We all love a delicious coffee to start the day, but did you know quality coffee also has a wide range of benefits for your skin?

Coffee is a great natural exfoliant, packed full of caffeine and antioxidants, while being gentler on your pores than synthetic particles. Applying a coffee scrub can help to improve the smoothness and appearance of your skin by gently removing dead skin cells and increasing circulation. Coffee scrub is also incredibly simple to make at home, so you can nourish your skin anytime with ease.

The basic recipe for a scrub is simple: grit + oil + whatever extras you like.

For the grit, we’ve used coffee, brown sugar and sea salt.

In addition to the benefits of the coffee, brown sugar helps bind the whole scrub together, while giving a finer buff and polish and acts as a humectant, helping lock in hydration. Sea salt is also antibacterial and keeps the whole scrub nice and clean.

Dried coffee grounds are easier to work with, so once you’ve made your morning cuppa, simply crumble the grounds onto a baking tray and leave them out to dry. This is also a great way to minimise waste.

Each scrub uses a different carrier oil, but feel free to use whatever works best for your skin. I’ve put in a starting measurement, but add as much or as little as you like, depending on whether you like your scrub a little oilier or grittier.

We’ve listed some simple recipes below so you can get started and enjoy smoother, clearer skin. These recipes are just the basic ratios, so the quantities can be multiplied if you’d like to make enough to store or to give handmade coffee scrubs to friends.

Nourishing Face Scrub

• 3 tablespoons coffee
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 5 tablespoons grapeseed oil
  chock full of vitamin E and linoleic acid, grapeseed oil is a skin-tightening, scar-fading, pore-cleaning powerhouse
• A few drops of lavender, rose geranium & ylang ylang essential oils
  healing, soothing, anti-ageing, with the added benefit of helping you calm down and de-stress

Invigorating Body Scrub

• 3 tablespoons coffee
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
• 5 tablespoons almond oil
  a mild oil guaranteed to leave your skin silky smooth with added zinc, potassium and fatty acids to help heal any little bumps or irritations
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  invigorating, antiseptic and anti-ageing, ginger is as good for your skin as it is for your insides
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
  anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, circulation booster
• a few drops orange & frankincense essential oils
  frankincense to lift & tighten skin, orange for Vitamin C and a little boost of happiness!

This scrub can also work wonders for a flaky scalp.

Delicious Lip Scrub

• 1 tablespoon coffee
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  deeply moisturising & tastes like tropical paradise which is important, because let’s be real, some of this is going in your mouth
• 1 generous pinch ground cinnamon
  this warming spice helps boost the blood flow for a plumping action

Experience Healthier Skin with Merlo Today!

Simply shop our range of premium coffee beans, sit back and enjoy a delicious cup, then dry out the grounds to make a nourishing scrub. Once you try these recipes out, share your scrubs with us on Instagram and Facebook!