Oh, Lush, you are so wonderful. Your delicious-smelling soaps… your all-natural facials… your super-helpful retail associates… your solid conditioner with the long-lasting aroma that makes me want to make out with my own hair. You’re worth the premium price.
Most of the time.
Here’s one Lush product you don’t need to buy: Mint Julips Lip Scrub. I’m sure it’s delicious and wonderful and does all the things it’s supposed to do. It also costs $8.95 for a 0.9 oz. container and contains essentially two ingredients: sugar and oil.
Guess what you probably have in your kitchen? That’s right. Get ready to soften your lips and save some money.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own peppermint sugar lip scrub and free yourself of the desire to spend $9.94 per ounce on Lush’s version:
— A little bit of sugar (I use Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Sugar, which we buy in a 10-pound bag at Costco. It’s vegan, halal, kosher, karmically balanced, etc., and it costs a little more than regular sugar, but you can use any old granulated sugar).
— A few drops of peppermint oil (I buy the organic kind at my local grocery store. Look on the baking aisle; depending on the quality available, you’ll spend between $7 and $15 for a 2 oz. bottle).
That’s it.
Now, pour that little bit of sugar into the hollow of your hand. Oh, you want a measurement? Fine… use about an eighth of a teaspoon. Then add a few drops of peppermint oil. Your ratio should be roughly two parts sugar to one part oil. Now use your finger to mix it up, and then rub it all over your lips.
In Lush stores the associate will tell you to lick the scrub off your lips, and you can do that with this scrub, too. If you’re like me, though, and you’ve colored outside the lines a bit and don’t like the idea of saliva all over your face, you can rinse it off with water. I like to finish up by applying lip balm, or just another dab of plain peppermint oil.
If you like the idea of having a little jar of lip scrub, just mix up a batch using that two-to-one sugar-to-oil ratio and store it in one of those little clean empty jars you’ve been saving (or a little plastic container). You can also substitute different edible oils (olive, almond, etc.) for the peppermint oil.
For a rough cost comparison, let’s say you’re using sugar that costs $1.25 a pound (which is more than most sugar actually costs), or about eight cents per ounce, and peppermint oil that costs $6 per ounce. At a two-to-one sugar-to-oil ratio, three ounces of lip scrub (which is approximately one gazillion applications) will cost you about $6.16, or a little over $2 per ounce. Or, if you’re like me and you already have sugar and peppermint oil in your baking cupboard… free.
There you go. I just saved you nine bucks. If I were you, I’d spend it on nail polish.
