While we all know that the sugar in traditional sugar cookies is detrimental to our health, you can still get all of the flavor of homemade cookies with this fun lip scrub recipe. It tastes and smells just like a sugar cookie. Even better though, it will exfoliate and nourish your lips, without putting a dent in your healthy lifestyle.
I never used to pay much attention to lip scrubs. During the winter when dry lips would hit I’d reach for some homemade lip balm, like this peppermint one. However, lip scrubs really help to exfoliate the build up of dead skin that gives lips that crusty, gummy feel. Not only are you getting rid of the gunk on your lips, but the oils and honey in this help to nourish the delicate skin on this facial area. I still like to follow it up with some homemade lip balm for extra moisture during the winter months.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Lip Scrub
The first ingredient in this lip scrub recipe is virgin coconut oil. Coconut oil has lots of uses for skin and hair, and it’s also a healthy addition to your diet. In this lip scrub it provides moisture, antioxidants, and helps thicken the product. If you’re looking for more ways to incorporate this superfood into your life, then try making some tooth remineralizing chews.
Sweet almond oil is the liquid carrier oil here, as it helps to smooth everything out. You can substitute another liquid carrier oil of your choice, however the sweet, nutty smell of sweet almond really adds to the sugar cookie vibe. The fatty acids, and vitamins A and E make sweet almond oil the perfect choice to nourish lips.
Like the carrier oils, raw honey helps to add moisture to the lips. It also has healing properties to restore and rejuvenate damaged lips. It’s so powerful that naturally antibacterial raw honey is even used to speed healing of wounds and burns. Raw honey is also slightly emulsifying, so it helps to bind the ingredients in this lip scrub recipe together. You can read more about the healing uses of raw honey here.

Sugar Cookie Lip Scrub Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP organic cane sugar
- ½ tsp coconut oil
- ¼ tsp sweet almond oil
- ½ tsp vanilla extract preferably made with glycerin
- ⅛ tsp raw honey
Instructions
- In a small glass bowl combine all of the ingredients. Mash and stir them together with a spoon or rubber spatula until well combined and a little creamy.
- Store your lip balm recipe in a ½ ounce glass jar.
Notes
- Use your finger to scoop a small amount of lip scrub out and gently rub it on your lips to exfoliate, then rinse off with a wash cloth soaked in warm water.
- Make sure you’re leaning over a sink when you use this, since it’s fairly messy to use.
You might also like my mint chocolate lip scrub recipe.
A Note About Vanilla…
Vanilla extract gives this lip scrub recipe a true sugar cookie smell and taste. I like making my own homemade vanilla extract (get the recipe here), but for this it’s best to use a glycerin based vanilla extract. If you only have access to alcohol based vanilla extract, you can still use it since there is enough moisture in the other ingredients to make up for it.
Glycerin acts as a humectant to add moisture to the lips, while alcohol is more drying. It is a common ingredient in even many natural toothpastes, but I purposefully avoid it in my homemade toothpaste. While glycerin is thought to coat the enamel and promote tooth decay, it’s actually very soothing to skin and lips so it’s great for skincare.
What is your favorite lip product? Do you struggle with dry lips in the winter?
I love this! It smells and works amazing! It has been setting for a couple hours and is already starting to separate! Did I do something wrong or does it just need to be shaken and stirred every time I use it?
It may need to be mixed up before each use 🙂
How long can these be used? A few months?
All of the ingredients are shelf stable so it can be used for at least six months.
I made some scrubs and the oil come to the top overnight…is this normal?
Where do you get your glass jars? Would love to make teacher gifts with this!
I’ve found some at thrift stores and antique stores and others on Amazon…
Can u use it for other areas apart from your lips? And is it ok to use regular glycerin instead of vanilla glycerine?
Yes and yes 🙂
I expected there’d be some cinnamon in these! So I clicked on it to see what perhaps benefits cinnamon can have for the lips? Oh well! I don’t see why you couldn’t add cinnamon because then that would without a doubt make it like a snickerdoodle. I haven’t been into lip scrubs either but this sounds too yummy. What are your thoughts on the cinnamon did you leave it out on purpose for some reason?
I was going for the vanilla flavor but adding cinnamon would be great too!
This is a great idea to add cinnamon because 1) cinnamon has a natural “plumping” affect; and 2) who doesn’t LoVe a Snickerdoodle?!
This is awesome! I was getting nervous because I can’t afford to buy a lot of my family members things for Christmas but I can make them lip scrubs ?
I’m only seeing the measurements for the ingredients and, not the ingredients used.
Ingredients are: 1 T. organic cane sugar
½ tsp unrefined coconut oil
¼ tsp sweet almond oil
½ tsp vanilla extract (preferably made with glycerin)
1/8 tsp raw honey
(they are linked in the article above. Perhaps in your browser, you can’t see links?)
So is this safe to use for a little kid Christmas present? My six YO niece would love something like this that she and her mommy could use 🙂 and I was wondering if it would be safe for her incase she ate any by accident?
I let my kids use it 🙂
Do you have a way to diy glycerin vanilla extract? I’d love to make it without all those extra ingredients in the one in the link above
This recipe calls for cane sugar, but your other sugar scrub recipe calls for just plain white sugar. Why the difference? I have sugar in the raw (turbinado) and organic coconut palm sugar. I would think either one of those would be a better choice than white sugar. Which do you recommend? I notice the grains are much larger in the cane sugar vs. regular. Is that the reason you use regular white sugar? Does anyone know this answer? Thank you.