Homemade Coffee Scrub

Remember when I told you how to make the best iced coffee at home? Well, as the weather turns warmer, we start to drink all our coffee iced--which means we have a lot of coffee grounds at once. After you soak the grounds for 12 hours to make toddy, you drain the coffee concentrate, but even after squeezing the last precious drops out, the grounds remain very moist because they have soaked so long.    Usually we dump the grounds in our compost pile, but you can also make a great, (almost free) exfoliating hand (and foot) scrub. As long as you like the smell of coffee. Other coffee scrubs I found all use a lot of sugar, like any other sugar scrub, but the beauty of using coffee is that it is already fine, yet rough, perfect for exfoliating. So there's really no need to add sugar. That said, here's my simple coffee scrub recipe:

Exfoliating Cinnamon Coffee Scrub

1 cup used coffee grounds

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp water

Start with the used coffee grounds. Mix in the ground cinnamon. You can leave out the cinnamon if you don't like it or replace with any ground spice you like. The spices just help temper the strong coffee scent. You can experiment with adding other scents (cloves? orange zest? rosemary?). Drizzle the grounds with olive oil and mix. Continue to add oil until the grounds have a glossy look rather than matte (about a tablespoon). Scrub will keep in an air-tight container in the fridge for two weeks or so. Stir before using as oil will settle to the bottom.

To use the scrub: wet hands, then massage 1-2 tablespoon of the coffee scrub thoroughly over hands. Rinse, then pat dry, and massage remaining oil into hands. Then enjoy your soft, naturally moisturized skin! I've also read that since coffee contains so much caffeine you can even experience the awakening affects through your skin. Now that's an afternoon pick me up!

Sit back, enjoy your City Girl Iced Coffee and your soft hands and give the money you didn't spend at Starbucks or the Spa to IJM. : ) Read about our stand for freedom this month here. 

Thanks for reading!

- Haley