Anyone who knows me knows I'm no product girl. In fact, I rarely mix business with pleasure, or beauty or... well, you follow me. But, anyone who lives in the Valley of the Sun knows that at some point or points during the year, it gets so dry that dry hands, faces, skin, lips (insert any body part, or furniture for that matter) will dry out and we could all benefit from a few inexpensive ways to stay hydrated aside from guzzling gallons of water, having a water softener or humidifier (or both!) and taking stock in a lotion company.
My beauty regime consists primarily of products that you can find at Walgreens. After a particularly dry spring, we're about .75in behind in rainfall & humidity is still low. I think I've maxed out on the benefits of my drug store face creams. I've woken up coughing, completely stuffy or with a completely parched mouth every morning or in the middle of the night for about a month now and I'm finally to the point that no matter what I eat drink or put on my face, I can't get my lips to stop feeling rough dry and like I've walked through the desert all day. OK- so I get it. I do walk through a desert all day, but it's the Sonoran Desert, not the Sahara, for goodness sakes! My lips are so chapped, I haven't been able to wear lipstick for about a week now.
My darling husband did agree finally agree that my lips were rough after he assured me I was making a big deal out of nothing. So, I set off to my bathroom to find what few products I had might do something to help. After finding something with pineapple enzyme that I seemed to recall had salicylic acid, I read the label (of about 5 vague lines) to make sure I wouldn't poison myself and rubbed some on. After about 30 seconds, I got maybe a few flakes and it stopped. By this point, I was trying to keep the goop from going in my mouth while maintaining a vigorous rub to slough off as much dry skin as I could. Then, I washed off the stuff to reveal my handy work. It looked... the same, minus a few more flakes.
So I set off to the wonderful world of Google to see what I could rustle up. Given that it was about 10:30 at night and Sephora, Origins and all the other department stores wouldn't be an option, I looked for the DIY, homemade options to see what I could find. After praying I wouldn't be forced to procure items like jojoba oil, witch hazel or lord knows what other random, granola ingredients the earth mamas out there use to keep their organically-fed skin ravishing, I was pleased to find not 1, but 2 sites proclaiming that just 3 simple, keep-in-your-pantry ingredients would do.
Honey. Olive Oil. Sugar.
Check, check & check. I had all 3. So I went off to my kitchen to start making my brew. I put a dot of the honey and the olive oil in a little glass bowl and a tiny scoop of sugar (about the same amounts of each- and no, I didn't measure!).
Supposedly, white sugar is a little more exfoliating than it's healthier, brown variety. I stuck my finger in and mixed it up. The honey is very sticky and makes it tough to mix the olive oil in. Just be persistent and you'll get the right consistency.
I gave it a sniff to make sure I was actually willing to try it and headed back to the bathroom. I rubbed a little on my lips and started scrubbing. It felt OK. After about 30 seconds, I stopped. Then I added some more. As it started to pile up on my lips and after some hesitance to taste it, I did. It wasn't bad. It was a little like Mediterranean-flavored, grainy, honey. I kept rubbing until it was all gone. It didn't feel like it was all gone, but I was ready for bed, so I called it a night, slathered some Vaseline on and went to sleep.
In the morning, I woke up parched like I usually do, but my lips no longer hurt and flaked. I got dressed, did my normal routine and tried some lipstick. It didn't look great, but it was better than nothing. Fast forward all day. I haven't reapplied my lipstick, but I'm still not chapped and flaky. I think it worked and that is good enough for me! Give it a whirl and let me know what you think!
36 hour follow up: My lips really are back to normal. Yay!