This skin softening, invigorating, natural treatment is used in spas around the world...                                                and in our own  Home Spa's for pennies! photo source flikr Coffee, America's great morning picker-upper is a great exfoliator too!   And the perfect addition to your home-spa pantry. Use your favorite coffee in a fragrant, pampering body scrub. Want to be resourceful?  *Save your morning grounds and mix them into a scrub to be used the  same day. Why coffee?   Coffee grounds are a natural exfoliator. Exfoliation is the removal of dead, dry skin cells that collect on the outer surface of the skin. The coffee buffs these unwanted cells off and speeds up our own skins natural renewal process, producing healthy glowing skin.   Also, coffee's natural caffein content is used as a topical treatment for cellulite, as it dilates blood vessels which increases speed and volume of blood flow.  Which, in theory, helps remove excess water from ourtissue, thus improving the skins appearance and tone, according to the University of Sao Paulo   (ok girls, we all know we cannot fully get rid of our cellulite, but we can reduce the appearance of it , weight loss is also key).    Note: We are talking about a body scrub here, not a facial scrub.  Facial scrubs are composed more gentle than body scrubs. Ever wonder why you have alligator skin legs even after using quality lotion?  Its time to exfoliate. When you exfoliate your legs, for example, you unclog the pores, allowing your skin to absorb the necessary moisture it needs. The healthy benefits in your quality lotion can now actually get to their destination in your dry legs. ( feet, heels etc ). Dull skin comes alive, leaving you with a natural glow and beautiful soft skin.  How: Apply this in the shower, it will be slippery, or sitting on tub side.  Take a  palm full of scrub and apply in a circular motion, paying attention to cellulite areas, small varicose vein areas, and dryskin areas.  RECIPE for one use:    Basic Coffee Scrub  3 TBL coffee grounds;   Use new grounds for the greatest application of caffein.   1 TBL natural oil of your choice:  like olive oil, grapeseed, coconut (melted), almond etc.. Don't use any petroleum based oil as this will clog pores!  Olive has a heavier feel, is naturally hypoallergenic and is full of vitamin A and E , helps repair skin....grapeseed oil is lighter in feel, silky, not oily, and penetrates the skin quickly. It is cheaper than olive oil and is easily found in the grocery store with the other oils. This is a great choice for scrubs as it has almost no scent and is good for sensitive skin. Great for cooking too. 1 TBL sugar:  white or brown or a mixture of both. Mix all dry ingredients, then add oil (s).  Oil amount is your preference based on how much coffee grounds you are using.  Make this in single use amounts, or make a larger batch and store in frig if you used wet grounds. Final scrub consistency is yourperogative, some like more oil than others, some like it dryer. Experiment. There's no wrong or right. RECIPE:   Mocha Spice 1 TBL 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Add to the basic coffee scrub recipe above,s dry ingredients, then add oil (s) optional :  vanilla    NOTE:  Don't exfoliate skin with rashes or abrasions *NOTE: I recommend using fresh coffee grounds as the caffeine content is not depleted. However, if               you use, used grounds for your scrub, dry them out first, you don't want             to introduce water into your scrub, it breeds bacteria. You can use your wet             grounds if you make a one time use scrub and use it that same day.  photo source flikr                 Check out my you can make yourself, full tutorial !  thanks for stopping by,  Anna