DIY Beauty: homemade lip exfoliant

aspirin sugar scrub

I don’t know what’s wrong with my lips but it’s getting dry and flaky. Although I continue to use the Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser which I wrote about to exoliate my lips but I can’t use this too frequently or my lips will get quite sore. So I decided to try the DIY lip scrub instead.

Homemade lip scrub recipe
I modified the recipe from carekate of EDS Skin Care Forum. First, I crushed four Bayer aspirins and then I mixed it with about a teaspoon of raw cane sugar, a few drops of Jojoba oil and about half a teaspoon of glycerin. Because of the glycerin, the powdered aspirin and sugar do not fall off and I was able to use the combination to scrub my lips thoroughly. I didn’t like the mixture to be too oily but you can add more Jojoba oil if you like it to be more nourishing.

Combination of salicylic acid and glycolic acid
Aspirins by the way are acetyl derivative of salicylic acid while raw cane sugar are rich in glycolic acid, a natural alpha-hydroxy acid. If you don’t have raw cane sugar, white granulated sugar works as well.

aspirin

Cut down on the sugar for a finer scrub
It’s not that difficult to crush the aspirins with a spoon; just make sure they’re crushed finely. One thing to note is that the sugar can make the scrub texture quite rough. So if you don’t like it too granulated, then cut down on the amount of sugar. What’s good about this homemade lip scrub is that it taste sweet. But while sweet, it’s definitely not too tasty!

Exfoliant can be used daily
The portion I’ve made is good for a number of scrubs. In fact, I’ve been able to use this exfoliant everyday without having my lips feel sore and my lips don’t feel so flaky now. I imagine this would be even nicer if I can mix it with some Jojoba beads.

Actually the scrub is quite good for the face too. I’ve seen some recipe on using Aspirin as a facial mask. I think I’ll explore that a bit since I have aspirins on hand now!

Comments

  1. Nikki says:

    My lips are super dry too and I may need to try this out! thanks

    Nikki: It’s quite good in stopping the peeling…

  2. prettybeautiful says:

    i cant imagine the taste of aspirin on my lips. lol. connie did a post on using aspirin as facial mask. but sadly, for face, aspirin is not for me. for lips it might help tho ? very creative indeed!

    prettybeautiful: With the sugar, it’s sweeter.

  3. akiki says:

    nice try!
    i had never scrub my lips. it’s the time now~~

    akiki: Give it a try…

  4. Leon says:

    Looks like a great recipe, I am gonna try it out and let you know how it goes, thanks Sesame:)

    Leon: I hope you’ll like it. ?

  5. sarah says:

    what do you recommend for people like me who are allergic to Aspirin? Will the scrub work just as well without the Aspirin?

    Sarah: Instead of Aspirin, try mixing with baking soda instead. It will probably work quite well too.

  6. Tine says:

    Thanks for the recipe. I either do mine with Vaseline and coarse sugar, or brush them with a very soft toothbrush. Never tried aspirin though.

    Tine: Toothbrush doesn’t work for my stubborn lips at all.

  7. Aca says:

    Hello,

    Can I know where can I buy glycerin in Singapore? Which brand did you use ?

    Aca: You can get Glycerin BP in the pharmacies like Guardian or Unity but I bought vegetable glycerin from a DIY ingredient supplier – whoopeekiddies.com – local company.

  8. slydreamerr says:

    Aspirin + honey mask is good:D
    It helped to keep my skin smooth.

  9. karentoo says:

    hi there, thanks for all the lovely tips! hope you don’t mind me asking, but do you know if there’s any risk in using EXPIRED aspirin as a scrub or mask?

    Karentoo: I don’t know but I think you don’t want to risk it on your face. Maybe try it on the inside of your wrist first.

  10. yeahnadia:) says:

    wow this is gooood ?

    ido this all the time now :L

    thanks!

  11. Frckls says:

    I have been using aspirin for face masks, but I intend to lay it off to a much less frequent use. I’ve been visiting cosmeticdatabase.com to check on ingredients that are safe for my skin, and found that Salicylic acid has a high hazard score of 7 out of 10 and has been banned/restricted for use in cosmetic and skincare products in Canada and Japan. I now resort to activated carbon (i like to crush Norit to use for facial wash with my soap several times a week) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for mask and scrub bi-weekly/monthly.

  12. sesame says:

    I think it’s good to use it less frequently. Baking soda is good…I like how multi-purpose this ingredient is.

  13. laura says:

    I have been making a sugar and honey lip scrub for years now. I love it, I make about 1/2 an ounce and it lasts for a long time and doesn’t go bad.

  14. laura says:

    I’m confused because Salcylic acid is in every acne product in Canada and it’s natural isn’t it?

  15. candidhunk1 says:

    Asprin is an amazing exfoliant for your face too!!

  16. gagasonata says:

    Hey girl. Have been using your asprin idea for a couple of weeks now. It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! ?

Leave a Reply