Caffeine - A Double Shot For Sagging Skin

Like many people, I love coffee. Most of us have experienced the pick-me-up coffee can give. That little boost is due to an active ingredient we all know by its INCI name: caffeine. 

But caffeine has more to offer than helping us kick-start the day from a mug of mocha. It's an active ingredient in skin and hair care with some pretty impressive properties.

Shapes, Sculpts and Molds

Aside from its stimulating and energizing abilities, caffeine is great for fighting cellulite because of its lipolytic properties (read: it helps break down fat) and ability to help eliminate water retention.

Caffeine is also useful for refining the definition of the face as well as fighting puffiness and bags under the eyes. Further, it is a stimulant – helping to increase metabolic activity and assist in firming up the skin. Finally, it helps improve the skins moisture binding ability (a double assist in the skin-firming department).

Don't Stop There – It's Also Great For Hair

There are strong indications that caffeine can help to slow down hair loss. Studies show leaving a caffeine shampoo on for 2 minutes is ample time for it to be absorbed through the hair follicles and reach the blood stream. (see the study results here). I have a caffeine shampoo on my to-do list.

Face and Body Sculpting Gel

But first, I decided to make a face and body sculpting gel featuring a healthy dose of caffeine (one might even call it a double shot). Pictured is the initial batch – a very modest 60ml. Because I always test both container and product at the same time, I have put half of this batch in a snazzy glass jar and the other half in a small tube (less snazzy looking, but it may turn out to be the more practical of the 2).

The tube is not pictured because I haven't done a label for it yet. 

The product name: Double Shot Caffeine Sculpting Gel. I hope this one tests well. I'm already in love with the name.