Why Coffee Is Good for Your Skin

We all know that “A lot can happen over a cup of coffee” but do we know that “A lot can be done with coffee”?

Coffee is usually associated with waking people up in the morning, but it can also perk up your skin. The caffeine in coffee has a number of benefits for your skin, from treating redness and inflammation, to reducing the appearance of under-eye circles, to getting rid of cellulite. By incorporating caffeine into your skin care routine, you can reveal evenly toned, smooth skin all over your body.

Let us look at some of the benefits that coffee can provide for our skin:

• High in antioxidants: The environment is full of free radicals  that wreak havoc on the skin. However, loading up skin with the antioxidants in coffee protects it and bolsters its natural defences. In fact, a study showed that coffee bean extracts can be responsible for skin cell energy preservation due to its free-radical properties.
• Protection against UV rays: Prolonged exposure to harsh UV rays can lead to life-threatening skin diseases. Caffeine can be used as a sunscreen as it can absorb UV rays and protect the skin cells from damage.
• Helps brighten and smoothen skin: Because of its qualities that signal tissue repair, coffee plays a crucial role in regulating cell re-growth, leading to retained hydration (increased collagen) and increased skin elasticity
• Prevent hair breakage: Masks or hair products that contain coffee helps prevent the damage of the hair and make them shiny as well.

Following are some of the do-it-yourself tips to make coffee based scrubs, masks, or exfoliator:

• Face scrub: This ingredient works great as a scrub as it is not harsh on the skin. Try a natural scrub by mixing ground coffee, brown sugar, and olive oil. Once you have mixed it well, massage it on your face in circular motions to buff away the dead skin cells
• Face mask: Ground coffee mixed with milk with a thick consistency when applied on the face for 10-15 minutes and washed off, leaves the skin brighter and radiate with a glowing complexion.
• Exfoliator: Coffee is also a great exfoliator for your scalp. Take a half cup of ground coffee and massage on your wet hair for two minutes. Rinse it off with your regular shampoo and conditioner. This will help to get rid of excess product build up and dead skin cells.
• Anti-cellulite: Coffee is known to help with burning the cellulite. To tighten the skin and help reduce the appearance of cellulite, mix ground coffee with olive oil and sugar and massage it over the affected areas in a circular motion. It can be done on a daily basis depending on your skin type.
• Reduce puffy eyes: Coffee increases circulation and also helps to reduce puffiness as it is high in antioxidant properties. It helps to shrink blood vessels and works great to reduce eye puffiness. Whenever you make a cup of coffee, keep the grounds aside and let them cool for some time. Apply the leftover under the eyes and eyelid area for a few minutes and later rinse it off with cold water. For puffy eyes, you can also try the coffee ice cubes hack.