With winter fast approaching, and the cold, dry air moving in, my lips have been getting super chapped.
I have a terrible habit of chewing on my lips once they get all dry and flaky. Then I peel off the skin and my lips are cracked and bloody and it hurts to smile and.... I guess you didn't need to know all that.
But anyway, this year I was determined to find a way to prevent all that mess. And no excess of chapstick was doing the trick.
This past year (maybe it was last year?) I was introduced to the wonderful store LUSH. They are a cosmetics store that make all their own, organic, animal friendly, products.
One of my favorite products of theirs is their Jumping Juniper shampoo bar. It's easy to use, lasts for what feels like forever, and is much nicer on your hair (less stripping) than regular liquid shampoo. But that's not why I'm writing this post.
LUSH has these super yummy lip scrubs. They exfoliate your lips and get rid of that dry, flaky skin so you don't peel it all off.
However the downside to organic, handmade things, is that they tend to fall on the slightly pricey side. One tiny container cost ten dollars for less than an ounce of lip scrub. So I set off to find a recipe of my own that would do the same trick as LUSH's fancy scrubs, but for a less costly result.
After searching Pinterest and Google and the rest of the internet, I got a general idea of what was needed, and then proceeded to ignore every recipe I read, and made my own.
The basic formula goes as follows:
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil - this moisturizes your lips and makes them nice and soft
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons brown or castor sugar - this is the magical exfoliant
You could stop with just the oil and sugar, but why not add a little flavoring?
- 1/2 teaspoon flavoring - any liquid flavoring like essential oils or extracts
- 1 teaspoon dry flavoring - crushed or powdered stuff like herbs, spices, kool aid (yep!)
Here's what I've concocted:
Vanilla Lavender and Chocolate Mint sugar lip scrubs
Vanilla Lavender lip scrub:
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons white sugar (not powdered)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
Chocolate Mint lip scrub:
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
They are both super yummy and smell fantastic! The chocolate mint is a bit coarser because of the brown sugar, but they both do their job.
How do you use it though!?
Apply it to your lips like you would lip balm. Dab a little on your finger, and rub into your lips. Once you are content, lick the rest off - it is edible after all. Apply a little chapstick afterwards to seal in the moisture and protect your new baby soft lips.
I want to experiment and make all sorts of new flavors like cinnamon sugar, orange clove, pumpkin, and a copycat recipe of LUSH's Popcorn (oh, yes, I have already figured out how to do it! But I'm not sharing that recipe... YET!).
For now, I really should use the stuff I've made before making more... but it's just SO TEMPTING!
Although...
I went out to the dollar store and bought a bunch of little jars to fill. I don't know how long the scrub lasts though, otherwise I'd fill them all and stock up. They'll make good stocking stuffers though.
So fight those dry winter lips with a homemade lip scrub and go get your kisser kissable!
