips looking and feeling amazing! I throw mine in my purse when I’m on the go, so I can touch it up a few times throughout the day.

While I wish we could be more creative with pigments in this homemade lip gloss recipe, I feel something relatively neutral is a good choice. That way you can wear it along with your lipstick if you so wish.

If you make your own lip gloss please let me know how you get on in the comments section below. I love to hear about your experiences. I’ll also do my best to answer any and all questions you have.

So, now that we understand how to make lip gloss and homemade lip balms, the next step is to move on to learning how to make other types of makeup. That’s my goal. It’s such an exciting world to explore and it’s been a while since I found something that interested me that I wasn’t also already pretty knowledgeable about already.

6 Tried & Tested Homemade Lip Balm Recipes

Learn how to make lip balm at home, it’s a magical skincare product that keeps our lips moist & flake free all year round.

Author: Angela Wills

Title: Founder and Author - Savvy Homemade

Expertise: Beauty Recipes, Skincare Formulation, Soapmaking, DIY Crafts, Parenting

Bio:

Angela Wills is an author, founder, and the driving force behind Savvy Homemade. With over fifteen years of experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to every post she writes. She is fearlessly dedicated to creating tried and tested beauty recipes, skincare formulations, soap recipes, and many other DIY crafts that will work for everyone. Angela has a Diploma in Skincare Formulation, is a proud member of the Handcrafted Soap & Cosmetic Guild, and infuses each DIY product with her passion and expertise.

Discussion (27 Comments)

  1. I just want to thank you for sharing your way of making lip gloss. I’m so excited to try this way and looking forward to a new beginning. I am new to it and always looking for ways to learn and get better. I was getting frustrated researching and when i came across you, i have to say you made it so much better and easier for me to follow. Thank you so much.5 stars

    Reply
  2. Hi actually I am very interested to make this..and
    What if I use other brands of castor oil,coconut oil and olive oil.. It will make any difference..? And one more is lecithin good for skin?5 stars

    Reply
    • Hi Riya,

      Absolutely you can use different brands. Providing they’re good quality ingredients you shouldn’t have any problems. As for the skin benefits of lecithin – I have found it to be quite skin softening, and lends some stickiness to this product.

      Reply
  3. Hi Angela,
    Is lecithin the only ingredients to keep it creamy? Do you know any lecithin substitute?
    Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  4. Do you have any product recommendations for flavoring the lip gloss? I think my granddaughters would love fruity flavors.

    Reply
    • Hi Maggie,

      Unfortunately I have no experience adding fruity flavors to my lip gloss. The most I’ve done is add a drop of peppermint essential oil. If you do find some good lip gloss flavorings, please do let me know.

      Reply
  5. Hi, what brand of soy Lecithin did you use? I’m definitely interested in making this product. I Also need to make is Vegan friendly too.

    Reply
    • I’m pretty sure I use a generic, unbranded product from one of my cosmetic ingredient suppliers. It’s readily available from most suppliers on the web. Almost all soy lecithin is vegan, but I would check with the supplier before hand.

      Reply
  6. Awsm recipe .. just loved it..
    One doubt, can we use vegan n creulty free versagel instead of lecithin?? Is it good?
    Can i substitute olive oil with grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil ??

    Plz reply ..

    Reply
    • Hi Amina,

      I have never used Versagel but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. If you give it a try please do let us know how it goes.
      You can substitute olive oil with either grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil and it won’t make a difference to the recipe.

      Reply
  7. Maybe this is a silly question, but what mica color did you use to make this lip gloss? Does it matter? Does the red oxide do the tinting and the mica color irrelevant?

    Reply
    • Hi Julia,

      Yes you are correct, the mica colour does not transfer much colour to the lips so you can choose whichever mica you like.

      Reply
  8. Hi there!
    I’m thinking of trying this DIY but I need to know if you can consume this, because I lick my lips very often.
    Thanks.
    Amber

    Reply
    • Hi Amber,

      You shouldn’t have a problem with this recipe. Providing you buy food or cosmetic grade ingredients, you’ll be fine. The pigments aren’t in high enough quantities to cause you problems.

      Reply
  9. Can you use sunflower lecithin instead of soy lecithin?
    Also, thank you for sharing this information. It is much appreciated and I hope you have a blessed day!

    Reply
    • Hi Angela,

      I only have experience using soy lecithin, so unfortunately I can’t tell you if it will work just as well. My suspicion is that it should be fine. Try it out and let me know how it goes?

      Reply
  10. Will the oxide/mica separate from the oil? I’ve been trying to find a way to color a natural lip gloss or lip oil without having to shake and mix before each use. Also, what would happen if lecithin was excluded. Thanks!! ?5 stars

    Reply
    • Hi there,

      So far I’ve had no separation, but let me know if you encounter this. If you leave out the lecithin, your lip gloss won’t be as creamy. You might also start having some separation issues, but I think the main problem will be a lower quality end product.

      Reply
    • Raw Shea Butter and Coconut oil as a base…
      As I know once it’s cools it goes to back to solid so to keep it creamy is the Lecithin that serves the purpose of smoothing out Thanks I had a struggle about how I would keep smooth… great Read today

      Reply
  11. I just love the idea…that lip color is spectacular, I just ordered materials and ingredients and just can’t wait to make it…thank you so much!5 stars

    Reply

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