DIY Lip Scrub: The secret to soft and kissable lips ;)

If you ever suffer from dry, flaky lips and haven't yet incorporated a lip scrub into your routine, I beg you to do so. It's incredibly quick and easy, and your lips will never feel as soft or moisturized. (Plus, no one ever looked good in lipstick applied over dry lips). If the winter air is drying out your lips, a gentle exfoliation to remove the dead skin will allow your lips to absorb so much more moisture from your lip balm.

There are several good lip scrubs available on the market, but scrubs are so incredibly easy to make that I can't see a good reason to pay for one (especially when on a budget). This simple lip scrub will take you less than 2 minutes to make (including getting things out of the kitchen cupboard).

What will you need:

• Sugar: This will act as your exfoliant. I prefer to use soft brown sugar, but you can increase or decrease the particle size depending on what you need.
• Honey: Honey is well known as a great moisturizer. (Plus, it smells really pretty!)
• Oil: This will help create the right consistency. I use sweet oil (from the pharmacy) because it has a relatively neutral scent, but you can use olive oil, almond oil, coconut oil, etc.
• Vaseline (optional): I don't always add this, but it will make your scrub more "spreadable" by binding it together. (If you don't want to use Vaseline, I have heard that shea butter is a good replacement)
• A teaspoon or two, and a small mixing bowl.

What you need to do:

Place about 1/2 a teaspoon of honey in your small bowl.

 As you can see in the above picture, mine was suffering a bit from the winter chill, so I melted it in the microwave for 10 seconds.

 Add a teaspoon of your sugar.

 Mix until it forms a sticky paste.

 Add a few drops of your oil until you get a smooth consistency. This will depend on the sugar you used, but I typically use 1/2 a teaspoon.

 Mix until you have a smooth paste.

 If you want, you can add 1/2 a teaspoon of Vaseline to your scrub.

 You should have a smooth, creamy paste that's gritty when you rub it between your thumb and index finger.

And that's it!

For best results, use your lip scrub twice a week. Gently massage a pea-sized blob into your lips - you can either lick the excess off (especially if you didn't add the Vaseline) or wipe your lips clean with a tissue. And voila! Soft, smooth, kissable lips :)