Make Your Own Makeup to Go Green & Save Money
Try these simple tips to make your own makeup at home – it’s better for both the environment & your health – AND it saves money, too!
If you are concerned about the environment, you may want to think about ways to reduce your impact. One good idea would be to make your own makeup and other personal care products.
The benefits of making your own makeup at home are twofold. First, you’ll save money because buying the raw materials is less expensive than buying pre-made commercially available brand-name products. Second, by making your own products, you have complete control over what you put on your skin, so you can avoid chemicals and additives that are unnecessary and far from eco-friendly.
Here are a few make-up products that you can easily make at home:
- Eye Shadow. Grind different shades of mica in a mini grinder and combine with a powder binder to create your own eye shadow. This gives you control of not only the materials and ingredients but also the colors that you create. Eye shadow is one of the easier cosmetics that you can make at home.
- Blush. Blush is another easy-to-make cosmetic. You don’t need a powder binder; you simply need to find the right mixture of micas. Choose a few different mica colors and blend them together thoroughly, then test the color on your skin. You can experiment with adding different colors until you get a hue that you like. Empty into a sifting jar to easily dispense the finished blush powder.
- Lipstick. You can buy a lipstick kit that comes with the necessary ingredients, or make your own lipstick using natural ingredients like mica, iron oxide, castor oil, beeswax, carnauba wax, and lanolin. Lipstick is a more complicated cosmetic to make from home, but there are many recipes available online for adventurous individuals.
- You can also make lip balm from home in a similar way, especially using beeswax lip balm recipes. Some of the necessary ingredients include lanolin and beeswax, honey, cocoa butter, and essential oils. Making your own lip balm is not as difficult, but it does take a tried-and-true recipe.
- Mascara. Skip the goopy black stuff. Instead, lightly apply Vaseline or lip balm to your lashes, then very gently apply your homemade eye shadow in order to add a pigment to your lashes. This actually looks a lot more natural and less thick and goopy on your lashes, plus it contains far fewer chemicals and additives! You can also try this natural and non-toxic mascara recipe.
- Makeup Remover Pads. When it’s time to remove your makeup, you can create reusable makeup remover pads using pieces of charm square and backing with flannel or Minky. Sew the two materials together in different shapes to create washable makeup remover pads that you can use again and again.
There are a variety of resources available for making your own cosmetics and skincare products. If you don’t have a natural ingredients shop in your area, do an online search for “homemade make-up recipes” or “homemade make-up ingredients.”
Experiment with natural materials like shea butter, cocoa butter, oatmeal, honey, and beeswax to create natural products that your skin – and the environment – will thank you for, and so will your wallet!
