Natural/Vegan Colored Stick Lip Balm

To make a natural and vegan colored stick lip balm, you will need a combination of oils, butters, and waxes to provide structure, moisture, and texture. Since you want a vegan formula, we will use plant-based waxes and butters instead of beeswax.

You already have:

• Grape Seed Oil: A good lightweight oil for moisture.
• 4 groups EasyMix powder: These are suitable for coloring lip products.
• Vitamin B3 (Safe-B3™): This is a water-soluble ingredient primarily used for skin benefits like reducing wrinkles and redness. It is not typically used in oil/wax-based lip balms as it won't dissolve or incorporate properly without a water phase and emulsifier.
• Calendula Extract (Water Soluble): Similar to Vitamin B3, this is a water-soluble extract. It is beneficial for reducing inflammation and moisturizing but is not suitable for a standard oil/wax lip balm formula.

You will need additional vegan waxes and butters to create the stick form and provide moisture. Based on your searches, Candelilla Wax, Carnauba Wax, Shea Butter, and Cocoa Butter Replacer are suitable vegan options.

Here is a basic guideline for a vegan colored lip balm formula using ingredients you have or can acquire:

• Oils (e.g., Grape Seed Oil): 40-60% - Provides moisture and slip.
• Butters (e.g., Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter Replacer): 20-40% - Adds richness, moisture, and helps with texture.
• Waxes (e.g., Candelilla Wax, Carnauba Wax): 10-25% - Provides structure and hardness to the stick. Candelilla Wax gives some shine, while Carnauba Wax adds more hardness. You can adjust the ratio of waxes to get your desired firmness.
• Color (EasyMix powders): 1-10% (adjust to desired intensity) - Provides color.
• Optional Additives (e.g., Vitamin E, flavor oil): 1-5%

General Process:

1. Weigh all your oils, butters, and waxes.
2. Gently heat the oils, butters, and waxes together in a double boiler until fully melted.
3. While the base is melting, prepare your color. Disperse the EasyMix color powders in a small amount of the melted oil from your formula. Ensure there are no clumps.
4. Once the oil/butter/wax base is melted, remove from heat.
5. Stir in the dispersed color mixture. Mix thoroughly to ensure even color distribution.
6. If using any heat-sensitive additives like Vitamin E or flavor oil, add them now and stir gently.
7. Carefully pour the mixture into lip balm tubes or containers.
8. Let cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator until solid.

• Note: As mentioned, Vitamin B3 and Calendula Extract are water-soluble and not suitable for this type of oil/wax-based lip balm.*

Mixing EasyMix Powders into Lip Cream Matte Base

Yes, you can mix Red Iron Oxides EasyMix™ and FD&C Yellow No.5 Lake EasyMix™ powders into your Lip Cream Matte base. The EasyMix powders are specifically treated to disperse easily in oil and silicone bases, which is typical for a matte lip cream. You can mix them in by hand stirring, although ensuring a completely smooth and uniform color might require thorough mixing or potentially a small mixing tool if you are making a larger batch.

Using Lip Cream Matte Base for Sunscreen

While you can add Titanium Dioxide to your Lip Cream Matte base, simply adding it will likely not create an effective and stable sunscreen product.

Titanium Dioxide does provide UV protection, but formulating a stable and effective sunscreen requires:

• Using the correct type and particle size of Titanium Dioxide for UV protection (some are better suited as pigments).
• Properly dispersing the Titanium Dioxide evenly throughout the base at the correct concentration to achieve a specific SPF and PA rating.
• Ensuring the overall formula is stable and maintains the dispersion over time.
• Testing the final product to confirm its actual SPF and PA protection level.

A base designed for a matte lip cream may not have the right emulsification system or rheology to properly suspend and stabilize UV filters like Titanium Dioxide for reliable sun protection. Creating a functional sunscreen is a complex formulation task that goes beyond simply adding a UV-blocking ingredient to an existing base.

Therefore, while you can add Titanium Dioxide pigment for color or whitening effects in makeup, using the Lip Cream Matte base to create a sunscreen product is not recommended without proper sunscreen formulation knowledge and testing.