Beetroot Lip Stain

Although I can't stand the taste, I have always loved the beautiful colour of beetroot. Today I decided to have another go at making a naturally coloured lip salve/stain, this time using beetroot juice instead of sour cherry juice, which gave a nice colour, but tasted pretty gross! I put loads of salt and vinegar as a preservative in it, and mixed with the sweet and sour cherry juice made a pretty disgusting mixture. I hopes that this time, even if I don't like beetroot it wouldn't be nearly as strong, but give a more vibrant colour.

I first grated some of the beetroot and ground this together with about 2 teaspoons of glycerin in a mortar and pestle. I then strained this lovely bright crimson liquid and heated with beeswax and a bit of olive oil, hoping to make a creamy emulsion. 

 As it cooled I whisked the mixture, trying to stop it from separating and...
What a disaster! As you can probably tell, this didn't quite turn out as I was hoping. It reminds me of some gruesome halloween makeup. Time for another attempt!

 Instead of mixing the juice/glycerin with oil and wax, I decided to try it out on its own as a lip and cheek stain and found it very effective. It tastes faintly sweet but not overpoweringly of beetroot, and has a consistent smooth and strong colour which I like. I am hoping the glycerin will help to preserve it for a while, but I'll keep it in the fridge and try and use it up before it starts to smell!