♦One of the best things about being an Indie Cosmetics Business Owner is that I can let my creative juices flow without restriction.  I will admit it- I AM LIP GLOSS OBSESSED.  Always have been and probably always will be.

Here, I am beginning to create a new lip gloss color for Fall/Holiday 2009.  First, I decide on the pigments I'm going to use.  These are always either a straight mica blend or a mica and iron oxide blend.

I wanted to create a neutral berry tone, so I began with 4 mica colors that I felt would be a good blend.

♦Next, I selected varying amounts of each of the 4 mica colors.  Since I'm creating a neutral berry shade, I kept most of the micas within the same proportion of each other.

Little by little, I began adding each of the 4 pigments to the tester cup.  I always start with small amounts because you can't 'take away' any pigments once you've added them to your tester cup but you can always add more.

♦Now I begin to mix all of the micas together in the small tester cup.  Since this was only a 'test batch', I don't use a lot of product.  Micas are expensive, so I'm careful not to waste much.

I swirl the micas around in the cup to see how they begin to blend with each other.  At this point, I will decide if I need to add more of any of the 4 mica pigments.

It's important to note that I have written down EVERYTHING I've done so far.  If the color turns out to be fabulous, then I need to have the precise measurements to be able to recreate the color again.  There's been many times when I've made an incredible color but forgot to write down exactly what I used and how much of it I used.  Not good.

♦I always have some spare lip gloss reserved for making test batches, so I will add about 1 teaspoon and begin blending that with the mica mixture.  For testing purposes, I don't heat the gloss.  Heating the gloss base is reserved for when I'm making a "real" batch of product that's about to be decanted into gloss tubes.

As I swirl the mixture for a few minutes, the true color begins to "pop".  At this point, I will decide if I need to add more of any of the pigments to adjust the color to my liking. 

♦Lastly, I do a swatch test- usually on the underside of my forearm and check it in natural daylight.  I like to observe how the color spreads and how the micas have interacted with the gloss base.  I'll also scoop out a small amount gloss with a clean spatula onto my finger and apply it to my lips to see how it looks and wears.

For this particular color, it came out P-E-R-F-E-C-T!  It's definitely the beautiful neutral berry shade I was going for.  I'll be introducing it into my line at a later date.

Now comes the hard part...deciding what to name it!

Thank you for stopping by and letting me share my crazy, fun and fantastic world of formulating with you!