How to make your own tinted lip balm?

A lip balm recipe that combines colour and care

One perfect spring day, we were struck by the desire to add some of the season’s lovely hues to our smiles. But a problem quickly arose: we wanted colour, but we couldn’t just forget about the ever-so-fragile skin of our lips! Our solution? Here’s a Subtle Hint: it’s a homemade tinted lip balm that fulfills all our colour desires.

The vegetable oils and butter will nourish your lips, while the Golden wax 415 provides protection—here’s the proof that it can be used for more than massage candles! We propose two different shades that we’re very fond of, but don’t hesitate to give your artistic spirit free rein. Feel free to test out your own pigment combinations and create a unique and personalized DIY tinted lip balm.

Who can resist a Subtle Hint of a smile? (Not us!)

How to make tinted lip balm

Ingredients

Oil phase

16.3 g (54.3%) castor oil
3 g (10%) argan oil
1.2 g (4%) jojoba oil
6 g (20%) mango butter
0.6 g (2%) Soy Wax, Golden wax 415

Pigment phase

2 g (6.7%) mineral colourants

Cooling phase

0.3 g (1%) vitamin E
0.6 g (2%) wild blueberry flavour (or another flavour)

Suggested tints

Lovely Scarlet

1 DASH and 1 SMIDGEN (1.6%) light red oxide
4 TADs (5%) satin red mica

Sweet Peach

1 DASH (1.4%) light red oxide
1 SMIDGEN (0.2%) titanium dioxide
4 TADs (5%) antique rose mica

Tools

1 small stainless steel bowl
Components to make a double boiler
1 mini silicone spatula
1 scale, accurate to 0.1 g
A few ramekins
1 mini-mixer with frothing attachment (the small wheel)
A few pipettes
1 mini measuring spoon set (for quantities given in DASH, TAD, etc.)
1 thermometer
4 tubes with fine brush applicator
1 pigment blender
1 knife

Good to know!

We chose castor oil for this recipe because it is very viscous, ensuring excellent pigment dispersal and making your lip balm shiny.
Golden Wax 415 wax hardens the product and leaves a protective film on your lips.
We use mango butter for its nourishing and softening properties and to help harden this homemade tinted lip balm.
If you would rather not add flavour to your lip balm, you can omit it and add 0.6 g of additional castor oil to the oil phase.
We do not grind the micas in the pigment blender in this recipe, as this would cause them to lose their sparkle. If you prefer a matte finish, grind the micas with the rest of the oxides in step 5.
*CAREFUL* We use mini measuring spoons in this recipe (quantities given in DASH, SMIDGEN, etc.). To obtain the correct amounts, the measurements must be levelled. Just fill the measuring spoon, then slide the back of a knife over the spoon to remove the excess.

Steps to follow

Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
Weigh the oil phase ingredients in a small bowl.
Heat the oil phase on the double boiler and melt the wax and mango butter. Make sure the temperature of the oil phase does not exceed 70°C.
In the meantime, measure the oxides in the pigment blender container (lid). Do not add the micas yet (not until step 10).
Screw the container on well. Hold the pigment blender with the blades pointed upwards and blend the oxides while shaking the blender. Blend for about 10 minutes, taking a break every 1–2 minutes. Turn off the blender and shake well with the blades of the blender pointed downwards so that the powder mixture drops down into the lid and does not remain stuck to the blades.
Blend until you obtain a fine, homogeneous powder. To test how well the pigments are dispersed, spread a bit of the mixture on a white sheet of paper. If traces of different colours appear, continue to mix. If the colour on the paper appears even, the mixture is ready to use.
Pour the blended oxides into a ramekin.
Add the melted oil phase to the ramekin containing the oxides.
Mix with the mini-mixer until homogeneous.
Weigh the mica in another ramekin.
Add the mica to the mixture. Mix with the mini spatula.
When the mixture has cooled to 45°C or less, add the vitamin E and the flavour. Mix with the mini spatula.
Remove the plastic caps from the tubes. Fill the tubes with the lip balm using a pipette. Close the caps. Voilà! Your tinted lip balm is ready!