Makeup buffs who like bargains and DIY projects can apparently fashion a luxury lipstick at home from free samples in the event that they have the appropriate materials and patience.
Cosmetics Repair, an anonymous cosmetics repair company and content creator on Facebook and TikTok, has gone viral since it showed that designer lipstick samples can transform into a whole lipstick for a fraction of the retail price.
“12 color cards make three lipsticks!” Cosmetics Repair wrote in a recent Facebook Reel that has been viewed greater than 5.2 million times.
Cosmetics Repair used a dozen Tom Ford color cards to reveal a DIY lipstick design.
The video shows that every color card comprises three swatches in numerous shades of pink and red and a small applicator.
Cosmetics Repair separates each lipstick sample by color and places three empty lipstick tubes with their respective spirals, outer caps, inner bodies and caps in a metal container, which is then crammed with what appears to be a sanitizing solution.
The multi-piece lipstick tubes were then placed on a paper-lined tray and placed on a metal rack.
It isn’t immediately clear if the metal rack is an element of the autoclave – a steam sanitizing chamber – that could be selling for as little as $20, according to Amazon’s current deals.
Skilled autoclaves can cost a whole lot or hundreds of dollars.
Fox News Digital reached out to Cosmetics Repair for comment via Facebook and TikTok.
Wearing gloves, Cosmetics Repair opens each lipstick sample and removes the lip color with a small metal spatula.
The three lip colours are sorted in three miniature glass beakers which have been melted on a temperature-controlled hot plate.
Cosmetics Repair pours melted lip colours right into a lipstick mold and allows each lip color to cool until it becomes a everlasting lipstick.
Once the lipstick tube is assembled, Cosmetics Repair gently presses the spiral of the tube into the mold to insert the solid lipstick.
Although Cosmetics Repair used a lipstick mold with a “TF” emblem that appears almost equivalent to the Tom Ford logo, it isn’t mandatory.
Tom Ford lipsticks sell for between $58 and $60 per tube of lipstick on the brand’s website and in most major beauty stores.
Fox News Digital reached out to Estée Lauder Firms Inc – the parent company of Tom Ford’s cosmetics line – for comment.
On Facebook, the lipstick video received over 95,000 likes, 900 shares, and 260 comments.
The footage was also shared on the @Cosmetic_Repair TikTok account in March, which has over 3.2 million followers. There, the trick garnered over 28,500 views.
“That is what I do when [I] have so many testers,” one TikTok user wrote.
While do-it-yourself lipstick kits have been available to consumers for a long time, and folks make their very own cosmetics, chemists seem divided over whether melting lipstick samples to create a full-size tube of lipstick is protected.
Mark Nelson of Novato, California, vice chairman of science and business development at CP Lab Safety, told Fox News Digital that the consolidation of lipstick samples might be done, but DIYers should exercise caution.
“Lipsticks are principally composed of waxes, oils and pigments that color the product. If lipsticks are protected to start with, they ought to be protected to melt and mix,” said Nelson.
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates cosmetics, [but] it’s up to the manufacturer to generate a lipstick or cosmetic that is freed from impurities that could be harmful to the wearer,” he continued. “Colourants utilized in lipstick are also regulated by the FDA and are typically not an issue when heated and combined.”
Nelson recommends that home cosmetics manufacturers check the security profile of their individual cosmetics before making a purchase order or joining a project.
“Inexpensive, low-cost and even expensive lipsticks can contain impurities and in some cases toxins similar to heavy metals similar to lead and cadmium,” said Nelson. “The best way to avoid exposure is to use lipstick sparingly or not at all, and that is not going to occur anytime soon.”
The FDA has limits on the trace amounts of heavy metals that could be present in cosmetics on a parts per million (ppm) basis, according to currently published draft industry guidelines.
The FDA’s 2022 Heavy Metal Testing Report shows that the agency’s heavy metal limits differ for cosmetic ingredients and color additives.
Regulators at the FDA reportedly conduct surveys to test business cosmetics for heavy metals, contaminants, and other restricted ingredients.
Studies have shown that over 99% of cosmetics contain lower than 10 ppm of lead, including lipstick.
David Petrillo of Reno, Nevada, the skincare chemist who founded Perfect Image Skincare, told Fox News Digital that the lipsticks produced in an expert facility are manufactured “under strict” Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) guidelines and quality control measures, as well as to stability and shelf life studies.
“Each formula shall be unique, so if you try to melt it down in a non-sterile environment and blend it back together, there’s definitely some risk involved,” Petrillo said.
“There is a high likelihood of contamination since you’re tinkering with preservatives that were specific to the unique combination of percentages of ingredients that were added in phases,” he continued.
Potential contamination by microorganisms and bacteria aside, Petrillo warned that melting the lipstick samples could change the product’s stability or shelf life, so the manufacturer’s data on the unique packaging can’t be relied upon after the change.
“To make matters worse, your lips are made to absorb substances into your skin and body, so it’s possible you’ll experience many possible unintended effects similar to irritation, dryness, flaking, etc.” Petrillo said.
According to the Mayo Clinic Health System, a non-profit academic medical center, most business lipsticks are made to last one to two years.
DIY enthusiasts who are attempting to consolidate designer lipstick samples into entire lipstick tubes ought to be aware that any attempt to sell lipsticks for private gain would likely violate national mental property laws, as described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) “Counterfeit Cosmetics, Fragrances” 2014 warning r.
The FBI works with the National Center for Mental Property Rights and doesn’t recommend buying cosmetics from flea markets, unknown web sites, and unauthorized stores or retailers due to the health risks related to counterfeit cosmetics.
The viral DIY designer lipstick video is gaining traction as custom lipstick brands have change into popular with makeup lovers, including Lip Lab by Bite, a custom lipstick chain with nine locations within the US and Canada.
There are other custom makeup studios and types within the US and abroad, similar to MYX Mix Bar in Dallas, Texas and La bouche rouge in Paris, a web based beauty company in France.