You can’t be an eighteenth-century beauty without a little bit of lip color. This recipe from Toilet de Flora [10] is easy to follow and results in a pretty, moisturizing lip balm that works for any century. For this recipe, we exchanged the mutton tallow for cocoa butter—a less common, but still historically accurate, ingredient—to make this recipe vegan-friendly. If you have a nut allergy, you are welcome to exchange the sweet almond oil for jasmine oil. [11]
• $$ oz (1.8 g) cocoa butter
• 1 oz (28 ml) sweet almond oil
• Big pinch of alkanet root
• 1 (1-oz [28-ml]) tin or glass jar
1. In a double boiler, melt the cocoa butter with the almond oil over simmering water.
2. Once melted, add the alkanet root. Stir occasionally until you have the desired color.
3. Remove from the heat, and pour the mixture through some cheesecloth into the tin or glass jar. Allow the product to cool overnight before use.
TIP: The alkanet root can be left for quite a long time to give a deeper color. The resulting color on the lips will be considerably lighter than how it appears in liquid form. If the final color is just not strong enough, the mixture may be melted down again in the double boiler, making sure to add more alkanet root, and allowing it to sit longer. Additionally, a dab of Liquid Rouge on the lips followed by this lip salve will create an even deeper, rosier tint.