Coffee properties that make it beneficial to skin health
Your cup of joe. Your favourite brew. Your "go juice".
Most of us LOVE sipping our cup of coffee each morning. And our second. And our third...
Coffee also has a good reputation in the beauty industry. From removing dead skin cells to improving skin tone and texture, there's many reasons you'll want to add a coffee scrub to your skincare routine.
Before we dive into the many coffee scrub benefits, let's look at the properties of our beloved beans that make them so good for our skin.
Caffeine: The first and most obvious property in coffee scrubs is caffeine. We know what caffeine does inside our body, but what happens when we rub it on our skin?
Polyphenols: Coffee's main polyphenol is chlorogenic acid which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Other Antioxidants: Coffee is full of antioxidant activity from chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid and caffeic acid.
These are some of the properties that make coffee scrub good for your skin. Read on to learn the benefits!
Where can coffee scrubs be used
Coffee scrubs can be used from head to toe.
As you'll see below you can use a coffee scrub as part of your hair care routine, all the way down to buffing off rough skin from your feet.
The most popular use is in a body scrub, which we recommend doing in the shower since it can be a bit messy. And while you'll see social media posts of people using on their entire face, we say take caution on the delicate skin around your eyes. (More on that below).
8 Benefits of Coffee Scrubs
There's a lot of reasons you may want to add a coffee scrub to your skincare routine. But don't skip the fine print. Not all coffee scrub benefits are backed by scientific evidence.
Exfoliation/Remove dead skin cells
The #1 reason to use a coffee scrub is to remove dead skin cells, aka exfoliation. It's one of many ways to exfoliate your skin.
A coffee scrub is an example of mechanical or physical exfoliation. The combination of the coarse grounds of coffee with pressure and movement work to exfoliate the skin.
Using a mechanical exfoliant like a scrub or exfoliating washcloth stimulates blood circulation in the skin. The caffeine found in a coffee scrub improves circulation even more.
Since coffee scrubs are usually 100% natural skin care products, they make a great alternative for those with sensitive skin who find that chemical exfoliation causes dryness or irritation.
When we exfoliate, dead skin is removed to reveal fresh, healthy skin underneath. Results include soft & smooth skin, reduced flakiness caused by dry skin, and improved skin texture overall.
We recommend following your coffee scrub with a body lotion for crepey skin to increase softness and hydration.
Removing dead skin cells from the skin's surface also helps other products like serums and moisturizers to absorb deeper.
And these amazing benefits of exfoliating with coffee scrub aren't just for your face and body. You can use coffee scrub on your hair too! Well actually, your scalp.
Your hair won't benefit from a good scrub but the skin on your scalp will. After shampooing, squeeze out excess water before applying coffee scrub to your scalp in gentle circular motions. Rinse thoroughly and follow with conditioner.
Finally, if you're making your own coffee scrub at home, you can experiment with the different textures/roughness depending on how fine you grind your coffee beans.
Getting rid of puffy eyes
Using caffeine on the eye area is a no brainer. Our eyes show signs of fatigue more than any other part of our face. Stimulating the area with caffeine is said to increase circulation and blood flow and constrict blood vessels.
A word of caution: be VERY careful using a coffee scrub (or any coarse physical exfoliant) around your eyes. The skin around our eyes is thin and needs to be treated delicately. In addition to using a coffee scrub, you should always hydrate and protect your eyes from free radical damage with a nourishing eye cream.
Sun protection
Read this first: COFFEE SCRUBS ARE NOT A SUNSCREEN/SPF.
So why would we call a coffee scrub a "sun protection". It's all about prevention.
We all know that exposure to UV rays makes us susceptible to signs of premature aging like sun spots, wrinkles, crepey skin and more. All of this happens when there is a buildup of oxidative stress from free radicals in the skin.
The remedy? Antioxidants, which coffee happens to be a good source of.
Cellulite reduction
Are coffee scrubs an effective treatment for cellulite? While you'll see this advice touted all over the internet, there's very little science to support these claims.
But not all is lost.
Exfoliation itself may be helpful to your cause. It won't erase cellulite altogether, but it may reduce the appearance of cellulite. The same can be said for stretch marks.
Acne treatment
We know that acne is sometimes caused by excess oil/dead skin cells blocking the pores. If you have oily skin, regularly exfoliating with a coffee scrub will help minimize the risk of acne.
Use circular motions to buff away dead skin from your back, chest and even face - just be careful not to aggravate any blemishes or rub too hard on delicate/broken skin.
Reduces Inflammation
Like we mentioned above, coffee gets anti-inflammatory properties from it's polyphenols like chlorogenic acids.
We're big fans of ingredients that reduce inflammation in the skin, because they can help get to the root of your skin issues.
Since coffee scrubs wash off, they lose a bit of their inflammation-fighting power. To optimize this benefit, follow with a leave-on product like a body lotion or facial serum that includes anti-inflammatory ingredients.
Gives Your Skin a Glow
Everyone wants to have clear, glowing skin!
Coffee scrubs give you that glow in a few ways:
- The exfoliation will remove dead skin cells to reveal fresh, radiant skin underneath.
- It improves circulation and increases blood flow to bring colour and oxygen to your skin.
- The nourishing oils mixed into most coffee body scrubs provide additional moisture and glow to the skin.
Offers Skin Tightening Properties
We've already covered exfoliation as one of the major benefits of using a coffee scrub. In addition to the skin health benefits we mentioned above, coffee scrubs have skin tightening properties related to exfoliation. Exfoliating regularly is important in preventing crepey skin on arms and legs.
Our necks and decollate are also prone to sagging and crepiness. Best practice is to gently exfoliate the area with your coffee scrub and follow immediately with a skin firming neck cream.
How Often Can Coffee Scrub be used
On the body:
You can use a coffee scrub on your body as often as you want. That's the beauty of safe, natural ingredients! Like all exfoliation methods, we recommend 1x per week. If you have dry or flaky skin, you may benefit from up to 2-3x per week.
On the face:
When it comes to skin care products that exfoliate, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Again, we recommend using a coffee scrub no more than 1x per week on your face to support healthy skin functioning.
And your coffee scrub use is not limited to any one season. You can use it 12 months a year!
DIY Coffee Scrub
Here's a quick and easy recipe for a DIY coffee scrub:
- Choose your coffee grounds - You can use pre ground coffee or grind it yourself. Either option works. If grinding the coffee yourself, you have the freedom to choose how fine or coarse you want the grounds.
- Choose your favourite natural oils like coconut oil, olive oil and hemp seed oil OR mix with a nourishing oil cleanser.
- Combine 2 TBSP oil to every 4 TBSP of coffee grounds.
- Store in an airtight container.
Other variations include mixing with yogurt (great for dry skin) or combining the coffee grounds with another physical exfoliant like sugar or salt.
Conclusion
As you can see, using a humble coffee scrub helps with everything from removing dead skin cells to preventing premature aging. It's a simple, natural way to benefit your skin!
You Are Loved.
Author Bio: Jennifer is the president and founder of empyri. Jennifer’s passion for formulation and product development was set ablaze in 2019, when she incorporated the healing power of cannabis roots into her long-standing three-step skin care system. Armed with scientific evidence on the actives in cannabis roots and seeds, a clean and conscious brand was born. Using her masters degree in bio-chemical engineering, Jennifer is forging a path to ...READ FULL BIO |
Sources: