In the winter my lips get unbearably dry. Arrrgh. It’s infuriating. Calgary is practically a desert for most of the year, but in the winter I swear we tip into negative humidity. Things don’t mold here because it’s like living in a dehydrator. Good for line drying your clothes inside, not so good for my face. One of the few things that helps with my dry lips is a peppermint sugar lip scrub stick—a bit of quick exfoliation to polish off any dry skin and help get moisture where it needs to be.
I’ve made sugar scrubs for my lips before, but they’re not portable in a 125mL mason jar. So, I decided to make a portable version in a tube. Something I could use at work or on the go as I’m really not all that patient when extra-dry lips are driving me insane.
It’s a super simple premise. It’s basically lip balm with a bunch of sugar in it. Sugar is not oil soluble, so it stays solid and scrubby. It also tastes nice, which is a definite bonus.
The mixture gets to be pretty tricky to pour as it cools. It needs to be cool enough that the sugar doesn’t settle out of the melted oils, but not so cool that it doesn’t pour. I ended up letting it cool most of the way, stirring as it cooled, before I re-melted it partially by placing it in a hot water bath. I had to work quickly and re-heat the mixture a few times, but it worked out in the end.
The final product is a lovely tube of sweet, scrubby, pepperminty delight. I use my fingers to give my lips a good, firm scrub, and then rinse or wipe off the sugar. The remaining lip balm leaves your lips buffed and moisturized.
Peppermint Sugar Lip Scrub Stick
5g | 0.17oz beeswax (USA / Canada)
6g | 0.21oz virgin coconut oil
3g | 0.1oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada)
10g | 0.35oz avocado oil
1g | 0.03oz Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)6 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)
2 tbsp granulated white sugar
Melt the beeswax, coconut oil, cocoa butter (USA / Canada), avocado oil, and Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) together in a double-boiler. Remove from the heat and stir in the peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada) and granulated white sugar.
Hi Marie,
I can’t wait to try this recipe. How many lip balm containers does it require?
Thank you,
Lisa
According to my count I filled about 9, but I also spilled quite a bit of it on the counter, lol, so you could probably do 10 or 11 if you were a bit neater than me 😛
Okay I just had to comment because I was searching for a new a eczema salve and stumbled on your blog. After browsing for a while I noticed you were in Canada and thought that was pretty awesome, then I saw you are in Calgary and thought that was pretty crazy seeing as that’s where I am too! Anyway, I’m definitely going to try a few of your salves etc. Thanks!
Ha, what a small world! Perhaps we should grab a cup of tea in Kensington some time 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Recently I came up with something quite similar and I really liked the outcome. It’s a cool way to take care of your lips ‘on the go’!
So true, Anna—and so good for dry winter days like these 🙂 I love that I can give my lips a wee scrub at work if they’re driving me particularly batty 😛
Hooray! I was going to search for a recipe for this for Christmas gifts but now I don’t have to 🙂
Woot! 😀
I just made a batch! The recipe will fill about 10 tubes if you are good, but I wasn’t and ended up pouring the last tubes worth into a little container (which I will use). I found that it was hard to keep the sugar suspended since I had to reheat every 2 tubes or so. My last 2 tubes were heavy on the sugar! Whoopsie! I guess I’ll keep those for myself. I used Jojoba oil in place of Avocado. I that was an okay substitution!
Awesome! 😀 You may have just set a record for published-to-made 😉 And yes, pouring these is definitely a bit of a pain lol. I had a tube or two of casualties, lost to the counter top and the outside of the tubes 😛 At least once you have your 9 or 10 tubes you are set for lip scrubbing for ages!
would grapeseed oil be a suitable replacement for avocado oil? Thanks!
Grapeseed oil will work, but it’s not ideal as it is a thinner, faster absorbing oil, so it won’t deliver the same dose of moisture. Castor oil would be a more appropriate replacement. You can learn more about carrier oil replacements here 🙂
I made some of these a few days ago. A couple turned out more sugary than others. Next time I think I would blitz the sugar quickly in the coffee grinder to make the granules a *bit* gentler. I was able to get 7 full and 2 partial tubes. Very nice!
The sugar blitz is a great idea! You could also try looking for superfine sugar at the store, which is probably more or less the same thing 😛 Enjoy your new scrubbed lips!
I’m going to try this, but I don’t have any cocoa butter, and I don’t know where to get it. What would be a good substitute?
Kokum butter is the only cocoa butter substitute I know of—you can read more about carrier oil substitutions here 🙂 I’d really recommend getting some cocoa butter, though. It’s easily available online (I link all my suppliers in the big box above the comments section) and one of my all-time fave ingredients.
I found that a small fondue pot worked great in keeping everything melted.I just pipetted from the pot to the tubes.
Awesome tip & idea, thanks Nancy!
Could I substitute the avocado oil for something? Thanks. -Abby
Hi Abby! You can read up on carrier oil swaps here 🙂 Any rather thick oil like oat or macadamia nut oil will work.
I like the idea of this portable lip scrub and would like to add it to my arsenal of DIY products for Christmas gifts. However, I’m trying my best to do a sort of seasonal mix of fragrances/flavors, and I already have a few peppermint things I am making. Can you suggest a different EO for this recipe? I was thinking about cinnamon, but have no idea how much I would need to add to keep it from being overwhelming on dry, chapped lips. I also thought about leaving out the EO all together, and perhaps using ground coffee instead. I’m not sure if I would need to leave out the same amount of sugar (leave out 1tsp of sugar and add 1tsp of coffee, for example), or use it in addition to the sugar in the recipe. I’m not even sure that it would be enough to add a pleasant coffee aroma to the scrub, as my cocoa butter is pretty fragrant and tends to take over whatever I make. If you have a moment, could you please give me your educated suggestions?
I am cracking up. I didn’t see your comment until after I posted mine! If you try something other than peppermint let me know how it goes!
🙂
Have you thought about doing a vanilla/chocolate blend, or perhaps vanilla/chocolate/coffee? Those would both be awesome, and less irritating than cinnamon can be 🙂 I love the ground coffee idea, too! You can try infusing the oils with coffee beans or adding coffee essential oil to amp up the coffee scent as well/
Thank you so much! I remember reading on one of your other lip balm recipes (gingerbread, I think– also on my list to make for Christmas) that the vanilla EO is water soluble, so it didn’t occur to me to use it here. Is there a good way to make sure it mixes in properly? I like the sound of a vanilla chocolate blend because it sort of reminds me of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Mmmm….
You are 100% correct, Erin—I use oil soluble benzoin EO for vanilla scents 🙂
I’m planning on making you wonderful cocoa peppermint lip balms for Christmas presents, and was thinking a scrub to go with them would be just lovely! I have done the peppermint lip balms before and they turned out so great! I am thinking I might swap the peppermint in the scrub for a different EO, just for more variety… any thoughts on what might be best? I was considering cinnamon or cassia for warming, since if you follow it up with the peppermint balm its a nice contrast… Not sure if that might actually be irritating though. Would love to hear your thoughts. LOVE your blog, your recipes are THE BEST.
Hi Laura! You could go the chocolate/vanilla route by using a nice, fragrant cocoa butter and adding a touch of benzoin EO. I would be worried about the cassia/cinnamon route for something so scrubby as they are quite warming and can wander over into irritating territory really quickly. Thanks so much for reading!
First, thanks Marie for your wonderful recipes and info for beginners like me. I made your Peppermint and Cedarwood Aftershave this evening and it turned out wonderful! Planning to make this lip scrub and am wondering what I can substitute for coconut oil as one of the potential recipients is allergic to all things coconut. I had a look at your carrier replacement guide but am not sure if I can use shea butter as it has a different melting point. Appreciate any direction you can provide.
Hi Gwyneth! The best replacement I know of for coconut oil is babassu oil—it has a very similar texture and melting point. Otherwise shea butter will work for this particular recipe 🙂
Hi! I have a lip scrub with similar ingredients except it also includes shea butter. I wanted to make one similar in tins for xmas gifts, and use Shea Butter, but not sure if I halve the Cocoa Butter, will it be too soft?
I don’t need as firm for tins.
Thanks
You’d have to try it and see 🙂 It would likely be fine, but that can vary with the rest of your formulation, ambient temperature, and what you personally consider to be “too soft”. Happy making!
Hi Marie,
Your recipes are fantastic and I love all the general information you provide, so very helpful to a beginner like me! I made your peppermint and cedarwood aftershave yesterday and it turned out perfectly. Planning to make this lip scrub and am wondering what I can substitute for coconut oil as one of the potential recipients is allergic to all things coconut. Appreciate your input! Thanks Marie.
Hi Gwyneth! Thanks so much for DIYing with me 🙂 Babassu oil is a fantastic alternative for coconut oil—it’s almost identical in terms of texture, consistency, and melting point. Otherwise you should check out my article on carrier oil swaps 🙂
I know that measurements are a bit different in Canada than down here in the US, so please tell me about how much of each I should use in terms of teaspoons, etc. I am so excited to try this out, but I don’t want to waste my ingredients or time by just doing it all wrong. I totally love your site! Thanks!
Hi Shanda—I chat about this in the FAQ, I recommend giving that a read 🙂
Is there anyway I can incorporate some Shea butter into this?
You could use shea butter instead of the coconut oil, but I wouldn’t recommend it—shea butter has a habit of going unpleasantly grainy in lip balms (though you might not actually notice in a scrub stick, haha).
Hi 🙂 I love this recipe! Did you weigh the oils, etc? I don’t have a scale, do you know how much the grams would be in measuring cups/spoons?
Hi Mimi! I did (and do) weigh pretty much everything. Check out this article for why, and why I can’t just tell you how many cups you’ll need instead.
Hi can I ask why you opted for granulated white sugar? As I believe brown sugar would be better, especially as it is a little softer and a bit gentler. And not being refined it would be more beneficial, I think.
P.s I came across your blog a year or so ago and I bookmarked and my phone died. So glad I found you again 🙂
Hey Tim! The university course I took on food taught me that brown sugar (here in Canada, at least) is just white sugar with added molasses, so there isn’t much added health benefit there. I also didn’t want the added moisture content from brown sugar 🙂 And I’m glad you found me again! 🙂
Hi, Marie!
I know this is an older recipe, but I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love it! I made a large batch last week to give to my friends at work. I made 51 tubes. Kept one for myself. I am a night shift nurse. Thank goodness I kept my one tube for myself at home. All 50 tubes disappeared and I have requests for more.
It was a pain to fill the tubes. I would pour a little bit and it would collect at the top of the tube. Arrgh! I ended up using my spatula to fill each tube and bang it down. That took forever. I guess this will just be one of my more labor intensive DIY. Everyone loves it and I love that I don’t have to scoop it out of a jar or tin. I wouldn’t use it no matter how good it was if I had to scoop it out.
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.
Yay! There’s no such thing as old posts here 🙂 I’m so glad you are loving them! WOW, what an assembly line you must’ve had going!
In the future, maybe consider a lip balm filling tray? I haven’t tried one with this recipe, but it does make life easier with normal lip balms 🙂 Something to think about! Happy making!
I do have balm filling trays and LOVE them. The tray did not work for this recipe. All of the sugar scrub got stuck in the top of the tube and wouldn’t settle to the bottom. I am thinking maybe a zip lock baggie with a piping tip to get the scrub to fill the bottom of the tube first. I’ll let you know.
Good to know! A syringe might work, too, but I do wonder about the mixture getting too solid in it due to all the surface area. Hmm. Good luck with the bag and keep me posted!
Hi Marie! I know you’re really busy, but I was wondering if you’d be able to make a YouTube video on this so you could show us how to fill the tubes? I tried it and even though it was cool but not solid, the sugar still separated. Is there a way to fill the tubes that you found worked?
I’ll add it to my list 🙂
Also, I’m out of avocado oil and wanted to whip up another batch of this lip scrub to give as a gift, and I wasn’t sure what oil I could use instead of avocado, because olive oil is similar, but the smell is really strong, what would you recommend?
Have you read my guide to carrier oil substitutions? It should help 🙂
Hi! I Love your blog and come here often for inspiration or just to doodle around. 🙂
I want to know though, can you eat this lip scrub with no issues? I’ve asked around and it turns out most of the women I know just lick sugar scrubs off of their lips rather than wash it off…
Ha! Well, unless you’re using food grade ingredients it’s technically not food grade, but there’s also nothing outright not edible/poisonous in here (eating EOs is not a very good idea but there is such a thing as food grade peppermint EO and obviously we do ingest some when we use it as lip balm, though not as intentionally!). Given it’s a pretty small amount I guess I wouldn’t be too worried about it, but I probably wouldn’t outright recommend it LOL.
Hi Marie! I recently purchased your book, Make it up, and noticed there is a different version of this idea. I gave the recipe a whirl but I seem to be having trouble with the sugar separating from the oils when squeezed from the tube. Is there a special kind of tube you need or do you have any other tip? Thank you for all of your hard work creating these recipes for us!
Are you using a typical lip balm tube? I ask because that’s what I used, and that’s fine, but they definitely don’t “squeeze”.
Thank you for the clarification! I think I may have assumed you used a lip gloss squeez tube as per the picture in the book (page 155). My apologies!!!! Feels great on the lips!! Thanks again. 🙂
Ah, that explains it! Glad your lips are enjoying it 🙂
I’m going to try making this. I’m going to switch the beeswax for candelilla wax and add some castor oil. Wish me luck!
Good luck! You might want to give this and this a read 🙂
Hi, I’ve just finished this recipe and am waiting to try it! So far it seems very soft and oily, do you have a recommendation on what to add to harden it up slightly! Thank you 🙂
I’ve got an FAQ on this 🙂 Happy making!
Do you not need a preservative for these? It is coming in contact with the moisture from your lips.