D.I.Y: Non-Toxic Lipstick From Crayons

A couple of months ago I was browsing through my Facebook timeline and came across a friend’s alert that she would be making lipsticks out of crayons. Though the idea seemed interesting enough to me, I was, of course, once again distracted by the casual disasters of other friends’ updates, and moved on.

Then a few weeks ago in a moment of research, I stumbled unto YouTube’s D.I.Y section where multiple beautifully crafted videos confirmed that, yes, one could make vibrant or sheer lipsticks with just two ingredients! I watched a couple of videos in disbelief. Could I, who lacks the D.I.Y gift, learn to make my own non-toxic lipstick in the colors of my choice?

Let’s pull back a little, and talk about lipstick. I travel with various lipsticks and lip-glosses in my various thrifted bags. This habit is so die-hard that I change my lip color based on the bag that I carry. When I found out that most lipsticks contain dirty ingredients such as lead, I was a little shocked. To have lead so close to my mouth, and definitely getting into my food was unnerving.

Wearing lipstick can also lead to overexposure and ingestion of other dangerous metals such as aluminum. I found myself in a tight spot. Would I lose out to the wonderful pigmented redness of Ruby Woo—lead is used to give lipsticks their vibrant red colors—or go without? Sadly, I won’t be changing brands any time soon.

I am a fan of how D.I.Y crayon lipsticks have opened up a conversation about what we put on our lips, but they, sadly, aren’t made for everyday wear. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun with crafting and combining our own colors, and wearing them once in a while!

Here is a great recipe from LetzMakeUp on Youtube:

• Crayons (Non-Toxic Crayola Brand)
• Measuring Spoons
• Shea butter/Castor oil/ Coconut oil/whatever you like (both if you like)
• A spatula/stirring utensil
• A heat safe container to melt the crayons in
• Something to put your lipstick in

You can pop a pan of water on the stove, place the heat safe container in the water, melt your crayons and oils in the container, and transfer your newly made lip colors into the palette of your choice, and VOILA: your new CRAYON lipsticks!

Of course, you can also buy some organic lipsticks from from some of our favorite eco-friendly companies like Jane Iredale Full Bloom Lipsticks!

P.S: I did some research on the content of Crayola’s non-toxic crayons and the recipe is publicized as Paraffin Wax and Pigments.

Main image courtesy of Flickr User PSoup216. Other pictures are courtesy of  HeyWanderer.