Fashion: Make-up & Beauty
CREST Awards project
CREST Bronze Award – typically 10 hours of project work
Make and test bath bombs
You‟ll need two things for this project:
 First, you‟ll need a recipe for homemade bath bombs. You can often find recipes on
the internet by doing a simple search (try typing “homemade bath bomb” into a
search engine”). You may also be able to find the recipes in books in the library.
 Second, you‟ll need a mould to make your bath bomb the right shape. You could buy
one, recycle something, or make your own.
Making the bath bomb
When you‟ve got your recipe, you‟re ready to make and test your bath bomb. Most of the
recipes tell you to leave the bath bomb for one or two days so it sets. It should set in a
mould.
Testing the bath bomb
Put the bath bomb in some water and write down the following observations:
 Describe what happens
 How much „fizz‟ is there?
 How long does it take for the bath bomb to disperse?
 How does the water change? Does it change colour? Does it go „greasy‟?
 Does it give off a strong smell? Is it a nice smell?
Fiddling with the fizz
Now you‟ve tested your first bath bomb (your prototype) you should make some more. But
this time, you should try changing the fizz …
The bath bombs fizz because the citric acid reacts with the baking soda. So when you
make more bath bombs, change the amounts of baking soda to see what happens.
Make sure you conduct a fair test. You will need to keep lots of things the same. For
example:
 All the other ingredients should be the same – only change the amount of baking
soda. Make sure you make a note of how much you put into each bath bomb
 They should be made in the same-size and -shaped mould
 They should be left to set for the same amount of time
 You should put the bath bombs in the same amount of water
 The water should be at the same temperature
 Make the same sort of observations for each one.
The results
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Write down all your observations in some sort of table. That way it will be easy to
compare them.
How much baking soda gave the most fizz?
How much baking soda gave the least fizz?
Put the different recipes in order of fizziness
Decide which type of bath bomb was your favourite. Re-write the recipe as a step-bystep illustrated guide.
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For further information visit our website www.britishscienceassociation.org/crest
Fashion: Make-up & Beauty
CREST Awards project
CREST Silver Award – typically 30 hours of project work
Make and test your own lipstick or lip gloss
First things first, find a lipstick recipe. These are readily available if you have a look on the
internet (try typing “homemade lipstick” into a search engine). This not only gives you the
recipes, it also has an online shop for all the ingredients.
Picking the pigments
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Carry out some research into how lipstick is coloured. What are pigments, and how do
they vary?
You should now make your own coloured lipstick or lip gloss (or preferably both)
Experiment with different pigments and amounts of pigments until you have the
desired colour
Design and make a mould for the lipstick. You could recycle old lipstick containers.
The lippy tests
When you‟ve made your lipsticks, you should design some tests. Think about the sorts of
properties you want to test. Here are some suggestions:
 Resistance to water and cleaning products: You could apply some to the back of your
hand and try rubbing it off with tissue, with water, or with make-up remover. Make sure
you design a fair test
 Covering Power: You could apply some to a glass slide and try shining a light through it.
You‟ll have to think of a way to detect the light that comes through the other side. This
will give an indication of the lipstick‟s transparency. You should be able to work out
how much you have to apply in order to give your lips a „solid‟ coat. Of course, if you
test lip gloss you may want it to be transparent.
You could try testing shop-bought lipsticks and lip glosses as well. How do they compare to
your product? Which do you think offers the best value for money?
Now you‟ve experimented with different pigments, do you think you could work out how
to copy any coloured lipstick? If you think you can, have a go!
Re-writing a recipe
When you‟ve made your lipstick and carried out a few tests, you should re-write the
recipe. Make it as unambiguous as possible. That way anyone who follows your recipe
should make identical lipsticks. You could include illustrations as well.
For further information visit our website www.britishscienceassociation.org/crest
Fashion: Make-up & Beauty
CREST Awards project
CREST Gold Award – typically 70+ hours of project work
Investigate the properties of lipstick
In this project you will investigate the ingredients of lipsticks. You will work out why lipsticks
are certain colours, and work out how to change the consistency of lipstick, controlling it‟s
„spreadability‟.
Colourful lips
You will master the art of colouring lipsticks. Your aim is to be able to predict how to make
a lipstick of a desired colour, without any „hit-and-miss‟ aspect.
 Carry out some research into how lipsticks are coloured. Find out what pigments are.
Try to find out about colour spectrums, and how mixing colours produces a new colour
 You will need to work closely with a local university or similar institution so you can use a
spectrophotometer. You may also want to try contacting an analytical chemist
working for a cosmetics company
 Make your own lipstick, using one colour pigment; you can find recipes on the internet.
Use the spectrophotometer to measure the absorption spectrum of your lipstick
 Melt your lipstick and add another pigment. Keep doing this, adding different pigments
each time. You could also make some new lipstick with different coloured pigments.
Each time measure the absorption spectrum
 Explain why the lipsticks are the colour they are
 Take some shop-bought lipsticks of varying colours. Measure their absorption spectrum,
and set about making lipsticks of the same colour.
Sticky lips
Now you‟ve mastered the art of mixing pigments, you should look at some other
properties of lipstick.
 Work out which ingredients affect the consistency of your lipstick. Make lipstick of
varying consistency and design a test to work out how easy it is to spread on to lips.
Can you measure the viscosity of your lipsticks? What is the optimum viscosity for
lipstick? What are the exact ingredients required to make such a lipstick?
 You could design a test to measure the lipstick‟s transparency – the ultimate lipstick will
give a smooth, even „solid‟ coat using the minimum amount of lipstick
 Investigate the differences between lipstick and lip gloss. Why is lip gloss applied with a
brush? What ingredients are different, and how do they make a difference to the final
product?
 Design some tests to see how easy it is to remove your homemade lipstick. You
probably don‟t want it to come off too easily on the side of a glass, for example, but it
should be removable without too much fuss. How does your lipstick compare to shopbought products?
 Investigate the effect of temperature on your homemade lipstick. Can you measure
how much the viscosity changes with the temperature? Does it make a difference
where the lipstick is stored? How does your lipstick compare to shop-bought products?
For further information visit our website www.britishscienceassociation.org/crest
Fashion: Make-up & Beauty
CREST Awards project
Health & Safety considerations
When you carry out experiments make sure you:
(a) find out if any of the substances used or made, or any of the equipment or procedures
are hazardous
(b) carry out a risk assessment (in other words, think about what could go wrong and how
serious it might be)
(c) decide what steps you need to take, if any, to reduce the risks. For example, by
wearing personal protective equipment, being aware of how to deal with any
emergencies and so on
(d) make sure your teacher checks your plans and risk assessment before practical work
starts
(e) if special tools or machines are needed, these should be used in a properly supervised
workshop or D&T room.
NOTE: Your teacher will check your risk assessment against that of his/her employer (i.e.
your school or LEA). If no risk assessment exists for your activity, your teacher may need to
obtain a special risk assessment (e.g. by contacting the CLEAPPS School Science Service.)
This may take some time.
For further information visit our website www.britishscienceassociation.org/crest