Welcome to a colorful and fun article on how to add a pop of color or tint to DIY Body Butters, Lotions, Lotion Bars and Lip Balms!
This is a basic beginner’s article on how to add a nice tint to your skincare products using only natural products.
Two simple ways to color your skincare
1. Mica powder / Eye shadow
The most common way to add color to your homemade body butters or products is with glitter.
Mica is a natural product that comes from rocks, that’s really the simplest explanation. Mother Earth has rocks, crystals and other natural deposits that have color in them. When you grind the material into powder form and add some color pigments, you have mica.
People are going around about some questionable ways in which this product is extracted and produced, and I’ve read that some countries use minimal labor to achieve this. Welcome to capitalism, I guess. I personally cannot stop all the evil in the world, and forcing a child to give birth is outrageous (note to self – asking your children to clean their room and do the dishes does not count as forced labor ).
What you can do to avoid these unethical practices is to research your supplier and make sure they are honest and ethical and only use fair labor to produce their mica.
Eye shadow to color your skin care
This is an easy alternative to add color to your body butters and adds some sparkle to your products. We all have some unused eyeshadow that just doesn’t look good on the eyes, but because of the colorful options, it can be used sparingly in your skincare routine.
How much Mica to use
For the housewife or DIY enthusiasts, you can simply add how much money to your formula. I always start with a teaspoon for a formula that yields about 8-10 oz of Body Butter and add more as needed
When to Add Mica
Since mica is in powder form, the best way to incorporate it into a body butter is before the whipping step. You can fold it in (hey Schitt’s Creek fan, you know that fold in the cheese tent, right?). Just add a little at a time, gently fold it in so it doesn’t go everywhere, then decide if you need a little more to get the color or shade you want.
It’s fun to add a pop of color AND also a shimmer, gold or silver are the typical pigments that leave a subtle tint on your skin and make it sparkle in the sun.
2. Butters and Oils
The second 100% natural way to add a tint to your body butters is to use butters and oils that have an inherent color tint. This includes:
Raw cocoa butter – is a dark creamy color
Blue Tansy essential oil – gives a blue tint
Cold Pressed Rosehip Oil – has a nice amber or close to red color
Yellow shea butter – this butter contains a small percentage of a yellow African root that gives it a yellow color. When added in small amounts, it gives your products a golden/yellow hue
There are other natural oils and butters that are more intensely colored, and you’re welcome to search far and wide, but you get the idea, right?
How much to use and when to add them
These ingredients are added in the melting stage. In the recipe below I added cocoa butter and rosehip oil to the melting stage in a 1:1 ratio (1 ounce of butter to 1 ounce of oil), this way the ratio of butter to carrier oil remained consistent with my first mica recipe.
Recipes in this article
In both recipes I used a ratio of 40% butter to 60% carrier oils. This makes a smooth body butter that spreads easily on your skin and melts quickly when it comes into contact with the skin. Start with a small amount because these body butters do not contain water, which makes them very rich. I recommend using them after a shower or bath when your skin is damp and your pores are open and receptive to more body butter absorption.
First Recipe – Coloring with Mica
4 oz mango butter
6 oz apricot oil
Mica (I used about 2 teaspoons, this can vary depending on how vibrant you want the product to be)
Optional (not shown in video): 20-40 drops essential oils of choice
Second Recipe – Coloring with Butters and Oils
4 oz mango butter
6 oz almond oil
1 ounce cocoa butter
1 ounce rosehip oil
Optional (not shown in video): 20-40 drops essential oils of choice
Easy steps to make your own tinted body butters
- Add the mango butter and carrier oil of your choice (apricot, almond, or any other light oil) to a heatproof container, place it over a pan with 1-2 inches of water and let it all melt slowly over low heat .
- When the butter is completely melted, stir, remove from the heat and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the top and sides are set but the center is still soft.
- Optional: add any essential oils of your choice
- Add mica for recipe #1
- Fold and blend to blend your colors
- Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for a few minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides as you go, until you have a creamy texture
- Fill your jars and voila, your amazing body moisturizer is ready to go!
Store them at room temperature in a jar with a lid or similar container. Use it on your body daily for ultimate, natural moisture and relief from any dry skin.
Recipe video
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