Best lip scrubs 2020 to exfoliate dry lips

You want lips as smooth and plump as a hotel pillow in winter? Pipe dream, you say? Not so much if lip scrubs have made their way into your beauty regime.

Back in the day, make-up artists swore by schmearing on lip balm, then whisking away flaky bits with the rub of a flannel or dry toothbrush.

The trouble is, both approaches are pretty abrasive, says Zoe Taylor, make-up artist and founder of the Tinker Taylor Lip Kit. ‘Your lips only have 3 to 5 layers of skin, while the rest of your face has up to 16 layers, so it is important to be super gentle to avoid damage.’

Your lips also have no oil-producing sebaceous glands.

‘This makes them prone to dryness,’ she adds. ‘Rubbing lips with a toothbrush or a flannel can be an OK short-term fix but they need some nourishing hydration, too.’

Enter lip scrubs. Most are powered by a manual exfoliator, such as finely milled sugar granules.

‘These are usually suspended in a nourishing blend of oils to give you more slip as you buff off any dry skin,’ says Taylor.

So you’re essentially exfoliating, softening AND moisturising your lips.

How to apply lip scrubs

One option is to prep your lips at the same time as your skin. ‘On set or backstage I’ll do this at the beginning of the day but also at the end to remove all traces of lipstick,’ says Taylor.

‘On myself I scrub once a day, when I cleanse. Using my finger, I rub in a circular motion over the lips for around 20 seconds, paying special attention to any dry areas. The buffing motion also increases blood flow making lips look bigger, plumper and naturally rosy. Then I wipe or rinse off, and apply the Tinker Taylor Lip Oil immediately afterwards to give my skin something to soak up. The final step is balm to lock all that goodness in.’

Scroll down for our pick of the best lip scrubs in the form of tiny pots and easy-to-apply-at-the-back-of-a-cab bullets…