Is Mica Powder Safe For Lips?

Since Mica Powders are made from a natural-occurring mineral that’s non-toxic and inert, you can use them to color countless creative projects. Micas are the go-to pigment for shimmering wax melts, natural watercolor paints, or stunning resin art projects. But when it comes to cosmetic applications, there are a few more things to consider.

Although all MEYSPRING micas are FDA approved for mineral makeup, deemed cosmetic-grade and skin-safe, some are not recommended for the lips area. So, to the question “Is Mica Powder Safe For Lips?” the answer is:

Not always! Because some mineral coatings must be applied to the translucent ground mineral to achieve the vibrant colors and special effects mica powders offer. And even when the added colorants are skin-safe for external use, some are not considered lip-safe by the FDA, which places strict guidelines on the substances that can be used on the lips to avoid risks of internal consumption. 

For instance, any colorant containing Chromium Oxide Greens, Ferric Ferrocyanide, or Ultramarines shouldn’t be used on lip products. But other mineral components prevalent in micas like Iron Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, or Zinc Oxide are perfectly safe.

So now that you know you can use mica powders on your lips and take advantage of their liveliness and unparalleled shimmer, you probably wonder which colors are considered lip-safe. To answer that question, we listed below all the MEYSPRING pigments suitable for your homemade Lip products and even shared a straightforward 4-ingredient Lip Balm Recipe to get you started. So keep reading!

How do you make lip gloss with mica?

Making DIY lip gloss can be as simple as adding your favorite lip-safe mica powder to your preferred lip gloss base. Use 1/16 - 1/8 teaspoon (+/- 1 gram) Mica Powder to color a 10 ml Lip Gloss tube. 

For your reference, 1 bag of mica powder in our sample sets holds 10 grams of pigment powder. That amount is enough to color about 4 fluid ounces of lip gloss base or 10 lip gloss tubes of 10 ml each. 

While you can use any lip gloss base, micas yield the best results in clear or transparent mediums. The clearer the base, the more pearlescent and colorful the final lip gloss will be.

Best Mica Powders for Lip Gloss or Lip Balm

We love using micas to get a vibrant and iridescent outcome in homemade lip products. All MEYSPRING mica powders are cosmetic-grade and skin-safe, but only the colors listed below are considered lip-safe by the FDA:

• Bronze Stone
• Golden Labradorite
• White Chalcedony
• Rose Quartz
• Violet Crystal
• Purple Amethyst
• Silver Druzy
• Peach Gold
• White Pearl
• Wine Red
• Royal Gold
• Pure Copper
• Charcoal Black
• Indigo Obelisk
• Dusklight Crystal
• Dazzling Diamond
• Mystic Opal
• Tropical Blue
• Gilded Gold
• Green Pyromorphite

DIY Lip Balm Recipe with Mica Powder

Here is a fun lip balm recipe with just a few steps and 100% natural ingredients to get you going.

Mixing Micas in a Lip Balm base and enjoying the soothing effect of the beautiful swirls. MEYSPRING Pigments used: White Chalcedony, Peach Gold, Wine Red.

Ingredients:

• ¼  cup beeswax
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 ½  teaspoon almond oil
• ¼ teaspoon of mica powder

Instructions:

1. Melt beeswax and coconut oil in a double boiler
2. Add the almond oil
3. Stir in the mica powder
4. Carefully pour into containers or lip balm tubes
5. Let it cool
6. Use as needed

Final Thoughts

As we previously established, you can put mica powders on your homemade lip products as long as the pigments are considered lip-safe. The FDA’s guidelines advise that any colorant containing Chromium Oxide Greens, Ferric Ferrocyanide, and Ultramarines shouldn’t be used on lip products. So make sure you create DIY lip cosmetics using only lip-safe mica powders. 

We encourage you to try the 4-ingredient recipe shared in this article with the mica powder of your choice. Then, let us know how you liked it in the comments below. You can also use our hashtag #meyspringprigments on social media so we can see the lip balms you create using our lip-safe pigment powders.

If you would like to learn more about other DIY projects using mica powders, check out this article. You'll learn how to easily create 100% natural watercolor paints with MEYSPRING pigments.

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