If coffee is the first thing you think of when you wake up, you’re definitely not alone. Your daily trip to your favorite cafe is great for more than just your mood, though. Coffee can have numerous skin benefits, whether you drink it or apply it topically, and there’s even research that suggests coffee may help with the treatment of rosacea. Plus, it’s just good for your overall health, so long as you drink it the healthy way (without cream and sugar).
In the unlikely case that you need more reasons to drink your favorite beverage, here are some of the ways that coffee benefits your skin:
5 Skincare Benefits of Coffee
Coffee is an unexpected ingredient with several of skincare benefits that many people are unaware of. Let’s start with five basic ones:
- 1Acne: Coffee fights acne in a couple different ways. It can fight against bacteria that causes acne and it also works as an anti-inflammatory to calm acne.
- 2After-sun care: Since coffee is calming, it can help soothe sunburned skin. Brew a fresh pot of coffee, add cold water to it, soak a cloth in it and then gently apply it to your skin. You can also have coffee ice cubes ready to go if you know you’ll be spending a day at the beach.
- 3Anti-aging: Putting coffee on the skin can get rid of signs of aging, like fine lines, redness and sun spots. It’s even possible that drinking coffee can have the same results.
- 4Antioxidants: Free radicals cause skin imperfections when they’re damaged from things like poor diet, smoking or stress. The antioxidants in coffee reverse those imperfections and leave your skin brighter and glowing.
- 5Exfoliate: The texture of coffee is coarser than other exfoliators, so it’s better at getting rid of dry or flaky skin. Use a circular motion to massage the scrub into your skin and stimulate blood flow, which helps with acne, cellulite and stretch marks.
Coffee for the Treatment of Rosacea
Rosacea is a skin disorder that can flare up and then go away for a while, and it typically starts affecting people in their 30's, though it can begin in the teens as well. Common signs of rosacea are redness on the chin, cheeks, forehead and nose. If rosacea isn’t treated, the symptoms can get worse with time and turn into bumps, acne, swelling, or other skin conditions.
For a long time, people have believed that a person with rosacea should avoid coffee. Now, though, it’s possible that caffeine can actually lower the risk of rosacea.
Studies show that regular coffee drinkers may have less of a risk of rosacea than infrequent coffee drinkers. This may be because coffee dilates blood vessels, which can decrease rosacea risk.
On the other hand, hot coffee could irritate the skin and trigger a flare up. If you’re struggling with rosacea, it may be good to experiment with switching to iced coffee for a few weeks to see if it makes a difference.
Another way to keep rosacea flare ups away? Reduce your stress. Stress manifests itself in physical forms, including via flare ups of allergies and skin conditions.
Diet, Skin Health, and Coffee
A poor diet can irritate the skin and contribute to rosacea, and it can also lead to obesity, which is a nationwide epidemic. Eating too many calories, either by overeating or eating foods that are rich in calories, is the leading cause of weight gain.
Working with a healthcare provider to create a weight loss plan is one of the best ways to get on the right track – and good news: coffee can be part of that.
Coffee can improve your metabolic rate and burn fat by as much as 29 percent. It can also help you get in a better workout at the gym – between increasing adrenaline and breaking down fat to deliver more fuel to your body, you can improve performance by up to 12 percent.
If you need expert guidance about weight loss, look for a health care provider who specifically has experience with nutrition, fitness, and weight loss – your regular doctor may not have the specialties you need.
Make Your Own Coffee Face Mask
Whichever skin condition you are hoping to address, there are lots of DIY coffee face masks you can try out.
Here’s a simple one that has just two ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen: coffee and olive oil.
Other Health Benefits of Coffee
You love your cup of morning coffee, can’t live without it, but did you know that it’s actually helping out your health? Here are a few more benefits of coffee that go beyond skincare:
Final Thoughts
Experiment with different coffee-based skincare products and consider switching to regular coffee if you usually opt for decaf. After a few weeks, ask yourself if you’ve noticed changes in your skin health.
If you haven’t, you may want to book an appointment with your dermatologist or another type of skincare expert, like an aesthetician. Coffee can help many different skin types, but it’s possible you need something more customized to your specific skin.
