Beauty ingredient of the week: coffee

Taken from the kitchen to the bathroom, coffee can give you a real boost in battling cellulite, skin aging, dead skin, and dull hair.

A natural, inexpensive and effective ingredient… What more could you ask for?

 
Have you ever thought about using coffee as part of your beauty routine?

It seems that many people have, judging from the numerous recipes of homemade cosmetics featuring the ingredient that can be found on social networks, notably TikTok.

And it’s not really a surprise because coffee — whether as an active ingredient (caffeine) or in its different textures (coffee grounds or powder) — has countless virtues for skin and hair.

We focus on a few that should help convince you to either concoct your own treatments, or embrace some of the numerous cosmetic formulations based on this precious ingredient.

Caffeine, an active ingredient that shouldn’t be ignored

It’s not uncommon to find cosmetics formulated with caffeine, an active ingredient known for its slimming and firming benefits.

Generally, it is found in creams, gels, and other beauty products designed to help lose a few centimeters on the hips, thighs, or buttocks, as well as in anti-cellulite products or formulations designed to help users improve toning or firmness. 

But caffeine is also present in certain facial care products, again with the aim of fighting skin slackening, but also — and above all — to improve the appearance of the eye contour area and reduce puffiness and dark circles (it can be even more effective if the product has spent some time in the refrigerator).

Creams, gels, masks, cleansers: caffeine is nowadays found in products at all price points in the cosmetic departments of department stores and specialized shops.

In the form of powder and grounds

With the advent of DIY beauty, coffee now shows up in many so-called “homemade” recipes in the form of powder or grounds.

Rich in caffeine, these formulations can offer the advantages mentioned above, but are also powerful antioxidants, which allows them to fight against certain effects seen on mature skins, and more generally against skin aging. 

In addition to these inherent virtues, coffee grounds, thanks to their specific texture, also make for a great exfoliant for sloughing off dead cells.

All you need to do is mix it with other ingredients: egg white for a mask, vegetable oil and honey for a face and body scrub, or even on its own to exfoliate scalp and hair to make it shinier.

Over on TikTok, known for being the go-to social network for DIY beauty recipes, one can also discover a multitude of recipes for masks and scrubs made from soluble coffee or coffee beans.

Recipes that users seem to have not only tested but also approved.