Not so long ago, I discovered that you can make your own natural makeup at home. As it turns out, it’s not even that hard: it’s a DIY project that turns into a fun girls’ day for us.
Perhaps it’s my crafty nature or maybe its my incessant desire as a mother to protect my family and keep them healthy that has had me searching for safe skin products, especially for myself and my daughters.
I don’t mean to leave out the men in my family, but let’s be honest! We women use dozens more products than our male counterparts! Skin, hair, nails, eyes, more skin…and there they are, good with one soap that does it all and maybe, maybe, a moisturizer.
My girls use body soap, facial cleanser, shampoo, conditioner, facial lotion, body lotion, concealer, foundation, powder, blush, eyeliner, primer, eye shadow, mascara…oh my goodness…breathe…body spritzers, hair spray, gel, mousse, nail polish…and the list goes on…
How could we use all these products and never question what effect they have on our systems, not to mention our pockets? And with four females in our home, we have quite a few allergies to products applied to the skin.
We get lots of questions about how to add color to DIY makeup like lip balms, mascara, eye shadows, and blush or cheek stains AND whether or not they work, so we thought we’d show you just how easy it is.
Not only is it fun to be able to play around with different colors, especially when you have teenage girls, but if you’re trying avoid all the junk and unnecessary toxins that go in to most store-bought cosmetics, this is also a great way to know exactly what’s going into your skin products.
If you have skin allergies or sensitive eyes, this can be especially important for you. There are many natural products that you can use to create beautifully colored makeup: cacao, dried roots like beets, and even juice from berries!
One of my favorite mascaras is a blackberry mascara by 100% Pure. It has this slight hint of a deep purple and I love it! In fact, my daughter has it hidden somewhere in her bathroom!
Using fruit can be messy and stain more than just your makeup, so I leave that kind of coloring to the pros and I’m happy to buy it from them!
In today’s DIY video, we are using mica powder, zinc oxide, and activated charcoal. Basically they are ground minerals that are naturally occurring in the earth. The bonus is that minerals can be beneficial to your skin.
But just like other fine powders, be careful that you don’t get them directly into your eyes or inhale them. My daughter Cassandra says, “Save the heavy sniffing for your essential oils and have fun!”
If you want to read more on what might be lurking in your beauty products, read this great summary about avoiding toxins in beauty products.
Interested in more natural skincare DIY posts? Don’t miss our DIY natural body scrub and other natural skincare tips and our DIY natural lip balm post.
From my experience there are pros and cons to making your own natural products. These aren’t as easy peasy as, say, essential oil blends. So before you jump in, make sure you are prepared with everything you need!
Your ingredients might include colors made from:
- mica powder
- cacao powder
- activated charcoal
- dried and ground vegetable root like beets, or other fruits and vegetables
- spices from your cabinet, though be careful not to use something spicy!
Base products to help powders stick together and stay smooth:
Before you start, get supplies together like:
- small bowls
- stirring sticks
- containers to mix and keep your products in
Keep in mind that some of these products will be messy. Create a work space that is mess friendly and clean up as soon as you finish.
I found that pouring the boiling water that I use to melt some of these base ingredients works really well at melting them off of the glass bowls and mixing utensils once I’m done. Just use hot pads and please pour carefully!
And wait! Don’t forget a camera to capture the moments, especially if you are making this quality time with a girl in your life!
How to Make Your Own Natural Mascara and Eye Liner
The creative side of me does love mixing the colors with oils, butters, and waxes, watching the finished product emerge and laughing with my daughters as we play around with different colors or “help” each other apply makeup.
I tend to make small batches of cosmetics that are only used for a short amount of time, because the shelf life isn’t going to be long.
As with any products that you use on your face, be careful around your eyes.
Mascara is pretty simple to make.
I love dark lashes so I use activated charcoal, but you could mix in cacao powder to lighten the color, or just go with straight cacao powder if you like the lighter shades.
You can even add sparkle with a bit of shimmery mica powder.
Mix in some shea butter or coconut oil until it’s smooth and thick.
Start with very small amounts and work until you get it smooth.
Then add cosmetic clay to harden so the mascara stays on your lashes.
Note: my daughter and I simply used the shea butter and coconut oil with the activated charcoal to make our mascara and it applied beautifully, looked smooth, and lengthened the lashes. It did last several hours, but it smeared slightly on her cheeks and eyelids. Adding the clay will help with that.
You can use this method for eye liner as well.
How to Make Your Own Natural Eye Shadow, Blush, and Bronzers
We had the most fun with these, as you can see from the video! The colors you can make are endless, so get creative.
Our powders were mixed with zinc oxide powder as a base. The amounts you make and use are really up to you. Start with a little and add more until you find a color you love. Use a cosmetic brush and apply lightly…or liberally!
Now, for the video of our adventures:
Do you make your own natural makeup? What tips and tricks do you have to share?
How to Select the Perfect Essential Oil Diffuser
I am going to share this with my girlfriend. Will ask her to make some and try. Thanks for sharing.
Sweet of you to think of her! Hope she finds it helpful 🙂
I will try it ?
really great.info thank you!!
Could I use bentonite clay as cosmetic clay ??
i love my mother! yayayayayayayy. perFEct mother day gift. 🙁
Thank you so much for sharing this!! I am excited to try them. I am always in search of natural alternatives. In this case, one can be certain there is not animal testing/cruelty involved either, which is so prevalent in cosmetic companies.
I tried making my own face powder and it didn’t come out right and couldn’t get the color right either. Easier said than done.
If men are “good with one bar of soap and maybe a moisturizer”, shouldn’t we teach our young girls that they can be good with that too? Just because society is the way that it is does not mean that we have to continue teaching future generations to accept that
Women are not men. Thus I don’t want to look like a man. But I do agree there is a fine line between enhancing our natural beauty, and obsessing over it to the point of masking into someone else.
She can teach her daughters whatever she wants to. It is empowering that she is teaching them natural recipes to still be able to use makeup safely.