Why the fudge am I deciding to hand make a beauty product?!
Seriously - this was not part of my life plan or business plan. But I'm weirdly excited about it....
I used to have a bunch of stretch marks on my inner thighs from gaining then losing weight after high school. Then I had 3 babies. When looking for products to improve the quality of my skin & 'reverse' the stretch marks or improve elasticity, I found sugar scrubs, that specifically had coffee in them, the most successful.
Coffee 'claims' to have a number of benefits for skin.
You can read a BIAS blog (written by a product company) about its benefits here.
But despite it being by a company that produces a coffee scrub product - the information is supported by research & this one in particular is straight forward & well written. Again - that being said - the science is correlation - not cause & effect. The antioxidants 'have been shown' to help reduce inflammation, the caffeine 'has been shown' to stimulate your cells. The exfoliant effect we look for to repair our skin can be achieved by a number of granular substances, not just coffee.
There are a number of weird, random, bullshit reasons listed for coffee being effective for making your skin 'better' or for actually repairing it. This includes but is not limited to: invigorates, hydrates, moisturizes, repairs, brightens, detoxifies, reduces sun damage, treats cellulites, etc. None of these are actually offering us measurable results or improvements.
Coffee does have antioxidants in it & using it on your skin will offer a bit of transfer - possibly. This can make you skin appear brighter, it can cause it to tighten & reduce the appearance of cellulite. But this is in the realm of 'it could or it can.' Not 'it will or it does.' Because the act of 'rubbing' your skin in a certain way can also stimulate things like vascular improvement or lymphatic drainage. Not just exfoliating scrubs.
What I can attest to is that after using pomegranate, green tea, sea salt, cocoanut, ginger, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, orange, oatmeal, clay, honey & all the other things... I found coffee to have the best results. Specifically altering the appearance of my skin & reducing the appearance of my stretch marks.
Please note - it takes years. The stretch marks developed when I was around 16 & became anorexic around 20, after being quite heavy in high school. It took a number of years of thinking they were permanent. So I was doing nothing about it. Then it took a number of years of experimenting with whatever product was on sale & seeing a bit of results to realize I could undo the damage a little bit. Then It took a few more years to get obsessed and pay attention to what was working & what was not.
So that's the coffee part.
**(Don't forget, I'm a certified nutrition coach & biohacker. The reduction of the appearance of my stretch marks could be due to years of biohacking nutritional additions such as alpha lipoic acid, high doses of green tea extract or a extremely clear & reparative focused diet after stopping being a smoker & alcoholic. We'll never really know. What I wasn't doing - is moisturizing. I'm so lazy about this. Only in the last 2 years have I gotten better about using Nivea Q10 on my thighs & butt to tighten skin. That's after the stretch mark improvement & 2 more babies.)
I also love eating seaweed & kelp. It has tons of health benefits. I seriously LOVE seaweed. I eat it in sushi rolls & then I buy those Costco packs of seaweed snack sheets. I love the salty taste and melting on your tongue texture. Only in the past 5 years has seaweed & kelp been advertised as a 'health food.' I've never thought about putting the powdered in my shakes until i figured out it came in powder form when doing research for my scrub..
The most hilarious thing is the qualities of coffee being good for your skin are basically the same as listed for seaweed/kelp. An exfoliant, detoxifier, lowers inflammation, the high mineral content can be absorbed through the skin, etc. The health benefits are mostly associated with it's very high mineral content - but this is common in all dark leafy greens, which we should make the staple of all of our diets.
Anyway - after this Tim Ferriss podcast I listened to with Dr. Ayana Johnson about the versatility of the 'product' of seaweed or kelp & actually how great it is to support this industry - I was like... could I use seaweed more?
I had the random thought of "Is there a coffee scrub with seaweed/kelp in it?" Well, actually - no. Or I can't seem to find one. So then I have the laborious idea that every entrepreneur knows is a potential death trap, "Can I make it myself?" So here we are.
The seaweed I'm using is a Canadian, Nova Scotia organic brand of Kelp Granules, you can see the product here. We will see how it goes. There was a powder form. But I want the granules for the exfoliation element along with the fine ground coffee. I was shocked at the great price of a small bulk pack. I'm happy it's Canadian & if I actually launch this product on a large scale I would be happy to 'take a kelp company with me.'
The coffee ground used in the scrub (currently) is a grocery store Lavazza bought in bean form from in Latvia. It's been ground and used in my boyfriends super expensive coffee machine. So it's not being wasted in the compost (or ground & used just for the sake of the product. Is this better? Do clients prefer this? I have no idea yet.) I freeze it to keep it fresh until I make a body scrub batch which has professionally recommended 'best practice' preservatives (like not eco-angry & not super toxic for humans.)
I am about to create my first batch in the first week of January & send about 24 samples out to friends & family that I know will give honest or relevant feedback. Which is what I need to make this product a success.
I need to remember things like waterproof labels on the containers & good client care follow up & streamlined branding. And that is on top of making a good, healthy product that is supporting other businesses I appreciate & getting the results I want from it & not hurting the planet.
If you're interested in being part of the test group - please - send me a personal message email me know that you want to try it out. But the requirement is - I NEED feed back!!
If you would like to start building your Core Resiliency Skills contact Coach Julia today. You will learn how to Thrive beyond your damage, become a Transitional Character, break abuse cycles in your family cycle & build the core resiliency skills most often missed when being raised in a low nurture environment.
Julia is a Holistic Health Consultant, holding a Double Diploma in Community Support & Addictions Work, is a Certified Transformation Specialist, Personal Trainer & Nutrition Coach & a Lvl 2 Reiki Practitioner. She specializes in Trauma Informed Practice & Resiliency Coaching. PrettyAggressiveRecovery@gmail.com
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