All About the Lip and Eye Base

This is (usually) an annual event in the LisaLise lab: mixing up a batch of base for lip and eye pencils as well as lipsticks. This year, things got switched up a bit as I've been exploring some new (vegan) ingredients for both base and as colorants and doing a bit of A/B testing against my regular base formulas that include beeswax.

Here's a peek at this years vegan bases - all have passed testing with flying colors. 

Urucum - The Lipstick Tree

Pictured on the right is a plant known as ucurum. the INCI is Bixa Orellana and the common name for this botanical is The Lipstick Tree. 

I've been working with it over the past few months as a plant colorant and it is quite potent and functional. Although this picture was taken for a batch I made earlier this year, I am getting ready to start a fresh batch - infused in castor oil for an upcoming product. 

Pigment Testing Peek

Here's a quick peek at an aftermath of plant pigment testing. A lot of this has been ongoing over the past months and it is fun, challenging, educational, and a little messy!

Plant Pigments in Shades of Red

Here is a selection of hand-mixed plant pigments in different combinations. I have been stability testing these during the past few months.

Some of these colors are stable, and some morph into an unrecognizable shade of boring as soon as they are applied to skin - or after they have been applied to skin and water (such as sweat) is introduced to the mix.

Plants as Powder Foundation

Using pure botanicals as colorants is quite a challenging but fun. Here is a quick film I made of a test.

(Excuse the one-handed filming-- it was an impulsive moment)

Going Freshly Green

This is a freshly made tonic from an herb known as Cleavers. It is said to provide wrinkle removing, skin toning, and firming magic, so how could one not test this out?

The scent is fresh, green and summery. The color is as green as it gets, and after testing this out I must admit it leaves the skin feeling fabulous.

The challenge is getting this herb to do the same when not freshly produced. Time and more testing will tell.