DIY: All Natural Hand & Lip Scrub

I'm always looking for new products to try for my lips. Whether it be a pretty new shade, a creamy balm, or a sweet scented scrub. I have to say that my best friend is partially responsible for this desire. She's a makeup guru and before her, I was definitely a chap stick only kind of girl. However, she changed my life (er..lips) with just a single stick of lip color. I now love playing with the right shades of color! However, nothing stinks more than a pretty colored layered on top of a dry pair of lips. Fortunately, mine haven't been too bad this year and I have yet to whip out a layer of medicated Blistex on extremely chapped lips. Instead, I look towards exfoliating them down gently to rid of any loose, dead, or dry skin. There are tons of great products out there and I am sure I could ask my best friend to recommend a quality lip scrub to me. But, there's just one problem...sometimes I'm cheap. Especially when I can find an alternative solution for less!

Instead of spending time and money going out to the drug or beauty supply store to purchase a scrub, I whipped one up in my kitchen this morning-- it was a piece of cake! I know DIY scrubs are nothing new to the blogging world as they are popping up all over Pinterest, but I still wanted to share this recipe I made. It smells absolutely lovely! It's sweet, creamy, and just a tad bit minty. It works on the lips AND hands. My hands tend to get neglected as I forget to wear golves when cleaning and washing dishes, etc. (sorry, Mom). After I used this scrub, my hands felt incredibly soft and smooth...just like my lips. I even ran upstairs and asked Henry to try it out-- this gets the Hubby Seal of Approval.

I hope you try it out and it works for you.

All Natural Hand & Lip Scrub
makes about 1/4 cup

1/4 cup natural coconut oil (in it's solid form)
3 tbsp raw sugar
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp mint extract
small sealable container or jar

1. In a small or medium bowl, use a fork to mix together the coconut oil, raw sugar, honey, and mint extract. It should form a thick paste. Transfer the scrub into a sealable container or jar. Store in a cool and dry place; use as needed.

2.To use, rub the scrub all over the lips or hands, allow it to soak into the skin for about 1-2 minutes, then rinse and wash off with a gentle cleanser or soap.

*Note: A little goes a long way with this scrub! For the lips, I found that less than a tsp. was plenty to exfoliate them. For the hands, about a dime size amount is great.

 lips, post scrub application (with a little color, of course!)