COFFEE BREAK
Whether to take the chill out of your mornings or to serve as a mid-day recharge, most of us find ourselves romancing the bean as the winter sets in.
After you’re done savouring the hot bliss what do you do with the coffee grounds? You throw it because it’s waste, right? Add these tips to your bag of DIY tricks to make the best out of this waste, next time you sip on your beloved elixir.
Tinting your hair: If you’re in the mood to ditch the chemicals, you can naturally tint your hair using grounded coffee. It also adds lustre to your mane and stimulates its growth. However, the temporary stain is not recommended on lighter hair colours.
Recipe: Mix 8 tbsp of grounded strong coffee with 3 tbsp of olive oil and 8 cups of water and leave it on your hair for 1 and a half hour. Rinse thereafter. Also, mixing ½ tsp of coffee grounds with conditioner helps enhancing the colour if you’ve dyed your hair black or dark brown.
Scrub & Smooth: Speaking of scrubbing dead skin off your feet, coffee grounds make the perfect natural and inexpensive exfoliant.
Recipe: Mix coffee grounds with mashed banana to scrub off dead skin. Follow with soaking your weary feet in a mix of ground coffee and coconut oil to soothe them. This gives that extra moisturising effect.
Cellulite buster: Make a thick paste by mixing equal parts coffee grounds and coconut oil into your hand, and knead it into cellulite-prone areas like the thighs and hips. The caffeine in the coffee grounds will dehydrate the skin and the circular motion used to apply the paste will stimulate blood flow shrinks their size, resulting in a tightening effect from the outside.
Make a mask: Being a powerhouse of antioxidants, there is a lot you can do when it comes to preparing yourself a coffee mask and livening up your skin early morning. One of my favourite recipes however, is a blend of 4 tbsp each of ground coffee beans and cocoa powder and 6 to 8 tbsp of unflavoured yogurt. Spread the paste on your face and relax for 20 minutes or until the mask dries up. Wash off the face mask with lukewarm water
Depuff: Kiss your under-eye bags goodbye using this at-home remedy. Just apply chilled coffee grounds to your under-eye area, let sit for 10 minutes, and rinse well. The caffeine in coffee helps restricting blood flow to the area and reduces under-eye swelling.
