Coffee Coconut Sugar Scrub

I love sugar scrubs – they’re inexpensive and easy to make at home and work beautifully to leave skin soft and gorgeous. The sugar scrub I want to share with you guys today is one of my favorites, not only because it utilizes used coffee grounds (I seem to accrue piles of used coffee grounds and I’m always on the lookout to for ways to recycle and re-purpose them), but because it’s so easy to make – it takes about 5 minutes to throw together and is composed of 3 simple, but extremely effective, ingredients:

Used Coffee Grounds: Used coffee grounds are fantastic for exfoliating – also the anti-inflammatory properties of the caffeine in them reduces redness, boosts blood circulation, and helps temporarily reduce the appearance of cellulite.

Sugar: You may be surprised to learn this, but we don’t just use sugar in scrubs because of the exfoliating power of the crystals and how easily it melts away in the shower for easy clean-up (although I used to think this) – sugar is a natural humectant, so it draws moisture to the skin, and it’s also a great natural source of an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) known as Glycolic Acid, which is highly sought after in beauty products for its ability to break down dead, dull surface skin and encourage the production of fresher, younger looking skin.

Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is super moisturizing, rich in Vitamin E, a great antioxidant that protects cells from damage and, as such, has great anti-aging properties, and also has amazing anti-bacterial properties, making it a fantastic acne fighter.

*Quick Tip: If the coconut oil is solid (which happens if room temp is below 76 degrees), you can scoop a little into a small bowl  and create a simple double boiler situation by placing the small bowl into a larger bowl that you’ve filled with a small amount of warm water at the bottom (careful to keep the water level less than height of the smaller bowl to avoid spillover) and leaving it until it melts. If your coconut oil is so solid you can’t even scoop it out, you can put the whole sealed jar in a bowl of warm water until you get meltage 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 cup used coffee grounds
• 1 cup sugar (I suggest using natural raw cane sugar – it has bigger crystals 😉 )
• 1 tbsp coconut oil (I use 100% organic, virgin, and unrefined coconut oil)

Directions:

1. In a clean, dry bowl combine the used coffee grounds, sugar, and coconut oil.
2. Mix well and store in a jar or container with an airtight lid – should keep for around 2-3 months.
3. In the shower, scoop out about a palm-full and use to exfoliate wherever you need it.
4. Rinse well and enjoy your new gorgeously glowing skin! <3 <3 <3

I use this scrub whenever I plan to show a lot of skin – especially during the summer months! A little note: your skin may feel a bit greasy immediately after use (that’s the coconut oil doing its thing), but it absorbs pretty quickly and leaves you with beautifully smooth, soft, and ultra-moisturized skin :D.