Lip scrubs, toothbrush method, etc never seem to work for me. My foolproof trick for perfectly smooth lips is to apply a deep conditioning balm like Bite's Agave Mask, let it soften up stubborn flakes, then rub/buff with a baby wipe (I use Huggies "Naturals"). I don't know why or how it works so well, but it's seriously awesome lol. I haven't ordered any of these lippies yet. My one gripe is that they put out so many coral and vampy type shades and yet only one neutral. Like really!? Also, the packaging seems really cheap/uninspired. It's almost reminiscent of an off-brand lip gloss you'd find in a dollar store.