It’s chapped-lips season, everyone. Or maybe I don’t have to remind you because you’re struggling hard right now with some dried-out lips. To be honest, for me, it seems like chapped-lips season is year-round instead of just during the wintertime.
There are a number of things you can do to prevent or soothe chapped lips. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends these seven steps:
1. Use nonirritating lip products.
2. Apply a nonirritating lip balm or lip moisturizer throughout the day and before bed.
6. Avoid holding metal items to your lips, like paper clips or jewelry. They could cause irritation.
7. Use a humidifier at home.
While I try to do all of the above, especially when it comes to staying hydrated, sometimes when my lips are dry and chapped, I need a little extra help. That’s when I turn to my lip scrubs. Instead of trying to pick off the dead, scaly skin with your fingers (I know, gross), these scrubs are a gentler and safer option to smooth your lips.
It also helps that a lot of the scrubs out there are packed with hydrating ingredients, so they won’t leave your lips totally stripped and dry. Normally after using the scrub, I apply my favorite lip balm to moisturize and really lock in that softness. When my lips are really dry (like peak winter season), I tend to apply a lip scrub about once or twice a week depending on how my skin is feeling.
Have I sold you on a lip scrub yet? If your chapped lips need some support, take a look at a few of my and other editors’ favorite options below.
This is one of my favorite lip scrubs. It actually has brown sugar crystals to exfoliate and shea butter and jojoba oil to leave your lips smooth. It’s such a nice treat!
I’m also a fan of Bite’s lip scrubs. This one is vegan and has a vanilla flavor. Ingredients include fair-trade golden sugar, papaya enzymes, and squalane to exfoliate and condition the skin.
For a drugstore option, you can’t go wrong with Burt’s Bees’ lip scrub. The natural formula contains beeswax, exotic oils, and exfoliating honey crystals to soften your lips.
This lip scrub has a surprising ingredient that isn’t found in a lot of regular scrubs: coffee. Along with ground olive stones, the coffee works to exfoliate and leave the skin feeling “tingly clean” and soft.
Fenty Beauty’s lip scrub makes application so easy (and less messy) because it comes in stick form. Its main ingredient is apricot-seed scrubbers.
This highly rated lip scrub is a favorite for a reason: It leaves your lips so soft and silky. It also comes in different “flavors,” such as Pink Grapefruit, Brown Sugar, Sparkling Peach, and Vanilla Bean.
This one from Dior is both a scrub and a lightly tinted balm. It has grains of sugar to exfoliate, and it leaves a nice scent and rosy finish.
With ingredients like extra-fine sugar crystals and crushed orange peel, this 100% natural lip scrub actually sounds good enough to eat (but maybe don’t do that.). It smoothes skin and leaves a protective layer of lanolin balm.
KNC Beauty’s lip scrub comes with an applicator, so you can effectively and gently buff off dead skin and prep your lips for lipstick (if you wanted). It has ingredients like sunflower oil, shea butter, and moringa oil.
You get both a scrub and a mask with this product. You can use the nontoxic formula to gently exfoliate the lips by massaging it in and removing any residue with a cloth. If you want to use it as a mask, leave it on for three to five minutes.
Along with sugar granules, Milani’s lip scrub contains nourishing ingredients like rosehip, argan, coconut, and sweet almond oils. It’s great to use as a primer before you put on lipstick for longer wear.
MAC also has its own lip scrub to keep your skin smooth and ready for any lip-color product. The sugar-based exfoliant also has conditioning ingredients like jojoba oil and shea butter. You can use it two to three times a week.
This lip scrub has buffing ingredients like natural sugar crystals and hemp stem exfoliators. It also contains jojoba and olive oils for antioxidant protection, plus sage extract and peppermint oil for a nice, refreshing flavor.
With a minty flavor, this lip exfoliant will feel so refreshing and give you that tingly feeling. It has sugar granules to buff away dead skin and conditioning ingredients like maracuja, shea butter, vitamin E, sunflower-seed oil, and carnauba wax.
This lip mask is a cult favorite, and I’m here to tell you that it really works. Whenever I apply it overnight, I wake up to softer, smoother lips. It’s good at reducing flakiness, too.
Kosas’s lip balm is my everyday pick. It contains hyaluronic acid to really lock in moisture. It also has a minty scent that’s refreshing but not overpowering.
For another mask option, I recommend Ilia’s. The natural product contains sea succulent to improve hydration, hyaluronic acid to attract moisture, and papaya enzymes to exfoliate.
For SPF protection, I like Sun Bum’s lip balm. It has SPF 30, plus aloe and vitamin E to moisturize.
If you prefer lip oil, Versed’s oil absorbs quickly and keeps lips soft for a long time after application. Ingredients include jojoba, camellia, sesame, and sunflower-seed oils and vitamin E. Next up, The 4 Harmful Ingredients You Want to Avoid in Lip Balms
