How To Make Gourmet Lip Scrubs From Stuff You Already Have In Your Kitchen

Health

Mix Up a Sweet Treat

Let's be real: if you rub something on and around your mouth, a portion of it is going to end up in your mouth, so we might as well make these scrubs as delicious as possible. If you're not a huge fan of the chocolate and mint pairing, you can always omit the peppermint extract, or swap it out for another extract like vanilla, almond, or orange.

To make this exfoliating dessert, you will need:

3 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
4 drops peppermint extract (or other extract of your choice)

Mix it all up and apply as described above. Try not to eat the whole batch.

Get Weird

Fat is fat, and I happen to have a lot of duck fat in my fridge. (You won't believe what happens next.) I combined the fowl grease with a bit of brown sugar, some tomato salt (my new favorite salt), and a bit of honey for a scrub that's basically a spice rub for your lips. (I mean, your lips are meat.)

To make this mouth marinade, you will need:

1 1/2 teaspoons duck fat
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon tomato salt
1/4 teaspoon honey

Give it all a good stir and apply as described above. If you are at all like me, you will be slightly embarrassed by how much you enjoy this savory beauty treatment. Just own it.

Free Wheel It

The above recipes should work pretty well as general templates, but if you really want to go off script, there are just a few rules to keep in mind:

If you use a liquid oil, you're going to need more sugar and less liquid sweetener (such as honey or agave).
If you want a gentler scrub, use a sugar with a smaller grain.
Use edible, tasty ingredients, because you will end up eating some of your scrub.
Keep your scrubs in the fridge to extend their life up to two weeks.
Limit exfoliation to once, maybe twice a week at the absolute most. Chapped lips are no fun, but raw lips are even less fun.

Once you mastered the way to the DIY lip scrub, you're on your way to having smooth, supple lips at pretty much no additional cost. You'll still have to go to Lush for bath bombs, though. Making your own bath bombs is just not worth it.