Everyone wants their lips to be soft, supple and naturally pink. This requires us to follow a proper lip care regimen that often gets neglected and overshadowed by elaborate skin care and hair care routines. So, it’s time to change that.
While you might be using lip balms throughout the day, your lip care routine should ideally start with exfoliating the lips using a lip scrub. And especially, if you have dark, pigmented lips.
What causes dark lips?
Much like skin tones, lip colours also vary from one person to another owing to the melanin content present in our skin. While less melanin production creates a lighter skin tone, higher production means a darker skin tone. When our skin starts producing more melanin, it can lead to hyperpigmentation. And, it is a result of various factors.
One can develop extreme pigmentation on their lips due to high sun exposure, lip sucking, lack of hydration, allergic reactions to toothpaste or lip makeup products, vitamin deficiency, excess caffeine intake or chain smoking.
Benefits of using a lip scrub for dark lips
Exfoliating your lips with a lip scrub is one of the best ways to rid them of pigmentation. A lip scrub primarily cleans away all the dead skin cells from your lips to reveal a brighter and even-toned layer underneath. It not only sloughs off the dryness and flakiness from the lips but also moisturises and nourishes them while enhancing their softness and smoothness.
Using a lip scrub also helps in repairing the lip skin cells, which improves the overall health of your lips. Additionally, the infusion of lightening agents like vitamin C and colour-lending components like beetroot or rose petals further boost the efficacy of such scrubs.
How to choose a lip scrub for dark lips?
While many people resort to using a homemade lip scrub to treat hyperpigmentation, making their own scrubs isn’t convenient for others, especially for people who’re always on the go. Hence, indulging in the ones available in the market makes for the best choice. And to make it easier for you to find that one lip scrub for dark lips ideal for you, we’ve scouted out some of the top ones that you can choose from. However, before that, here’s how you can decide which one to pick.
1. Instead of harsh exfoliants that can further damage your lip skin, opt for gentle or natural exfoliants like citrus, coffee or sugar crystals.
2. Whether you opt for a DIY lip scrub or pick one from the market, always ensure that it has hydrating ingredients including coconut oil, shea butter, vitamin E or almond oil in the formulation since moisturisation is a key to healthy lips. For instance, the Fresh Sugar Lip Polish Exfoliator (Buy it for SGD 26.50 at Look Fantastic) is perfect for both conditioning and brightening the lips.
3. A scrub that’s meant for dark lips should also be enriched with lightening or bleaching agents like vitamin C, turmeric and cane sugar among others.
4. Additionally, you can also opt for scrubs that are infused with ingredients that may further lend a beautiful tint to your lips.
Check out the best scrubs for dark lips available in the market
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SGD 36.50
The Full Fit Honey Sugar Lip Scrub offers a two-in-one action of gently sloughing off the dead skin cells and providing intense hydration to the lips. It is a physical exfoliator made with sugar crystals and honey extract making it a perfect pre-lipstick application treatment. It leaves your lip skin feeling soft, smooth and even-toned.
Image: Cosrx
SGD 24.84
Made with fine volcanic sand, crushed coconut shells and brown sugar to gently buff away the dead skin cells, the Kopari lip scrub for dark lips makes for a great choice. Also delivering intense moisturisation to the delicate lip skin, the coconut oil content in the formulation ensures the skin’s health without any irritation.
Image: Courtesy Kopari
SGD 12
The Dr. Pawpaw Scrub & Nourish is a stackable scrub and lip balm-in-one that’s inspired by the innovativeness of K-beauty. This is a two-step treatment in itself that harnesses the goodness of ingredients including papaya extract, olive oil, aloe vera and sunflower seed oil. Vegan and cruelty-free, it ensures soft, hydrated, kissable and even-toned lips.
Image: Courtesy Look Fantastic
SGD 24
This cherry-scented lip scrub exfoliates the flaky and dry skin of lips to reveal a plump and juicy pout underneath. It’s formulated with a potent blend of coffee, ethically-sourced beeswax and raw sugar that together ensure healthy and soft lips. It is free for phthalates, parabens and PEGs.
Image: Courtesy Sephora
SGD 30
Curated in a fuss-free packaging is this lip scrub for dark lips by Fenty Beauty that’s super easy to use with its twist-up stick make. Gently exfoliating and enriching your lips to lend them a soft and even-toned feel, the formula consists of apricot seed scrubbers, beeswax and oils of jojoba, coconut and castor seeds. It is lightweight and non-greasy and does not feel sticky on the skin.
Image: Courtesy Fenty Beauty
SGD 26.5
This Sugar Lip Polish by Fresh is one of the top lip scrubs for dark lips. Lessening the look of dry lips, while its brown sugar crystals exfoliate the skin, shea butter and jojoba oil ensure long-lasting moisturisation. It is suitable for people with dry, chapped and pigmented skin.
Image: Fresh
SGD 29.17
This lip scrub is rich in the power of ingredients such as rose petals, sugar, coconut oil, rose germanium and shea butter. It gently removes the dead and dry skin while delivering ample moisture and smoothness to the lip skin. It is 95 percent organic and is also cruelty-free.
Image: Courtesy Revolve
(Main Image Courtesy: Polina Kovaleva/Pexels; Featured Image Courtesy: mCaffeine)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Answer: Yes, turmeric acts as a great lightening ingredient that helps in reducing discolouration and gives an even-tone.
Answer: Yes, exfoliating your lips with a sugar scrub not only clears them from unwanted dead skin and impurities but it can also lighten them.
Answer: Yes, aloe vera contains a component called aloesin that’s known to inhibit the production of melanin in the skin, in turn controlling pigmentation.
Answer: You can exfoliate your lips using a lip scrub. Simply scoop out a small amount of the scrub and massage your lips with it in gentle circular motions for two to three minutes. Rinse it off after a minute and apply a hydrating lip balm on top. Do not exfoliate more than twice or thrice a week.
With an academic background in Public Relations, Divya has a flair for writing about topics spanning genres like lifestyle, beauty, fashion, travel, FnB, tech and entertainment. She fancies everything that's a wholesome blend of contemporary finery and timelessness. Quirky earrings and tees are her weakness. When not creating content, you will find her devouring food, snuggling in with a book and a cup-a-chai, admiring skies or revisiting Hogwarts.
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