Shoppers With ‘Chronically Dry Lips’ Say This Under-$10 Lip Treatment ‘Actually Makes a Difference’
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If your lips live in that permanent cycle of flake, pick, balm, repeat, you already know the problem with most lip scrubs. They work, but they can also feel like sandpaper when your lips are already cracked. That is why beauty shoppers are loving The Ordinary’s PHA 5% Exfoliating Lip Serum takes the gentler route — which happens to cost under $10.
One reviewer with “chronically dry lips” called it “the best lip serum I’ve ever tried,” adding, “I put a small amount of this thin serum on my lips at night, put a thick layer of balm over top, wake up in the morning with smooth lips.” Another went even simpler: “WOW!… This stuff is AWESOME! IT works So quick and with hardly any mess!!! It’s well worth the cost!!!”
The appeal here is that it’s not gritty. Instead of scrubbing with sugar crystals, it relies on gentle exfoliating acids. Gluconolactone is a PHA, which is basically an “entry-level” chemical exfoliant: it works on the surface but tends to be more forgiving because the molecules are larger, so they don’t penetrate as aggressively. The formula also uses a small amount of AHAs, another family of exfoliating acids that help lift built-up dead skin so lips look smoother over time. That’s why so many reviews describe it as comfortable even for sensitive lips. One shopper wrote, “It feels gentle going on and doesn’t sting or irritate,” and said that with regular use their lips felt “noticeably smoother and less dry,” especially in cold weather.
Several reviews hit the same practical point: you don’t need much of this exfoliating overnight lip treatment. “A little (very little) goes a looooooonnnggggg way,” one person wrote, while another agreed: “A little goes a VERY long way… it doesn’t even take a whole drop to completely cover my lips.” If you do over-apply, you’ll feel it. One reviewer warned that too much can get “sticky,” and another said using it “every single night is not the best idea” because it can dry out existing cracks. The sweet spot, according to both the brand directions and real-life trial and error, is a thin layer on clean, dry lips on alternate evenings, then lip balm as needed.
That “treatment” vibe comes up a lot. One shopper said that the overnight lip serum “feels more like a treatment than a gritty scrub,” and another loved that it “absorbs well and doesn’t feel sticky or heavy.” If you’re the type who keeps balm in every pocket, you’ll appreciate this detail: a reviewer noticed “lip balm goes on much more smoothly after using it.”
If dry, flaky lips are your default setting, this under-$10 exfoliating lip serum is an easy add-on to your night routine, especially if you want smoothing without the scrub burn. Why not give The Ordinary’s PHA 5% Exfoliating Lip Serum a try for yourself and see if it makes your balm (and your lipstick days) go on “much more smoothly,” too?
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