The Amazing Benefits of Coffee for Your Skin

We've been drinking coffee for more years than we can remember. A good cup of joe from our local coffee shop or The Mudtruck right outside of our offices is how we prefer to jumpstart the day. Plus, we can proudly brag at family dinners about the many health benefits of latte-sipping. (Coffee can make us less stressed AND make us smarter? We'll have another cup.)

        There are beauty benefits worth nothing, too. Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, which can prevent premature skin aging. And some research even suggests an association between intake of caffeine (which we all know coffee has in spades) and decreased risk of skin cancer. Here are three beauty benefits of coffee:

1. It gets rid of puffy eyes. 

Caffeine works as a constrictor to reduce swelling and inflammation, according to Dr. Amy Wechsler, M.D., who is both a dermatologist and a psychiatrist. She recommends applying eye creams that contain caffeine, as opposed to drinking coffee, because topical treatments target this skincare problem faster.

2. It minimizes the appearance of cellulite... temporarily. 

You've probably read accounts of women proclaiming that they got rid of cellulite by scrubbing with coffee, but this isn't accurate. "No matter what's in [the scrub], if you scrub hard enough it will irritate the skin," Wechsler explains. "And when you irritate the skin, it brings in more water, hence inflammation, so you get swollen." So if you're going to the beach and want to scrub the heck out of your tush, the doctor warns us that the skin-firming effects will only last for about three hours.

3. For Anti Acne

Apply the coffee mask on your face and neck. Massage your skin in an upwards circular motion to get the blood flow going.Don’t massage in downwards circulation as it will cause the skin to sag. Pay attention to your neck, the t zone and the corners of your nose. Keep up this process for atleast two to three minutes, then rinse away. To close the pores if your skin, run an ice cube all over your face ,including the eyelids, for a minute. Pat dry with a clean towel and apply a non retinol based light moisturizer.

4. Treatment of Hair Loss

Men often experience hair loss due to the effects of the male hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which affects susceptible hair follicles. Consequently, these follicles become smaller and finally disappear, causing baldness. This process known as “miniaturization” of the hair follicles, adversely affects the growth phases of hair. Caffeine, when applied topically, penetrates into the hair roots and stimulates them. Besides preventing male baldness and hair loss, it stimulates the hair roots in the scalps of women and triggers stronger hair growth. For caffeine to be effective, allow the caffeine containing shampoo to stay on your scalp for two minutes so that it can penetrate the hair roots.