Plastic-Free and Zero Waste Hibiscus Lip Cream

A soft pink hibiscus lip cream with no plastic and is zero waste. This is my go to recipe.

No Plastic and Zero Waste Hibiscus Lip Cream

Over the past two years of being plastic free and making my own makeup, I have tried many different ways to create a lip cream using natural products that I can buy in in my own containers. It has been interesting with some wins and a couple loses.

I love hibiscus tea. It is a sweet tea with a deep red colour. Over a cup of said tea I wondered if it might be my answer to making a lip balm that gave my lips a colour that was natural and eco friendly. I experimented first with grinding the leaves to a powder but that made such a mess in my kitchen and the result was a grainy lip balm. Then I decided to try a much more simple method that I have now used successfully over the past year. So I thought i'd share it with you.

Plastic Free and Zero Waste Hibiscus Lip Tint

2 tablespoons cocoa butter
1 tablespoon beeswax grated
1.5 tablespoons almond oil
1 teaspoon hibiscus tea using purified water

How to put it together
Steep the hibiscus tea in purified water to draw out the colour. Purified water increases shelf life and reduced the risk of introducing bacteria into the product you are making. Remove the leaves and measure out 1 teaspoon of the tea water and set aside. Melt the cocoa butter and beeswax together. I use a double boiler (example below). Add the oil and mix together. Pour the 1 teaspoon of hibiscus tea in and with a fork start whisking everything together. You will need to move quickly and stir for at least five minutes. Once it looks like the colour is dispersed evenly through the mixture and not sitting in little red beads, pour into a container and pop into the fridge for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes has passed pull the container out of the fridge and with a chopstick (or something similar) stir vigorously to create a whipped consistency. Put it back into the fridge for another 10 minutes and repeat the same process. Once you are happy with how it looks, let it set. You don't need to put it back into the fridge to set.

I call it lip cream because it feels like lip stick...I just could not get it into stick form because I don't have a lipstick container. So lip cream it is!

















No Plastic and Zero Waste Hibiscus Lip Cream

Because I am going into winter I have not added as much beeswax. You can adjust the measurements of the cocoa butter, beeswax and oil to suit your climate. If you have made a batch, let it set and found it too hard or too soft the next day you can put it all back onto the double boiler or pan and add either more beeswax or more oil to make either harder or softer.

No Plastic and Zero Waste Hibiscus Lip Cream

The lip cream is super nourishing and adds enough colour without being overwhelming. The ingredients last for up to a year, but if you are anything like me it will disappear fast.

Has anyone tried to make their own homemade lip balm/cream/gloss/lipstick? Did you add colour? If so, what colour and where did you get it from?


UPDATE: I have found a plastic free blush/lip colour by UrbApothecary for those that do not want to make their own. I have not tried it but thought I would share this as an option.