Beauty in the kitchen for October COFFEE BREAK
Coffee acts like a sponge and dries out moisture in your body. This is true whether you drink it or use it in a home spa recipe. Many beauty products now contain coffee, as it is an antioxidant, diuretic and a vasoconstrictor. This makes it a favourite for eye gels that claim to deal with puffiness, dark circles and tightening of the skin in the eye area.
Coffee scrub No.1
Take some still warm, slightly below body temperature used coffee grounds and mix with olive oil to form a paste then rub it into the skin on your arms, legs, anywhere you like on the body but not the face. Massage in well using circular motions. Do this standing on some old newspaper to avoid clogging up the drains. Rub off as much as you can before heading to the shower to rinse well. If you have the time and a bit of cellulite then pack the grounds onto your thighs and wrap with cling film. Leave this for twenty mins and then rub off before showering. This will need to be done twice a week for any visible results. There is some hard core recycling
here. However tempting it may be to store used coffee grounds in the fridge or freezer don’t.
The fact is
that only fresh ones will do. Just like an apple noticeably starts to degrade when exposed to the air so does coffee but you can’t see it happening.
Kahlua under the sink
While that group of words does not sound very inspiring let me assure you, this is a very fun project and requires minimal input for some great results. I discovered this idea in a local recipe book in Cork, where they obviously are quite resourceful. You can use generic vodka and brandy in the recipe. 850ml water
• 675g sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh coarse coffee • 12 teaspoons instant coffee • 300ml brandy • 850ml vodka • 6 teaspoons vanilla
Combine the first four ingredients and simmer for 1½ hours stirring occasionally. Cool this liquid then add the brandy, vodka and vanilla and strain into bottles. Preferably dark glass, so old red wine bottles are best. Keep in the dark – hence ‘under the sink’ for 3 months and give it a shake every other day while you’re down there getting out the Mr. Muscle. This can be your signature Christmas present to your friends. Write ‘Under the Sink Drink’ on a luggage
label, tie around the neck of the bottle with a festive ribbon and voila!
Illustrations by Lisa Wyman Coffee scrub No.2
• 2 tablespoons sugar • 1 tablespoon ground coffee • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 1 tablespoon salt
Mix all these ingredients together and scrub away.
Sugar is a natural glycolic acid, which is great for exfoliating dead skin cells Coffee stimulates cells and removes
dirt and excess oils from the surface of the skin Lemon juice is also great for peeling away dead skin cells and is really cleansing leaving you feeling squeaky clean Salt is good for toning the skin
and helps heal bruises and any little scratches or grazes. This another one to do out of the shower. Its far easier to fold up and throw away some newspaper than unblock a drain.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126