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How To Exfoliate Your Lips Like A Pro: Tips + 12 DIY Options To Choose From
Flakes are no fun, no matter how you slice it. But there's something especially frustrating about flaky, irritated lips: Your hydrating products don't penetrate, makeup doesn't glide on right, and, well, chapped lips can hurt. If it seems like your lips wither up mere minutes after sweeping on a lip balm, it might be time to buff away the dead skin.
We've uncovered the best way to exfoliate your lips, plus 12 DIY ingredients for your most kissable pout.
Benefits of exfoliating your lips.
There are a variety of reasons you'd want to get scrubbing. We've highlighted a few:
- Helps alleviate a chapped pout: Ah, chapped lips. The bane of our existence throughout the chillier months. Other than drier weather, says board-certified dermatologist Loretta Ciraldo, M.D., FAAD, founder of Dr. Loretta Skincare, it can happen for a number of reasons, including irritation from skin care products, toothpaste, and dental floss; or even licking your lips. If your flakes just won't ease up, perhaps it's time a lip scrub buffs away those flecks. (Just remember to hydrate your lips after, as rubbing your lips raw can also result in a painful chap.)
- Smooths out lip lines: "Exfoliating your lips can be helpful if you're starting to see some lip lines," says Ciraldo. You know, those grooves and cracks etched into your lips that cause even the creamiest of lipsticks to crease. Regular exfoliation helps those bold lippies glide on with ease.
- Keeps lips looking full: Your lips thin as you age, thanks to a decline in collagen that's responsible for keeping them looking plump. Exfoliating your pout stimulates circulation and blood flow, which spurs the production of that collagen and keeps them full.
How to exfoliate lips.
Not only is lip exfoliation key for a soft pout, but it's actually super easy to incorporate into your routine. Just four easy steps to baby-smooth success:
- First, make sure your lips are dry and clean, free of any makeup or lip balm.
- Grab your lip exfoliant (see below for options) and swipe a dime-size dollop across your lips.
- Rub the product on your lips in circular motions for a minute. "Remember to not over-exfoliate or scrub too hard, as the skin on your lips is delicate," says cosmetic chemist Marisa Plescia, research scientist at clean beauty e-tailer NakedPoppy.
- Rinse with lukewarm water, and follow with a hydrating lip mask or lip balm.
DIY recipes and ready-made options.
In terms of lip exfoliants, there are two routes to explore: You can, of course, snag one of these clean market scrubs (everything from balm pots to stick formulas), or you can create one of your own.
If you do decide to go the DIY route, all you need is some sort of physical exfoliant (duh) and an emollient. Just make sure the granules you choose aren't too coarse and jagged (like walnut shells or sea salt), as the skin on and around your lips is quite thin and delicate.
Rather, here are some fun, expert-approved options for each category. And if you feel so inspired, we gathered our favorite DIIY scrub recipes here for more at-home scrub fun.
Exfoliants:
- Finely ground white sugar
- Finely ground brown sugar
- Cinnamon (just be sure to do a patch test first, as cinnamon can cause irritation1 for some)
- Coffee grounds
- Ground oats or oat flour
- Turmeric
Emollients:
- Jojoba oil
- Coconut oil
- Sunflower oil
- Olive oil
- Almond oil
- Avocado oil
Feel free to tinker with any of the above and mix and match to create your very own lip scrub. For example, you could cobble together a sugar/olive oil scrub, a cinnamon/jojoba oil confection, an oat flour/avocado oil mixture, and so on.
Plescia also says you can add extra ingredients for additional skin benefits. "Try manuka honey," she offers, "which moisturizes, soothes, and offers antibacterial properties2." Here's her favorite recipe of the moment:
- Combine 1 Tbsp of coconut oil, 2 tsp. granulated sugar, and ½ tsp. manuka honey.
- Stir and mix well, then apply to the lip and rub gently in circular motions.
- Rinse with lukewarm water, and follow with hydrating lip balm.
How often should you exfoliate your lips?
Generally, Ciraldo recommends a regimen of once a week, working your way up to two or perhaps three sessions. It's similar to how often you should exfoliate your face: Start weekly, then add in more if you can tolerate it.
Although, "You definitely don't need to be exfoliating lips daily, as it can potentially dry out your lips," Ciraldo adds, which—lo and behold—can lead to even more flakes and irritation. Again, the skin around your lips is much thinner—and therefore, more sensitive—than the other regions of your face (save for the eye area), so you definitely don't want to overdo it. "Over-exfoliating your lips can lead to redness, swelling, sensitivity, or bleeding," says Ciraldo. Um, ouch.
You should also take a peek at your skin care routine (really!) to make sure you're not unintentionally over-exfoliating the lip areas—it's easy for most products to transfer onto your lips, especially cleansers. So on the days you do exfoliate your pout, make sure you stick to a hydrating, gentle cleanser (Ciraldo is partial to this one with glycerin and chamomile) and try to avoid the area when massaging in your actives.
The takeaway.
If you find your lips routinely dry and flaky, you might want to exfoliate away any lingering dead skin. Not just to slough off unwanted flakes, but exfoliating the lips can keep the lips velvety soft and plump, to boot (although, we should note that if flakes persist, you might want to contact your derm; persistent flaking can also signal contact dermatitis or sun damage).
Better yet, it takes only minutes to buff the delicate skin shiny and smooth—almost as easy as, say, swiping on a lip balm.
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