Recycling lipstick

Did you know that about a third of your lipstick sits in the bottom of the tube and cannot be used?  Think about this, if you paid R200 for a lipstick, that means that you are left with R66 inside the tube.  You can either throw it away or you can try to reuse it. 

Image:  http://avrotor.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html

 

I often scrape it out of the tube with a lipbrush, but do not like this, because it is too messy to throw in your handbag.  It works great at home, but not for touching up during the day.

 

And then I found out that you can easily melt lipstick.  A short (short, seconds) blitz in the microwave melts it. 

Image:  http://friendshiplifeandstyle.blogspot.com/2013_02_10_archive.html

 

Simply dig all the lipstick out of the tube. The idea is to melt several lipsticks together, mix well and pour back into the empty lipstick container.  Leave this overnight in the fridge to cool properly and you have a lipstick as good as new.  The only problem with this is that you need the leftovers of two to three lipsticks to create one new lipstick.  If they are different colours, you will end up with a completely new colour.  So either use similar colours or play around with a little bit till you get the colour you like. 

Another option is to buy a cheap lipstick.  You then remove the lipstick and leave only the bottom 1/2 of the 1/3 that is left in the tube.  You then pour your favourite lipstick on top of this. 

 

Also beware when you mix colours:  It goes to the lowest denominator.  If you do not like the smell or taste of one of the lipsticks it will smell and taste like that one.  

 

Tips.  Use a small container, you will not end up with a lot of melted lipstick.  It is a fairly messy process, and it is surprisingly difficult to get lipstick out of things, so be careful. 

 

I was very happy with the new colour combination I got.