How To: Custom Make Your Own Lip Palette!

Custom Lip Palette made by yours truly :)

Hey Babes!

I originally did this post back in October of 2009 and it was when I first started my blog.  Eep!  It's been 3 years, I can't believe it. Aaaaanyway.... I wanted to repost this now that the blog has grown and hopefully you find this to be an easy (easier?) way to make your own lipstick palettes.  Through trial and error, I can say for me personally, this is the fastest, user friendly and easiest way I have found to custom make a lip palette.

I have tried them all and through the process of what is required to put your lipsticks into already made palettes (like Japonesque for example), I found that 1.) I lose a lot of the product (melting in the spoon method anyone?) and 2.) it takes so much longer (melting over a lighter or candle, etc.) to make them.  As I have learned in my life: "Waste not, want not" and the method I have come up with below will help you to create beautiful, custom lip palettes in about 15 minutes (per palette), without losing a ton of product on a melted spoon.

While I loved the Japonesque palette, it is a bitch to get your product in there! LOL Not to mention, it's an expensive palette.  You can't place the empty wells in the microwave because the plastic will melt and compromise the entire palette and your product! I know this because I put one in the microwave and it melted the plastic inserts almost immediately. :( So sad face.  I thought only a few seconds would be ok!  I had to try! Hahaha!!

Japonesque Pro Foundation Palette 28-well

Melting lipstick on a spoon then pouring it into the well didn't work for me because so much lipstick was left wasted on the spoon. That was not cool!  I won't even get into the clean up of that either... ugh! The lipsticks will harden back to form pretty quickly so you're leaving quite a bit of the lipstick ON THE SPOON. That cuts into my costs and after doing the spoon method, I quit immediately to try something else.  BTW - I don't recommend melting foundation sticks and using this method to make a foundation palette.  You will compromise and mostly ruin the foundation if you heat it up.  Lipsticks are made quite differently and heating it up won't affect it.

Custom Lip Palette made by yours truly :)

Buying lip palettes are convenient and easy but they're both expensive and limited to the brand and colors from which you purchase. If you're in love with a particular brand then you're all set. For me, I like variety and I prefer making my own because then I can put whatever I want in there and y'all know I use all kinds of lipsticks from MAC to Avon, NYX, Revlon, L'oreal, Smashbox, Nars, etc.

It's very inexpensive to make your own and so easy to do. Do you like to bake? Mmm hmmm, we're baking people! It only takes a little bit of time, some products you probably already have around the house, your oven (yes, your oven, I wasn't joking about baking!!) and the one item you probably only need to aquire are the lip palettes themselves.

Let's get started!

Ok, first you'll need some lip palettes. I purchased mine from Coastal Scents. It appears that they no longer make the exact ones I purchased (mine are 15-well with no mirror), which you'll see below, but they do have THESE available, which are 12-well palettes and include a mirror. They're wicked cheap and fantastic. They ship really fast too and the customer service is amazing.

This is the 15 pan palette that you can use for either eyeshadow or lip products. It is not magnetic and retails for $4.95. The new ones they have now ARE magnetic and hold 12 pans that retails for $5.95. *Pans were included with mine but it appears they have updated this palette so it has a mirror on it and they do NOT include the pans. You can purchase the pans HERE for $3.49.

**NOTE: Although their pans are the same size as MAC pans, theirs will not magnetize to MAC palettes due to the magnets polarity.

You will need rubbing alcohol (to disinfect/sanitize the pans) 70% (or higher is fine), cotton swabs, small glass, spatula and your lipsticks.

Pour a small amount of rubbing alcohol into the small glass.

Dip the cotton swab in and clean each pan to disinfect it. (Use one side of the cotton swab for each pan - no double dipping!).

Set your oven to 200 degrees. While the oven is getting up to temperature, place your disinfected pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Using your spatula, you will want to slice a 1/4" slice of the lipstick into the pan then push it down into the pan a bit. You can do this 1 of 2 ways depending on your preference:

1. Just cut the top of the lipstick (I do this b/c I never apply from the tube, I'm always chipping it off and applying with a lipbrush).  
2. Cut the lipstick off at the base where it sits in the tube and slice from the bottom, then put it back in the tube so the integrity of the top is still maintained and you can use the lipstick from the tube.

Once you've got all your pans filled and the oven is ready to go at 200 degrees, slide the baking sheet into the oven on the middle rack and bake for about 2 - 4 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on these and don't walk away! It takes NO time at all. And if you're a makeup/lipstick fiend, you'll appreciate the smell of fresh baking lipstick like it were an apple pie!! Hahaha! It's heavenly. I *love* making lip palettes. Eep!!

When your pans look like this, you'll know it's done.

Using a spatula (see? just like baking!), transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Be sure they are cooled completely before putting them in the palette! They should be cooled completely in about 10 mins. or so. Not sure? Touch the underside of the pan with your finger and if you don't feel any heat or see any sweat on top of the lipstick, you're good to go!
*I put a magnet sheet under the palette and a magnet on each pan because I don't have the new magnetized palettes. 

VOILA!! Finished lip palettes that look professional and beautiful! I printed the names on small round labels but you can use whatever you'd like. These palettes are lightweight, compact and perfect for your kit or purse.

If you try this, please link back and share! I'd love to see how yours look.  Do you like DIY projects? Would you try this?

Have a beautiful day!
Betty xx