The 6 Best Lip Scrubs for a Smooth, Soft, Lipstick-Ready Pout

Best Overall

Poppy & Pout Lip Scrub

$15 at Amazon $15 at Ulta View on Poppyandpout.com

Key Ingredients: Sugar, coconut oil, sunflower oil, beeswax, natural honey flavor oil, vitamin E | Size: 0.75 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Using Poppy and Pout Wild Honey Lip Scrub was a delightful experience from start to finish. This handmade, natural scrub utilizes sugar to exfoliate and a coconut oil, sunflower oil, and beeswax blend to add slip and hydration. Our tester appreciated the scrub’s spreadable texture which gently smoothed dry patches, leaving her lips subtly hydrated (subtle is the key word here; she followed up with a lip balm for additional moisture). Natural honey oil adds to the sensory appeal here. It smells good enough to eat, and the same can be said of the brand’s other flavors including marshmallow creme, lemon bloom, and blood orange mint.

Alyssa Kaplan, Byrdie commerce writer with combination skin: “I think the texture is really ideal, and I love that it comes in a wide range of flavors.”

Best Budget

e.l.f. Cosmetics Lip Exfoliator

$5 at Amazon $5 at Target $5 at Ulta

Key Ingredients: Sugar, vitamin E, jojoba oil, shea butter, avocado oil | Size: 0.116 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Our budget-friendly fave is also incredibly easy to apply. Swipe it on just like a regular lip balm and rub your lips together while its medium-grit sugar-based formula gets to work loosening rough skin. Meanwhile, nourishing vitamin E, jojoba oil, shea butter, and avocado oil condition the lips to leave them lightly moisturized. 

When our tester wiped off the scrub, as per the instructions, her lips were super soft and smooth—the perfect canvas for lipstick. 

Karla, tester with dry, sensitive skin: “It's designed just like a lip balm, which makes it super easy to use. It's not messy at all and doesn't take a lot of time. You just apply it and then wipe it away. Simple and convenient!”

Best Moisturizing

Grande Cosmetics GrandeBUFF Lip Scrub

$14 at Amazon $24 at Sephora View on Ulta

Key Ingredients: Sugar, shea and mango butters, coconut, avocado, argan and castor oils | Size: 0.53 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Unlike many competitors, this scrub genuinely doubles as a rich, hydrating lip balm. It’s formulated with a laundry list of hydrating heroes, including creamy mango and shea butters, and argan oil, which left lips ultra-moisturized and protected against chapping. The scrub part is made from sugar-based eco beads designed to dissolve while they work their exfoliating magic, but our tester wound up using a wipe to remove the product completely. It did the trick—her lips were utterly smooth and primed for her favorite long-lasting red lipstick. She also appreciated that the jar comes with a little scoop for hygienic application. 

Samantha, tester with combination skin: “This product actually made me wish I had someone to kiss! I found myself rubbing my lips together in appreciation of the product's moisturizing effect.”

Best Applicator

Makeup by Mario Perfecting Lip Scrub

$24 at Sephora View on Makeupbymario.com View on Kohls.com

Key Ingredients: Sugar, coconut oil, sodium hyaluronate | Size: 0.43 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

By their very nature lip scrubs are a little messy, but this one simplifies the process thanks to its squeeze-tube applicator. It comes out like a thick gloss, distributing superfine sugar particles to help buff away dry, chapped skin, then rinses off without leaving a sticky residue. Our tester called the scrub “stimulating” and it left her lips smooth and plump, even improving the color and texture. Although the formula contains hydrating ingredients such as coconut oil and sodium hyaluronate, it’s not especially moisturizing, so an additional lip balm is key. 

Caitlyn Martyn, Byrdie associate commerce editor with oily skin: “I like the applicator and how it mimics a lip balm or gloss. It's easy to add however much you want and it stores nicely.”

Best Gentle

Milani Supercharged Lip Scrub

View on Ulta View on Milanicosmetics.com

Key Ingredients: Sugar, castor oil, sweet almond oil, citrus, ginseng, turmeric | Size: 0.49 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

Milani’s Supercharged Lip Scrub proves that gentle formulas can still get the job done. It’s more like a balm than a scrub, but the silky consistency improves the feel of lips from the very first application, leaving them noticeably smoother and more moisturized. While our tester typically applies a balm over her go-to matte lipstick, this scrub kept her lips adequately hydrated all on its own, thanks to castor oil and sweet almond oil. She also loved its sweet citrusy scent/flavor. Her one complaint was that it comes in a jar when a tube would be a more hygienic option. 

Keyaira, tester with combination skin: “It could smooth out sandpaper if necessary. It was that good.”

Best Fragrance-Free

Bigger Than Beauty Skincare Pout Hero Exfoliating Lip Scrub

View on Thrivecausemetics.com

Key Ingredients: Sugar, coconut powder, lactic acid enzyme complex | Size: 0.12 oz | Cruelty-Free: Yes

If you’re sensitive to strong scents and flavors, try this fragrance-free option from Bigger Than Beauty Skincare. The Pout Hero lip scrub combines physical (sugar and coconut powder) and chemical (lactic acid) exfoliators to reveal smooth, supple skin with every swipe. Our tester described it as light and gentle, coating his lips in buttery, long-lasting moisture.

Saleam, tester with combination skin: “It didn't leave my lips irritated like a lot of similar products. I also loved how hydrated my lips felt after.”