DIY Orange Peel Lip Plumping Scrub

Hello and Welcome (or welcome back!) to my blog! How do you like this remodel? I am definitely feeling it. It took quite some time to find a format I liked, but I must say, this is going to be it for a while. One of the things I’m most excited about is the expansion into all of the other areas of the blog. Today, I’m diving into my first ever beauty post and it happens to be a DIY lip scrub!

I’m sure you’ve seen various lip scrubs around, but this one is special. Why? Because it was born out of my addiction for “Cuties;” those little oranges that they market for kids, but that I buy anyone because I’m a grown up and do what I want! Well, I buy them and go through them so fast, that I thought, why aren’t I saving these peels. For both cooking and skin care purposes, there’s SO much to be done with them. So I took the peels, chopped them into thin strips and dehydrated them in the oven until all of the water was out and all that was left were the essential oils. From there, I ground them into a powder and stored them for later use. You could add them to a candle, put them into foods or even into beauty products, which is what I did.

The reason I decided to put this orange peel powder into the lip scrub was 3 fold.

1. It provides a natural fragrance to the scrub that is nice and refreshing and reminds me of summer!
2. It gives the scrub a “flavor” by association of smell which means we keep it as natural as possible. This was important because I’m not the biggest fan of plain honey, but love the benefits and this helps me out!
3. Most importantly, it’s full of vitamin C which has the effect of reversing hyper-pigmentation. Because I wear lipstick almost every day the skin on my lips builds up and causes my lips to appear darker. The scrub itself, combined with the benefits of vitamin C definitely help to bring my lips back to their natural color!

In addition to the orange, I used cinnamon honey to add a lip plumping effect. Now, this scrub is not going to make you look like you have injections or give you lips like my naturally full ones. What it will do, however, is give your lips a bit of fullness due to the cinnamon heightening the slight irritation you get from the exfoliation of the scrub. This effect are temporary, but with newly smooth, polished and moisturized lips, it lasts long enough to capture some fire selfies!!

Here is a breakdown of the benefits of each of the ingredients:

• Orange Peel – Full of vitamin C which fights hyper-pigmentation, fights dead skin and dryness.
• Brown Sugar – Humectant, so naturally hydrating, encourages cell turnover which equals younger looking skin, 
• Pink Himalayan Salt – exfoliates skin (obvi!), balances skin’s pH
• Cinnamon Honey – opens pores to let out toxins, brings oxygen to the lips to give plumping effect, honey is a natural antimicrobal and antioxidant
• Coconut Oil – Antimicrobal and antifungal, deeply penetrates skin to provide lasting moisture

With all of these benefits, why wouldn’t you add this scrub to your routine?

Do you have a go to lip routine?

DIY Orange Peel Plumping Lip Scrub

Author: Monique Manning

Yield: Makes 4, 20ml pots of lip scrub

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp dried orange peel
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp pink himalayan salt, course ground
• 2 tsp cinnamon honey*
• 1-1/2 tbsp coconut oil, room temperature

Method:

1. In a small bowl or mortar, combine all ingredients.
2. If using a pestel and mortar, lightly grind the ingredients until you get a uniform, but coarse paste. If using a bowl, use the back of a spoon to grind the solid ingredients into a coarse paste.
3. Transfer mixture into large container with lid, or split into smaller containers with lid and close tightly.
4. Take a liberal amount and rub gently onto lips with fingers. Do this for 1-2 mins and let sit an additional minute. Wipe off with a wet cloth or rinse. Follow up with a lip balm or moisturizer. Do not use more than 1-2 times per week to avoid irritation.
5. Store in a cool dark place up to 3 weeks.
6. Enjoy!

*In lieu of cinnamon honey, use 2 tsp honey and add up to 1/4 tsp of cinnamon*