These 13 Lip Scrubs Saved Our Dry Lips — and Our Favorite Is One You’ve Never Heard Of

The French Girl lip scrub might be the best lip product you’ve never heard of. As one Amazon reviewer put it, “I’ve used countless exfoliators and spent tons of money on high-end lip moisturizers and masks. This is the only thing that has worked for me.”

This organic scrub is formulated with coconut oil, shea butter, and cocoa butter to moisturize the lips and sugar to slough away any dead skin. The product also produces a slight plumping effect, thanks to the mint and rose geranium essential oils within the formula. Our lips were left completely smooth after using this product, ready for lipstick or even a hydrating lip mask.

And if the top-performing formulation wasn’t enough, this woman-owned company is completely vegan and cruelty-free. Plus, French Girl Cosmetics donates $1 of every lip scrub sold to World Central Kitchen in support of Ukrainian refugees.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 1 ounce | Star Ingredients: Cocoa butter, shea butter, mint and rose geranium essential oils

If you’re in a pinch (or simply want to pick up a lower-cost option), then you’ll love the Burt’s Bees Conditioning Lip Scrub. This $9 scrub feels high-end despite its modest price and moisturizes lips like no other. We thought its honey crystals were ideal for not only removing our dead skin but also dissolving and effectively moisturizing our lips afterward. Its slip-like aftermath was reminiscent of lip oil, basically making this sugar pot a two-in-one product.

Due to the scrub’s makeup of honey, castor seed, vegetable oil, and more, there’s a pretty runny feeling that comes with the product’s application. However, this excess oil allowed our lips to feel incredibly supple and seems like an essential step in anyone’s winter skincare routine.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 0.25 ounce | Star Ingredients: Beeswax, honey crystals, castor seed oil

Luxury beauty lovers will recognize the admiration around Dior lippies (we’re looking at you, Dior Lip Oil fans), but the Lip Sugar Scrub takes a detour from their usual cosmetics to skincare. This product is unlike the others on this list due to its lipstick shape and twistable chamber, which makes this scrub the easiest to take on the go. After a few swipes, our lips were left feeling buttery-soft, largely thanks to a layer of this luxurious balm settling evenly into our once-cracked skin.

It wasn’t inherently clear to us that this product was meant to be left on our skin to melt in and moisturize, so we wish that the instructions had been a bit clearer on that. But after allowing the balm to work as it was supposed to, we fell in love with the super-smooth results.

Type: Sugar scrub balm | Size: 0.12 ounce | Star Ingredients: Mango seed butter

If you’ve become a fan of the Laneige lip mask, then you’ll love this ultra-nourishing, mask-like scrub from Beauty Bakerie. This $12 potted scrub contains minuscule sugar grains to softly slough dead skin while simultaneously moisturizing your lips. We liken it to a mask because of its higher balm content than exfoliating beads and thicker consistency, which made us want to leave it on overnight because of the hydrating feel. In fact, the product description encourages it: “To wake up to soft, supple lips, apply Sugar Lip Scrub before bed and get ready for the next day in the kitchen,” á la Beauty Bakerie’s culinary themes.

We didn’t see an incredible amount of dead skin sloughed away in the process, though we did think it was effective enough where larger flakes were removed and the fresh skin underneath was effectively moisturized. Its gentle sugar grains were appreciated in the long run because too-abrasive beads can cause unwanted harm to already-dry lips — the exact opposite of the suppleness we’re going for.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 0.18 ounce | Star Ingredients: Castor seed oil

If you’re used to DIY lip scrubs, the Sara Happ Lip Scrub will look familiar to you — it’s a dense mix of chunky sugar crystals. The simple formula is made with a moisturizing mixture of various plant extracts and petroleum to produce the paste we tried on our lips. Due to the large sugar crystals, this scrub felt a bit harsher on our skin than some of the others we tried, but it ultimately left our lips smoother.

After letting the product soak in for a bit, we were confident in saying that this scrub from Sara Happ left our lips feeling very soft and hydrated. Since this product is so simply made, the sugar crystals ended up being a bit less refined, but the moisturizing properties of its ingredients soothe the freshly sloughed skin afterward. This natural scrub is a great product to use as needed during the dry months and sparingly at other times to not over-exfoliate.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 0.5 ounce | Star Ingredients: Almond oil, vitamin E, jojoba seed oil

By far the most expensive scrub on our list, the La Mer Lip Polish looks as luxe as its price implies. Packaged in a glossy rose gold pot, this creamy consistency looks different from some of the other contenders due to its smooth formula of marine microminerals. We appreciated that this product came with a scooper, so it was less messy than others on our list.

Our lips felt extremely hydrated after using the scrub — even after 20 minutes, our freshly sloughed skin was still feeling hydrated and polished. However, the scrub felt a little abrasive and didn’t remove all of our dead skin in one go. Overall, the La Mer scrub does its job, provides a nice hydrating feel, and looks fabulous on your countertop.

Type: Marine micro-mineral scrub | Size: 0.27 ounce | Star Ingredients: Marine micro minerals, proprietary Miracle Broth™

If you’re someone who likes to know exactly what’s in the products they use on their skin, then you’re in luck. This scrub from Handmade Heroes is as clear as it gets, boasting only 12 all-natural ingredients — the stars of the show being coconut, jojoba, and avocado oil for maximum moisturization. We thought the product was highly effective in exfoliating our lips due to its thick consistency, and its long-lasting moisturizing ingredients made our need to reach for lip balm considerably less throughout the day.

While we wish we could take this ultra-moisturizing scrub on the go, its packaging makes it hard to touch up our pouts throughout the day. It’s also worth noting that the scrub is slightly messy, so you’ll want to make this part of your morning or nighttime routine.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 1.23 ounce | Star Ingredients: Sweet almond oil, coconut, olive oil, jojoba, vitamin E

Nobody likes to rummage through several tubes of lipstick to get the right lip balm, which makes this stacked scrub and balm compact a lifesaver. This two-in-one consists of an antioxidant-infused scrub on the bottom tier and balm on the top, allowing you to work your way up to achieve soft, kissable lips. We thought the lip scrub was a bit oily (albeit, the formula does consist of grapeseed oil, olive squalane, and other runny ingredients), but it effectively sloughed off our larger flakes of dead skin without being too abrasive.

While we wish the scrub got more granular with the smaller flakes on our lips, we were still happy with how gentle the strawberry fruit extract beads were while they removed our more unsightly dry patches. Once we locked in our fresh skin with the vitamin E-enhanced lip balm, our lips felt softer than ever.

Type: 2-in-1 sugar scrub and moisturizer | Size: 0.28 ounce (lip scrub), 0.12 ounce (lip balm) | Star Ingredients: Vitamin E, strawberry fruit extract, olive squalane

When your lips are in desperate need of some moisturization, it can be hard to nail down just one product that can do the trick. In fact, more often than not, it takes a combination of two. The Dr. Pawpaw Scrub & Nourish Duo is the most convenient solution: a double-ended pot that contains an all-natural scrub on one side and a salve on the other.

We loved how easy it was to unscrew these two-tiered products and use them in tandem. Aside from how surprisingly soothing the scrub’s texture was, we were equally impressed by the hydrating balm that came with it. Loaded with hydration-boosting oils like castor, sunflower, and olive, this lip-loving combo was a welcome sight for our dry kissers.

Type: 2-in-1 sugar scrub and moisturizer | Size: 0.56 ounce | Star Ingredients: Rosmarinus officinalis

You probably already know and love the brand Chapstick for its namesake product, so it only makes sense that their lip scrub is just as reputable. This sugar scrub delivers gorgeous results at an equally palatable price. Available in several flavors and scents, this scrub is supplemented with maracuja and coconut oil, along with shea butter and vitamin E, for maximum hydration.

We were impressed by how smooth the scrub felt, with tiny exfoliating beads that were gentle yet effective. One use left our lips noticeably less dry and flaky. The exfoliating beads seemed to melt into our skin and leave a non-sticky, nourished result, leaving our lips smooth as butter.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 0.27 ounce | Star Ingredients: Coconut oil, vitamin E, shea butter, maracuja

The number one thing we want a lip scrub to do is take away the unsightly flakes of dry skin, and this exfoliator from Fresh does just that. Included in Sephora’s “Clean” campaign, this product is free from parabens, phthalates, and a number of other unnatural ingredients found in other beauty products. We adored the way this scrub felt, namely its super smooth consistency when compared to other lip scrubs we’ve tried.

As people with occasionally dry lips, we were impressed by how effectively this scrub smoothed out the areas of our lips that were problematic and flaky. Nothing but a smooth and buttery surface was left in its wake, besides a moisturizing layer of jojoba oil that slowly soaked into our skin. Though an applicator of some sort would have been a great companion to this pot, we still gave it a five-star rating for satisfactory exfoliation.

Type: Brown sugar scrub | Size: 0.35 ounce | Star Ingredients: Jojoba oil, shea butter

Who doesn’t like a touch of color here and there, especially when it comes to your lips? The Hydrate8 sugar scrub from Anne’s Apothecary not only effectively removes your dead skin but also leaves a plum-pink kiss of color on your lips after a quick scrub. We felt that this was one of the most exfoliating out of the bunch due to its more noticeable sugar granules, which provided a more in-depth sloughing job than some others. With its berry color came a slightly artificial-tasting fruit flavor (despite its natural ingredients), which we didn’t mind, but is something to keep in mind if you have an aversion to certain flavors or fragrances in your beauty products.

We do wish that it came with an applicator to more easily get the scrub out of its pot (and let’s face it, using your fingers isn’t always the most sanitary method). But at the end of the day, this scrub was effective, hydrating, and even a bit beautifying — a home run, if you ask us.

Type: Sugar scrub | Size: 0.5 ounce | Star Ingredients: Jojoba wax ester, hibiscus