While we all love to wear lipstick to make our lips look appealing, most of us are clueless about what lipsticks are made from. A lipstick is typically made from three basic ingredients: wax, pigment, and oil. Wax gives it the shape, pigment adds color and oil like lanolin, petrolatum, jojoba, mineral, and castor adds moisture. Oil changes the intensity of the formula as more oil gives a sheer look while less oil gives a richer pigment.

What are the ingredients you should look for in your lipstick?
Lipstick ingredients will differ from one manufacturing brand to another. However, there are some elements in common.

Checking for ingredients is the right way to buy a lipstick. This is because there are many brands which use harmful chemicals, and these can not only do harm to your lips; they may even turn out to be allergic. You need to look out for substances like retinyl palmitate, tocopheryl acetate, and parabens when you buy lipsticks.

• Wax is one of the key ingredients in any lipstick as it will bring various ingredients together by working as a base for your lipstick. It helps keep the lips soft and adds gloss. Most brands are known to use beeswax, but there are also some manufacturing vegan lipsticks that use Candelilla wax derived from plants.
• Another important factor in the making of lipsticks is pigmentation. Generally, buyers look for products that can give vibrant colors in just a couple of swipes. Such pigments may be made from chemical dyes or natural ingredients. Ensure buying products that use natural colors for pigmentation.
• Oils and fats are other ingredients which you must consider when you buy a lipstick. Olive oil, cocoa butter, lanolin, and mineral oil are very popular and these keep the lipstick more moisturizing.
• You cannot use lipsticks for long because their ingredients will degrade with time. So, you need the right mix of preservatives to make sure they last long.
• Alcohol is another important lipstick ingredient which acts as a solvent for oils and wax.
• Pigments, waxes, and oils often give out their own smells and this is why manufacturers will add some fragrance to make the product more appealing to you.

Depending on the type of look you want, manufacturers will tweak the ingredient ratios. For example, to make a matte lipstick they will not add any fats or oil, but to make a glossy one, they will use a high degree of oil. You need to be careful of non-organic castor seed oils which may have agricultural residue and are not good for your lips. Even preservatives can be tricky; while they may keep the product fresh, they can cause irritation and allergies. Usually, most lipsticks have very less water and zero preservatives. You must ensure there are no terpenes, parabens, benzyl benzoate, BHT, and phenoxyethanol.