Lipstick - Bush

Seeds: 20  / Botanical name: Bixa orellena

Red lips are meant to be kissed… - Natural dye for red lipsticks

The non-toxic dye extracted from the seed coat of the annatto shrub was used for body painting in pre-Columbian times, is still used today in South America to color rice, and worldwide to give many lipsticks their red color. In the Caribbean, the spice made from the seeds is called annatto – hence the alternative name annatto shrub. The annatto shrub can be successfully grown as a container plant up to a height of two meters. In addition to its large, heart-shaped leaves, it develops rose-like pink flowers and, from the fourth year onward, spiky seed pods resembling sweet chestnuts, containing 30 to 40 red annatto seeds.

Natural habitat: The annatto shrub originated in South America and has spread from there to the Caribbean, Mexico, and as far as the Philippines.