I’m obsessed with lip stains. I buy them compulsively and in high quantities. I have so many in my makeup drawers that I can barely use all of them. But does that stop me from purchasing them? No. It doesn’t. I continue to buy them and wear them, and give them as gifts. And, as of recently, I’ve learned plenty of ways to make lip stains at home. The most popular high end lip tint is definitely Benefit Cosmetics’ Benetint. While it looks scary in it’s glass bottle, it’s actually a beautiful reddish pink that makes the lips look like the wearer has just bitten into a fresh strawberry. While the color is beautiful, it leaves a little to be desired on darker skin or for those who lip more rich pigments on their lips.
I recently came across a recipe for a homemade lip tint made from Kool-aid and water and thought of something that blew my mind. What if you could make this mixture and package it the same way as Benetint? Benetint retails for a whopping $30 and on some can go very fast. It has convenient packaging that looks similar to a nail polish bottle and its brush. It is great on the go and it tastes a bit like roses, which is nice for me but off-putting for many. What if I put the Kool-aid lip stain in a nail polish bottle and used that, and saved myself $30 for Chipotle?
I went to the grocery store and picked up a packet of my favorite color of Kool-aid for less than $1. Then I dug through some of my old nail polish colors that I didn’t like anymore and prepped the bottle to be used. I also made sure to be very careful with my workspace. I put down a lot of newspaper because Kool-aid stains everything, not just the lips.
In order to sanitize the bottle properly it took quite a while. I didn’t want any nail polish residue on my lips. First I opened the bottle and then let it slowly empty out onto a newspaper covered work station into a plastic bag. As soon as it was empty I filled it with nail polish remover. In order to properly add the nail polish remover, something needs to be in the neck of the bottle. I chose to put a q-tip in and then shake the bottle with the cap on so that the bristles of the brush would get cleaned as well. It took about fifteen minutes of shaking and rubbing with the q-tip until the nail polish was cleaned out enough to be rinsed with water, then rubbing alcohol, and then water twice more.
Then, I mixed my concoction. The amount of Kool-aid to the amount of water used will vary by the amount of pigment you want. Start with more Kool-aid to less water and slowly add more water after testing the staining power on the pads of your fingers or inner wrist. Put this mixture in a separate cup so that you can add more water if you have to. Also, one packet of Kool-aid should make many mixtures of lip tints, so there is no reason not to start with a small amount of Kool-aid or not to save the rest of the envelop in a sealed plastic bag. Start with the smallest measuring spoon you have and work your way up from there. Then, you’ll need to put a q-tip back into the nail polish bottle and slowly empty the mixture into the nail polish bottle. If you want to save yourself a mess, try emptying the mixture into a plastic sandwich bag an makig a tiny hole in the corner, and then empty it from there.
I tried it on, and the color was gorgeous and the staying power lasted for hours! The color was perfect and so far I haven’t had any leakage from the bottle!