How can I make my lips glossy without lip gloss?

This lip gloss is made with all natural and non toxic ingredients. Learn how to make lip gloss at home with safe ingredients.

Homemade lip gloss has been on my list of things to try for a very long time. I was intimated at first since I knew I’d need to emulsify oils with a wax base, but the project was much easier than I thought. 

Much like homemade lip balm, lip gloss is made with melting oils and waxes together to create a glossy texture that smoothly goes on lips. 

The first two recipes I tried worked well on my lips but didn’t have the shiny gloss look that you get from store-bought lip gloss. However, after experimenting, I found that I achieved a glossy texture using castor oil as a base.

This homemade lip gloss will leave your lips soft and moisturized, and also very glossy! 

How To Make Lip Gloss

Ingredients: You will need 15 ml of castor oil, 5 ml of fractionated coconut oil, 2.5g of wax, and 1 ml of vitamin e oil. 

Directions: To make your own lip gloss, you will need to measure out all the ingredients first. Then, melt the wax over a double boiler (you can also microwave the wax for 30-60 seconds, or until melted). Once the wax is melted, mix in the castor oil, fractionated coconut oil, and vitamin e oil. Finally, stir vigorously to mix the melted wax and oils together. 

Next, use a pipet to pour the mixture into the gloss container or glass roll-on bottle. I used both bottles but preferred to use the lip gloss container as the wand applies the lip gloss better on the lips than the roll-on. 

About Lip Gloss Ingredients

• Castor Oil: Castor oil is a thick oil that’s moisturizing and soothing to the skin. Because it’s so thick, it is best to use it with other carrier oils.
• Fractionated Coconut Oil: Unscented and rich in medium-chain fatty acids, this versatile carrier oil is perfect for skin-care products. And here are the best fractionated coconut oil brands to choose from.
• Beeswax: Beeswax is naturally hydrating and increases essential moisture in the skin. Commonly found in hand and body creams, beeswax helps to retain natural skin moisture. Emulsifying wax can be used instead of beeswax in this recipe.
• Vitamin E: Vitamin E oil is excellent for preventing rancidity in cosmetics, and it also acts as an anti-oxidant in creams, lotions, baby products, and cosmetics.

Essential Oils for DIY Lip Gloss

Below are some of my favorite essential oils to use in this homemade lip gloss recipe. Essential oils should only be 1% of the formula:

• Peppermint (3-5 drops or 1% of recipe)
• Lavender (3-5 drops or 1% of recipe)
• Vanilla & Lavender (1-3 drops of each, or 1% of recipe)
• Orange Essential Oil (3-5 drops or 1% of recipe)

How To Make Tinted Lip Gloss

Make naturally tinted gloss by adding food source pigments like cocoa powder, hibiscus powder, or beetroot powder to your lip gloss base. 

• Light Brown

  C

  olor

  :

   Add 3 grams of cocoa powder to 15 ml of the base recipe. Mix well before pouring into a lip gloss container. Add a sprinkle of mica powder or glitter to give this lipstick a shimmery tint! 
• Pink Tinted Color: Add 3 grams of hibiscus powder to 15 ml of the base recipe. Mix well before pouring into a lip gloss container.
• Bright Pink/Red Color: Add 3 grams of beetroot powder to 15 ml of the base recipe. Mix well before pouring into a lip gloss container.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I use instead of castor oil?

You may substitute any carrier oil in place of the castor oil. However, you will not achieve the thick glossy look of traditional lip gloss without castor oil.

What can I use in place of coconut oil? 

 Other liquid carrier oils like olive oil, sweet almond oil, and jojoba oil work in place fractionated coconut oil. 

What’s the shelf life of this lip gloss?

This gloss is shelf-stable and will last up to 6 months. 

What preservative can I use to extend the shelf life of lip gloss?

I haven’t personally used a preservative in this recipe, but Geogard ECT would be my choice. This preservative should be .6-1% of the formula.

Equipment List

The links in this post are affiliate links, and if you purchase products through my links I will earn an affiliate commission from your order.

A scale is needed to measure the oils and wax properly for this recipe. I suggest using a digital scale like this one. I use castor oil, fractionated coconut oil, and beeswax from Mountain Rose Herbs.

If you love this recipe, then be sure to try my popular DIYs like my homemade lip balm, whipped body butter, coffee body scrub, and exfoliating lip scrub!

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DIY Lip Gloss Recipe

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Learn how to make lip gloss with this easy DIY, made with natural ingredients like castor oil, beeswax, and vitamin E. This recipe will fill two 15 ml lip gloss containers.

• Prep Time:

  10 minutes

• Cook Time:

  5 minutes

• Total Time:

  15 minutes

• Yield:

  2

  15 ml lip gloss

  1

  x

• Category:

  DIY

Ingredients

• 15

  ml

  Castor Oil

• 5

  ml

  Fractionated Coconut Oil

• 1

  ml

  Vitamin E Oil

• 2.5

  grams

  Beeswax or Emulsifying Wax

• 3

  grams

  Cocoa Powder, Hibiscus Powder, or Beetroot Powder ((optional))

Cook Mode

Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Start by measuring out all the ingredients first.
2. Then, melt the wax over a double boiler (you can also microwave the wax for 30-60 seconds, or until melted).
3. Once the wax is melted, mix in the castor oil, fractionated coconut oil, and vitamin e oil.
4. Stir vigorously to mix the melted wax and oils together. If you're adding pigment or mica, add it to the warm melted oils/wax and mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into a lig gloss container or roll-on bottle. I used both bottles but preferred to use the lip gloss container as the wand applies the lip gloss better on the lips than the roll-on.

Nutrition Facts

• Calories:

  1

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. 

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 DIY lip gloss that’s both sticky and slow penetrating. This is exactly what you want!  

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

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 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

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

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.