Natural Lip Scrub: The Ultimate in Kissable Lip Care
Make a gentle lip scrub an integral part of your lip care regimen! Exfoliating your lips with a natural lip scrub helps remove dry, dead skin cells and encourages blood circulation. This allows your lips to become softer, plumper, and better moisturized.
Homemade lip scrubs are easy to make, and you’ll quickly see that you don’t need to purchase an expensive commercial preparation for kissably soft lips. So, read on to learn more about the benefits of lip scrubs and get inspired to make your own with three natural lip scrub recipes.
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In this Post:
Lip Scrub Benefits
Compared to the skin on your cheeks, your lips have a very thin protective outer layer (the stratum corneum) and lack sweat glands and hair follicles. This means that transepidermal water loss (TEWL) occurs more rapidly on your lips than elsewhere on the body. And this means your lips are prone to dehydration and chapping.
So, that leads to Benefit #1: With gentle exfoliation, dry, dead skin cells are removed. By exposing the fresh skin underneath, we enhance the effectiveness of moisturizing lip care products applied to them. Moisturizing lip care products provide a protective barrier to trap hydration and moisture for softer lips.
Benefit #2: When used regularly, a gentle lip scrub can improve the overall texture of your lips. By reducing flakiness and chapping, lip scrubs make your lips more supple and smooth. Just once a week is enough!
Benefit #3: Gentle exfoliation encourages blood flow to the lips. This encourages cellular regeneration for healthier skin.
Benefit #4: Because blood flow to the lips is increased, a lip scrub temporarily plumps and pinks the lips!
Natural Lip Scrub Recipes
We’ll start with a basic base lip scrub recipe. This will allow you to be creative with the ingredients and create your very own version. I’ll also give you a couple of sample lip scrub recipes to get you started.
You’ll see I’ve included both volume and weight measurements. I make all of my skin care products by weight as it’s more accurate and repeatable, but volume measurements work just fine, here! (Looking for a good scale? This is the one I use.)
⭐️The Basic Lip Scrub Recipe
- 1 ounce jar with lid (or 2 15ml jars—great for gift giving)
- 2 Tablespoons (11.5g) Stevia Leaf Powder
- 1-2 teaspoons (3g) Powdered Freeze Dried Fruits, Herbs, and/or Culinary Powders
- 1/4 teaspoon (1g) Lecithin
- 2 teaspoons (10.5g) Mango or Shea Butter
- 2-2 1/2 teaspoons (7g) Almond, Jojoba, or Hemp Seed Oil
- 1 drop skin-safe essential oil (optional)
🌺See my Recommended Suppliers below
The first step is always sanitizing all surfaces, tools, and containers. And I always recommend wearing disposable gloves when formulating.
In a small bowl combine the powdered ingredients. I recommend mixing together then pouring the blend through a fine mesh sieve into a second small bowl. This ensures a thorough mixing and filters out any larger bits. Set aside the blend.
💚PRO TIP: For easy mixing, gently melt your lecithin, butter, and oil ingredients!
- In a small heat-safe bowl combine lecithin, butter, and oil.
- Pour a small amount of water into a shallow pan (I use this small pan), just enough so the bottom of your bowl is in the water. We don’t want any water to get into the bowl.
- Heat the water to steaming then turn off heat.
- Put the bowl with your lecithin, butter, and oil into the steaming water.
- Hold the bowl and stir with a spoon or stir rod just until a liquid, homogeneous mixture forms.
- Immediately remove from the water and dry the bottom of the bowl.
Next, add the dry ingredients into the just melted lecithin-butter-oil blend, stirring until incorporated.
Add one drop of essential oil, if using, and stir well to incorporate.
Transfer the completed lip scrub your storage jar and allow to cool. Then affix a label!
💚PRO TIP: Both Mango and Shea butters like to cool down fast. So after filling your storage jar, pop it in the refrigerator to solidify.
Store at room temperature and keep tightly sealed when not in use. Because this is an anhydrous lip scrub recipe (it contains no water-based ingredients) it should last several months. Discard if any changes in color or aroma occur.
⭐️Pink Lady Lip Scrub Recipe
- 2 Tablespoons (11.5g) Stevia Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (1.5g) Freeze Dried Raspberry Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.5g) Coconut Cream Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (1g) Lecithin
- 2 teaspoons (10.5g) Shea Butter
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (7g) Jojoba Oil
- 1 drop Roman Chamomile essential oil (Chamaemelum nobile)
⭐️Cafe Latte Lip Scrub Recipe
- 2 Tablespoons (11.5g) Stevia Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.5g) Green Coffee Bean Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.6g) Marshmallow Root Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.9g) Vanilla Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (1g) Lecithin
- 2 teaspoons (10.5g) Mango Butter
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (7g) Sweet Almond Oil
- 1 drop Coffee essential oil (Coffea robusta/C. arabica)
🌺See my Recommended Suppliers below
How to Use a Lip Scrub
Because the skin around the lips is very delicate, we want to use a delicate touch when using a lip scrub. Incorporate a scrub into your lip care routine once a week. If done too frequently, lip scrubs can have the reverse effect causing drying, chapping, and irritation.
Always start with clean lips, free from lipstick and other lip care products, and freshly washed and dried hands.
🔶️Avoid getting any water in your lip scrub as this can create an ideal environment for microbial growth. Ick!
Wet your lips with a bit of water before using a lip scrub. This reduces friction and pulling on the delicate skin.
Apply a small amount of lip scrub using your pinky or ring finger. These two fingers are the weakest of the bunch and so will invariably have a lighter touch!
Despite the product name, we don’t really want to scrub our lips! Instead, massage the lip scrub with your pinky or ring finger using light, small, circles for 30-60 seconds.
Rinse with tepid water.
Apply a moisturizing lip care product, like a balm, butter, or oil/serum.
💚PRO TIP: If you want an extra bit of pampering, after rinsing the scrub, apply a touch of honey to your lips. Let it go to work for a minute or two, then rinse with tepid water. Then apply a lip balm, butter, or oil/serum.
🔶️If you have a cold sore or cracked lips, please do not use a lip scrub. Instead, use appropriate lip care to heal the lips before trying a lip scrub.
Choosing Ingredients for Lip Care
My preference for lip scrub ingredients are those you could eat…if you were so inclined!
Essential oils. You’ll note we are using an optional single drop of skin-safe essential oil in these lip scrub recipes. The skin of the lips is very delicate and sensitive. Including essential oils in too high a percentage can cause irritation and redness. Try powdered freeze dried fruits or herbs, or culinary powders for flavor and aroma.
Stevia Powder is my exfoliator of choice for lips. Not only is it edible, its super fine texture is perfect for delicate skin. I find plain white and caster sugar too rough for effective and gentle lip care. In fact, too rough an exfoliator can actually cause micro-tears in the skin that can lead to irritation, inflammation, and pain!
Green Coffee Bean Extract has gentle exfoliating properties. It contains antioxidants that help protect the skin from oxidative damage. And because it’s rich in natural caffeine, it stimulates circulation to the lips, resulting in plumper kissable lips!
🔶️Coffee bean extract is not the same as coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are too rough an exfoliator for the lips…and coffee grounds can clog your pipes!
Freeze dried fruits are a wonderful source of antioxidants and they make your lip scrub pretty! Some fruits can be purchased in powdered form. Most often, I grind freeze dried fruits to a powder in a dedicated coffee grinder just before mixing them into my scrubs. My favorites are Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, and Pineapple.
💚PRO TIP: Freeze dried fruit and fruit powders easily absorb moisture from the environment. So, once you open a bag of freeze dried fruit ensure it has an air-tight seal. Or just eat what you don’t use in your scrub!
Dried powdered herbs add a touch of luxury to a lip scrub. Either buy powdered herbs or use a dedicated coffee grinder to grind them to a powder. Then, whether you buy powdered or grind them yourself, pour the herbs through a fine mesh sieve to remove any larger bits before adding to your lip scrub blend. My favorites are Spearmint, Marshmallow Root (buy powdered), and Rose Petals.
Culinary powders, such as Vanilla Powder, Cocoa Powder, and Coconut Powder, can add an extra special touch of aroma and flavor.
Honey contains natural antioxidants that are wonderful for chapped lips. Honey is also a natural humectant (enhances hydration) and contains organic acids that may act as gentle exfoliators. Even though it’s on the lips for a short time, honey’s goodness penetrates the lips quickly, especially after a scrub. It’s an important ingredient in my Brown Sugar Body Scrub, too.
Honey is awesome, isn’t it?! I recommend using locally sourced, raw honey as often as possible. You can find a beekeeper near you at the National Honey Board website.
Lecithin has dual purpose in lip care. Just a touch added to a lip scrub base creates a creamy, luxurious texture. It’s an excellent occlusive (locks in moisture), so it helps promote a healthy skin barrier, especially important with very dry lips.
Mango Butter is a light, deeply penetrating, moisturizer. It’s high in saturated fatty acids with lovely skin-softening properties. I enjoy the silkiness that Mango Butter adds to lip care products.
Shea Butter, while I don’t usually recommend Shea butter for facial care, it is lovely on the lips! Shea butter is rich in saturated fatty acids that provide a nourishing protective barrier and help soothe chapped, dry lips. Not only that, Shea enhances the lip feel of the scrub.
Jojoba Oil/Wax is one of my favorite lipid carrier oils for skin care in general. Its fatty acid profile is very similar to our own natural sebum. And because it’s a liquid wax, it has excellent occlusive and emollient (moisturizing) properties. Jojoba is great for all skin types.
Sweet Almond Oil is rich in antioxidants and is highly moisturizing. It penetrates easily, providing nourishing moisture and softening the skin. Sweet Almond Oil is lovely for dry lips.
Hemp Seed Oil is one of my favorite lipid carrier oils for skin barrier repair. So you if you have very dry, chapped lips, this is the one to use. It penetrates deeply into the tissues to moisturize and combat inflammation.
More Lip Care: DIY Lip Oils
After using a lip scrub, maintain the health of your lips with a nourishing lip oil! Here are three easy lip oil recipes to try:
- Love My Lips Lip Oil
- Orange Cream Lip Oil
- Sweet Mint Lip Oil
Here’s to kissable lips!
Mom’s Lip Scrub Ingredients Shopping List
Ready to make your very own natural lip scrub?! Here’s where you can find the ingredients I use in mine:
- Stevia Leaf Powder (Stevia rebaudiana):
- MicroIngredients, organic (on Amazon)
- Local grocer (look for 100% Stevia with no additives).
- Green Coffee Bean Powder:
- MicroIngredients, organic (on Amazon).
- Sunflower Lecithin:
- Kate Naturals, organic (on Amazon)
- Local grocer.
- Jojoba oil/wax (Simmondsia chinensis):
- Shea Butter (Vitellaria paradoxa / Butyrospermum parkii):
- Aromatics International, organic, unrefined
- Better Shea Butter, unrefined (on Amazon)
- Oslove Organics, organic, refined (on Amazon).
- Mango Butter (Magnifera indica):
- Aromatics International, sustainably wildcrafted, unrefined
- Better Shea Butter, naturally refined (on Amazon)
- 3CayG, naturally refined (on Amazon).
- Freeze Dried Fruits:
- Natierra, organic & premium fruits (on Amazon)
- Local grocer (look for 100% fruit with no additives).
- Powdered Herbs:
- Mountain Rose Herbs, organic
- MicroIngredients (on Amazon)
- FGOrganics (on Amazon).
- Roman Chamomile essential oil (Chamaemelum nobile):
- Plant Therapy, organic (Direct and Amazon)
- Aromatics International, organic.
- Coffee essential oil (Coffea spp.):
- Plant Therapy, sustainable (Direct and Amazon)
- Edens Garden, sustainable (on Amazon)
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is for educational purposes only.
All recipes provided are for personal use and are not designed for re-sale or large-scale manufacturing.
Please consult your doctor, naturopath, herbal practitioner, or other qualified health professional for medical advice and before starting any herbal regimen, particularly if you are pregnant or nursing, have any existing medical conditions, or are taking any medications.
Chris P | Author, Certified Aromatherapist, Natural Skin Care Formulator
Chris (“Mom”) enjoys formulating bespoke aromatherapy, skin care, and herbal products to support her family, pets, friends, and clients. She also loves experimenting with recipes in the kitchen. An avid reader, writer, and lifetime learner, Chris enthusiastically explores research rabbit holes and then writes about her discoveries.💚 (Learn more >>)
