Homemade Coffee and Coconut Body Scrub.

Courtesy of adamr/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I was pregnant, I had to make some major changes in my lifestyle and diet. I've been fairly careful of what I eat and drink, but there was one thing I really couldn't give up. Coffee. For the first few months I was literally living of organic, chicory caffeine free drink, desperately trying to replace that glorious, aromatic, black liquid and pretending that
I could live without it. Luckily, towards the end of my pregnancy, caffeine wasn't as much of the threat for my unborn baby,
so I could get back to my daily cup of coffee routine. 

That innocent addiction, topped with other bad habits from the past and pregnancy, have left me with something what, sooner or later, every woman will struggle with - cellulite, commonly known as orange peel syndrome.
I'm not gonna go into details of what's causing it, but I will say just one thing. It's a giant pain in the ass. Almost literally.
So I had to figure out how to get rid of that thing without spending ridiculous amount of money and putting nasty toxins on myself ( i.e.  'magic' anti-cellulite creams,gels and heavens know what else ).
I went off to ask almighty uncle Google for advice and found out that one of the solutions to my problem was - surprise,surprise - caffeine.

The best and easily accessible source of caffeine is coffee, of course. So, I put together my two favourite things - coffee and coconut oil - and that's how I created this lush body scrub.

It's quick and easy, it will leave your skin smooth, bright and smelling nice and as all homemade products, it's very cheap.
You're gonna need equal amounts of ground coffee and coconut oil. Coffee doesn't have to be fresh, you can use one from the coffee machine, this way you can enjoy lovely drink and amazing beauty products ( what makes it even cheaper ).

Melt coconut oil ( 30 seconds in the microwave will do the job ) and mix it with ground coffee. Equal quantities will create a nice, smooth paste. You can alternate it to create a consistency that is right for you.

When you're mixture is ready, take a hot shower to cleanse your skin and open pores. Then rub some of it all over your thighs and bum, massaging gently. Ideally, you should leave it on and wrap your legs with cling film to let it do its job and 'penetrate' your skin. Well, as I said before, I can't afford the luxury of long showers or time consuming beauty treatments, so I just rub it for few minutes and then rinse it off. And that's it. You will be surprised how amazing your skin will look and feel just after one use of this stuff.
The best thing about it is that you can use it for the whole body, even face. It brightens the skin, gets rid of dead cells, stimulates blood flow and on top of that, it smells heavenly! Also, addition of the coconut oil will moisturise your skin, so you don't need to use any extra products.
You can keep your ground coffee/ready mixture in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, but it's best made fresh.
Just be careful if you have sensitive sensitive skin, as ground coffee can be rough and may irritate it.

Enjoy!
 

What you need to know about coconut oil

Photo curiosity of Pixomar /
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I love coconut oil. I could definitely say that I'm addicted
to it. I was looking for some new ways of using it and I found this quote on my beloved Wellness Mama's website - " (...) I am with coconut oil like the dad in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is with windex". That's me. And for all those who haven't seen this classic rom com, well...let's say I use
it for pretty much everything. There's nothing you can't fix with a bit of breast milk and
a coconut oil. And as much as I would love to go into details of 101 uses
of breast milk, I will stick to the coconut oil for now :) 

When I say I use it for everything, I really mean it. It's great for cooking and baking, fantastic
for frying veg with rice! and absolutely amazing on toast (instead of butter). It can easily replace majority of the content of your first aid kit, boost your immunity system and supplement your diet and, of course, it's a main ingredient in many beauty products. 

So I put together this list of my favourite uses for coconut oil...

BEAUTY

1. In a bath melts and bath bombs
2. As a body moisturizer
3. As a shaving cream ( it's better than any 'real' product I have ever used )
4. As a make up remover
5. As a hair conditioner
6.  In homemade toothpaste ( yes, you read it right, here  is a reciepe )
7. As a natural sunscreen ( SPF 4, not very high, but I've been using it on Son pretty much all summer and it worked great )
8. As a nightcream
9. As a nappy rash cream
10. In body scrubs (like this one )
11. To soften cuticles 
12. To prevent stretch marks
13. As a lip balm 

HEALTH

1. To help with baby's cradle cap
2. To help heal several skin diseases, including acne, fungal infections and eczema 
3. To kill candida fungi
4. To support immune system
5. To lower cholersterol

And I've recently discovered myself another great benefit of this 'sort of' liquid gold - it's great for treating cold sores. Just put it on few times a day and it will get rid of it quicker than any other commercial cream  or patch ( believe me, I've tried many of them ;) )

There are loads more uses of that amazing oil and on top of them all....it smells heavenly! 

To start benefiting from goodness of coconut oil, you can try this easy and delicious recipe for Strawberry and Vanila Coconut Smoothie, courtesy of Free Coconut Recipes:

1 serving

Strawberry Vanilla Coconut Smoothie
Prepared by Sarah Shilhavy
Photo by Jeremiah Shilhavy

 2/3 cup coconut or organic whole raw milk*

1/2 cup plain organic yogurt (Greek or goat's milk is best!)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 large strawberries, fresh or frozen (if using fresh add ice cubes to taste)

1-2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Blend everything except coconut oil. Slowly pour coconut oil in while blender is running. Pour into a glass, garnish with some dried coconut or a fresh strawberry if desired and enjoy!