Sunday, February 24, 2013

DIY Coloured Lip Balm

I love lip balms, they keep your lips soft and can be used as a go-to when you need to add some shine to your lips and don't have a lipstick or gloss near to hand.

What I've found though, is that lip balms come in very limited shades, and even then, they add such little colour to your lips that it may as well not be there.

DIY lip balms are so easy and something that I'm sure every girl has done at some point - you can mix the colour to your preference  so that you can have nourished lips with a colour of your choice. The best thing is that it's so quick and simple that you can make several lip balms of different colours, giving you a variety of choice!

Like I said, the method is simple. All you need to do this it is a small, lidded pot, eyeshadows or blusher of your choice and either a clear (scented/flavoured or not, your choice) lip balm or vaseline, and a tooth pick or something you can use as a mixing stick.

                            

For mine, I used the two circled colours above. The left colour was a brown-pink colour (mink?) and the right was a dark, richer red tone that also had brown undertones. I have a think for brown/plum shades at the minute, however I am not confident or daring enough to wear such a bold, pigmented lipstick, so for now I'm sticking to darker shades of lip balm or gloss!

First step is to use a tooth pick or whatever, gather some of the eye shadow and get it into the pot. I recommend using a little at first and then gradually building up the amount, because once you've mashed it all up, it's a bitch to clean up if you get dust everywhere, anyone who has spilled loose, shimmery eyeshadow will understand!

Next, scoop up some some lip balm or vaseline (I used the aloe vera vaseline) and put it into the pot also. Simply mix the eyeshadow and lip balm thouroughly, get rid of any lumps, and add more colour (or different colours) until you're satisfied with the shade and amount of product.

Please ignore my hideous nails.
 I actually held mine over a candle for a while to melt down the vaseline - this helps identify any lumps and also smooths out the mixture in general. I'd already stuck my  finger into it by this picture so sadly mine didn't remain smooth!

After this, simply leave it to set or harden, apply, and woohoo! How easy is that, right?! What I love is that it gives you a hint of colour, but not so much that it's totally obvious that you're wearing anything. It's like your lips, but better!