Honey and Sugar Lip Scrub Recipe for Soft, Smooth Lips

Using 3 easy ingredients you can find at home.

Ah, lip exfoliation. It’s not exactly the most elegant topic to talk about. But so aren’t dried, flaky chapped lips. Dead skin buildup on our skin and lips is normal, and happens to even people who don’t have dry skin. With the cooler months closing in on us though, cold winds and drying heaters are more likely to leave us with a flaky mess on our lips. 

Luckily exfoliating your lips can be a pamper process too with a homemade lip scrub! We’ve selected sugar and honey as the key ingredients of our DIY lip scrub recipe for the ultimate lip-pampering experience. Plus, it’s the perfect thoughtful gift for the holidays! You can create this homemade honey and sugar lip scrub in less than 10 minutes, and it’s easily adjustable too based on your liking. Ready for softer and smoother lips?

Benefits of a honey and sugar lip scrub

First of all, why is a lip scrub even necessary in addition to your usual face or body scrub? The reality is the skin on different areas of your body are different. For example, the skin on your lips is a lot more thin and sensitive. In fact, they’re so thin that you can see the blood vessels through them, which is why we all have naturally red lips! Do yourself a favor and stick to only using a formula that’s been made specially for your delicate lips. We don’t want to risk cut, cracked lips that can really hinder us from putting our lip makeup on!

In addition, exfoliating your lips will also help you ace your makeup look. It creates a smooth canvas on your lips, so your lipstick applies more smoothly for higher color payoff and longer lasting wear. It’s the hidden step you didn’t know your makeup prep routine needed!

Honey naturally contains alpha hydroxy acids that are commonly used for exfoliating skin. The thing is, AHAs can irritate and dry out skin too much for sensitive skin. Luckily honey happens to be soothing on skin and also intensely moisturizing, so it’s the perfect ingredient for exfoliating chapped lips while restoring moisture to them. We love that honey is naturally antibacterial too, so we’re a huge fan of the idea of a honey lip scrub. 

Finally, sugar adds in additional manual exfoliation to really get those large chunks of dry skin off your lips. When combining it with honey, you can get some good manual and chemical exfoliation into your lip scrub, and leave your lips soft and supple. Plus, it tastes yummy too! Who said exfoliating has to be a chore?

How to make a honey and sugar lip scrub

Lip scrubs typically have a grainy consistency to them to help exfoliate your lips. That’s why we recommend adding 2 parts of sugar to each portion of honey, as well as another portion of an oil to make the scrub emollient and easy to spread on lips. For example, start off with 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of honey, and 1 tablespoon of a plant-based oil to store in a reusable glass container.

What kind of sugar should you use? We recommend softer forms of it such as brown sugar or regular white sugar for the most gentle experience possible. Finally, use fresh honey for best efficacy and longer storage. Fresh honey contains most of its nutrients, which is why we prefer homemade honey-based products over store-bought! Some oils you can use may already be found in your kitchen, such as olive oil or almond oil. You can try the usual argan oil and jojoba oil too, and even coconut oil if you’re in a pinch.

Start by mixing your sugar and honey together in a clean small bowl. Blend them with a clean spoon until you achieve an even texture. Next, follow up with the oil, and continue to mix everything for a good minute. Give it a (taste) test! If the texture is too grainy for your liking, feel free to add more oil to adjust. Not thick enough? Add additional sugar a teaspoon at a time to adjust. Store your mixture in a fridge, and be sure to use it within a week or two after making it. Honey is an unstable ingredient that needs to be kept fresh!

How to apply a lip scrub

Lip scrubs are best applied on clean lips! Dab a finger into your homemade mixture, then apply onto lips. Gently rub your finger across your lips in small circular motions for half a minute. Finally, rinse off the mixture with warm water, and follow with a lip balm once you’ve patted your lips dry. Now’s the perfect time to pop on your new lippie, since your lips are now a smooth canvas ready to go!

We recommend using your new lip scrub at least once a week, or when you feel that dry skin has built up on your lips. Remember to use clean fingers to scoop out the lip scrub to keep the mixture as fresh as possible, and free from contamination. Is the texture looking off or does something smell funny? It’s time to toss the scrub! Luckily they’re oh-so-easy to make at home, and easily whipped up from ingredients already in your kitchen. It’s an easy regular to start using in your daily natural beauty routine.