Try this simple face wash infused with a classic wake-up ingredient.
A simple, castile soap based face wash has been my go-to recipe for many years. If you tend to make most of your household products, you’ve probably experimented with some variation of a DIY face cleanser, too.
When I heard about trendy coffee face cleansers, I was intrigued. I remember seeing versions in stores over the last few years, but I was hesitant about the long list of ingredients that came with them.
But of course, it turned out that making my own version of coffee face wash wasn’t hard to do. And it allows me to control the ingredients, keeping it simple – and more beneficial for my skin.
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Benefits of Coffee for Skin
Since giving up coffee (for the most part- it’s just an occasional treat now), I’ve honestly missed the comfort-inducing aroma in the morning.
But I learned that when you incorporate coffee into your skincare, you can still enjoy your coffee scent, while reaping many of its benefits in other ways.
For one, it’s high in antioxidants and may have a similar effect as hyaluronic acid.
This was interesting to me, as I sometimes use a hyaluronic acid moisturizer at night time and found it to be SUPER effective on fine lines. If coffee can replace that product, I will be thrilled! (Will update this post, if this happens.)
It’s also believed that coffee can also protect skin from UV-B rays to some extent (the same as with drinking coffee).
Caffeine in coffee can make skin appear firmer and help with puffy eyes in the morning.
While this would be another project for another day- a coffee scrub can also be made with spent coffee grounds which can help to exfoliate skin.
How to Make Coffee Face Wash Recipe
So what’s the best way to make coffee a part of your skincare routine? By making an infused oil.
You’ll start with fresh, dry coffee grounds (not spent). Add these grounds into a mason jar and let it soak in a carrier oil.
Here’s the thing, though: it needs to sit for a fair amount of time– ideally 4 to 6 weeks. This helps to extract all the coffee goodness out of the grounds.
(If you get impatient, you can try a shorter amount of time, it will just have less concentration.)
Once thoroughly infused, you will strain out the coffee grounds. The oil you are left with is the base of your face wash.
To this, you’ll add some castile soap and essential oils (optional). It’s really a simple process, if you can just be patient for the infusion part!
Alternative Essential Oil Method
Some people would rather use the same amount of carrier oil and just add essential oils – skipping the infusion step. You can do this, but you’ll need to be careful with the amount and the type of essential oils used if you’re using it on sensitive areas on your face (around eyes, mouth, nose).
Essential oils are much more concentrated, whereas infused oils are more mild and considered safer for topical use – while still conferring the benefits of the substance infused (in this case, coffee).
This is why I suggest just adding 10 (optional) drops of essential oil at the end of the process, instead of using it as the entire base of the recipe. You would need to use quite a bit of essential oil to entirely replace the infused oil.
But you can experiment with that if you’re comfortable doing so.
Choosing coffee grounds for skincare
I will note that it’s best to use organic coffee for your skin. Of course, this is left up to your preference. I just prefer not to have pesticides or other chemicals in my “natural” homemade coffee face wash.
The same goes for decaffeinated coffee. It’s likely been processed with chemicals in order to extract the caffeine, so I would avoid using that. Also, you would miss out on the benefits of the caffeine!
See recipe card below for printable instructions. Enjoy!
Homemade Coffee Face Wash Recipe
Wake up with coffee - in your skincare. Get the benefits of coffee by making an infused oil as the base of a daily refreshing face wash.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup dry ground coffee (not spent grounds)
- 1/2 cup carrier oil such as olive oil, almond oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 cup castile soap
- 10 drops coffee essential oil (optional)
Instructions
- Add carrier oil (almond, olive oil or avocado oil) to a mason jar. Let mixture sit for approximately 4-6 weeks.
- Use a strainer to strain oil into a separate jar.
- Add the essential oils (optional) to the infused oil.
- Mix the castile soap into the infused oil mixture. Stir thoroughly.
- Put into a pump container (10 oz is a good size).
- Wet face and use one to two pumps on a wet wash cloth to cleanse. Rinse thoroughly.
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