Make your own lipstick or gloss in five easy steps

Do you have a pile of lipsticks and glosses you wouldn't be caught dead wearing, perhaps received in free gifts or bought in fits of inane trend following? Or maybe you have a few lipsticks that looked perfect in the store but didn't cut it once out of the glow of department store makeup counter lighting?

Instead of throwing them out, why not play a little game of alchemist-meets-artist and use them to make your own custom lipsticks?! It's easy, lots of fun, and leaves you with a color that's all yours.

What you'll need:

• A microwave



• A small cup (I like ramekins best, as they are nice and shallow, but plastic cups are also great)



• A bunch plastic knives



• Lots of paper towels, and something to lay underneath your work to protect your table.

Oh, and you'll want a little lip jar or something to hold your finished product. I usually use empty lip balm or gloss jars, but if you don't have any around you can buy them for next to nothing at most drug stores. This does mean that your lipstick will be the kind that you will need to apply with a finger tip or a lip brush, by the way.

A few more optional items that you might want:

• Some chap stick to mix in to improve the consistency of a lipstick and make the color less heavy



• Some clear lip gloss for a glossier look, and to make the color more sheer

Once you have your materials, the fun can begin:

1. Dive in: just start slicing and scooping bits of lipsticks and glosses into your cup to make a color you like. Don't stop until the color is just right--that is, after all, the whole point of making your own.



2. Use your knives for mixing, and when the mixture becomes too lumpy and uneven, just throw the cup in the microwave oven for about 10 seconds or so to melt it all down. Nuking times vary, so keep an eye on your concoction and just heat it up enough for it to melt into a puddle. Be VERY careful not to burn yourself on it--you'll be surprised at how quickly lipstick gets hot! (I say this from experience. Very painful experience.)



3. Once you have finished mixing your perfect color, you're ready to transfer it into your lipstick jar. Use your knife to scoop what's in your cup and transfer it into your jar.



4. Then pop your jar in the microwave (assuming its' microwave safe, of course) and nuke it for just as long as it takes to melt into a puddle again, thereby leaving a smooth "like-new" surface in your jar!



5. There may be a gooey lipsticky mess all around the jar. No problem: should all come off easily enough with a few clean swipes of a paper towel.

Tada! You are the proud owner of a fabulous new original lipstick (or gloss).