“Welcome to the beautifying mystique of nature’s superfoods—coffee, honey, and vinegar. It’s no beauty secret that these three household staples combined with other natural ingredients can enhance your blood circulation, zap stress and anxiety, and help to make your skin feel silky and smooth.”
What’s more, antioxidant-rich coffee, honey, and vinegar can help exfoliate, soften, and make your hair and skin healthier. And this is why some spas around the nation and world include nature’s nectar and java grounds in their beauty treatments.
Do-it-yourself recipes and ready-made products make it possible and easy to enjoy those pampering health spa perks in the comfort of your home. And more people— both women and men—are discovering the external beauty benefits of nature’s finest superfoods. Here, take a look at some of the popular coffee, honey, and vinegarbased beauty secrets and benefits from head to toe.
Hair care
Hair conditioner for shine
If you’re a brunette, coffee can be your choice of conditioner. A simple-to-do coffee treatment works like this. First, use freshly brewed coffee (not instant), the stronger the better—even espresso. Shampoo and rinse your locks while the coffee cools. Apply the liquid to your wet hair, wait for about 10 minutes. Rinse. Note: Do not try this DIY treatment if you have blond hair or colored-treated hair. If you have any hesitation, consult your hairstylist before you use coffee for your hair.
Super hair rinse
They say apple cider vinegar is perfect for beautiful Salma Hayek-like brunettes (dark brown). White vinegar is ideal for Meg Ryan-type blondes.
Thick and shiny hair
“Cider vinegar is proven not to only rehydrate hair that is structurally weak, dry, or unmanageable, it also will strengthen hair that has been permed, colored, highlighted, or subjected to single or double processing, and will assist in restoring hair’s natural pH balance,” explains hair guru Karen M. Shelton. A famous rinse contains 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar added to 2 cups of warm water. This recipe is used as a final rinse in order to remove residue left on hair by commercial shampoos. It also imparts magnificent shine.
Face masks
Coffee mask
In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of fresh, used coffee grounds from a brew. Then, add one whipped egg white. Apply to face and let it set for about three minutes. Rinse with cold water. Coffee grounds are a super exfoliant, like sugar, and egg white helps to soften skin.
Vinegar to aid oily skin
One pint of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup each of lavender petals, lemon rind, rose petals, and sage. Steep this in a sunny window in a dark, glass jar that’s well sealed for 3 weeks. Shake daily, then strain and rebottle.
Vinegar for dry skin
The same as the recipe above but use chamomile, mint, parsley, and primrose petals instead.
A rosy glow
The straight fact is, as your circulation slows, your complexion may lose some of its rosiness. While eating vitamin A-rich foods and using a moisturizing sunscreen daily will help, during the cold and dry winter months, you may need to give your skin an extra lift. To brighten your complexion, try using a gentle exfoliant to zap dead surface cells. Apply apple cider vinegar directly on your forehead, cheeks, and chin. Within minutes, your skin will have a youthful glow and feel soft and radiant.
Natural moisturizers
Coffee body wash
Try a coffee exfoliant for your entire body. Combine the morning’s coffee grounds with all-natural body soap.
Coffee scrub
Two cups of coarsely ground coffee, 2-3 tablespoons of massage oil, ½ cup of raw sugar or sea salt. Mix all ingredients together. Take a hot shower to moisten your skin and open pores. Using wide, circular motions, rub the coffee exfoliant onto your skin with even pressure. Shower off, pat skin dry, and apply a thin layer of your favorite body lotion.
Coffee foot soak
At night, use coffee grounds with honey. Rub the rough and gooey concoction all over your feet. Twenty minutes later rinse feet in warm water. Your heels will feel smooth.
Manuka honey drizzle body masque
At a beauty spa, the technician will use bare hands or a spa brush to apply approximately ½ to 1 full cup of product to your skin, from the shoulders down to the feet. It will remain on your skin for about 10 minutes before you rinse it off with a shower.
Orange blossom and body wrap
Enjoy the healing, hydrating and conditioning properties of a honey wrap. Treatment begins with an exfoliating full-body dry brushing, includes an invigorating orange blossom and sugarcane foot scrub, and concludes with a yummy application of honey-orange blossom body butter. Fifty minutes.
Now that you’ve got the beautifying secrets, it’s time to bring out the legendary blissful recipes used by Cleopatra and Martha Washington to the sweetest present-day preparations that can make you feel like queen for a day.
Cleopatra’s famous milk-and-honey baths
Back in the day of Cleopatra, the legendary queen of Egypt savored honey and its beauty powers. The queen allegedly turned to the nectar of the gods for a facial each morning. Milk-and-honey baths were part of the beauty regime. The idea was that honey was the golden secret to keeping her skin soft as well as defying age.
In the 21st century, royal honey beauty treatments have carried over to spas that cater to the rich and famous and include anyone who wants to be treated like royalty for a spa day or week. It’s a pampering honey and milk treatment, like the recipe from Savannah Bee Company, that draws the healing powers to both women and men, thanks to Cleopatra.
“Back in the day of Cleopatra, the legendary queen of Egypt savored honey and its beauty powers. The queen allegedly turned to the nectar of the gods for a facial each morning.”
Milk-and-honey facial mask
Plastic wrap or warm face cloth
2 tablespoons organic milk
1 tablespoon Savannah Bee Company Wildflower Honey
Take the plastic wrap and cut the corners to make an oval slightly larger than your face. Cut openings for your nostrils and mouth. After you make the mask and apply it, you’ll be covering your face with the plastic wrap for about 10 minutes.
Add milk to a small bowl. Slowly stir in Savannah Bee Company Wildflower Honey. Mix well and stir until moisture is smooth. It may be slightly runny. Apply the milk mixture to your face with your fingertips.
Set timer for 10 minutes. Put on some soothing music, lie down and cover face with plastic wrap or cloth. When the 10 minutes are up, wipe face with a warm cloth and rinse with cool water. Gently pat skin dry. Finish with your favorite moisturizer.
Martha Washington’s famous facial
In 1754, during the French and Indian War, Martha Custis bewitched George Washington at a dance. The legend is, that from across the dance floor it was her radiant complexion that caught his eye—and won his heart. The two married four years later. So what was Martha’s beauty secret that made a big statement? Vinegar, ladies. Here’s the famous facial mask:
Beat one egg, separate, till frothy. Combine the egg, 1 teaspoon of honey, and ¼ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Apply to your face and neck. After 15-20 minutes, rinse with warm water and dry.
Cal Orey, A. is an accomplished author and journalist specializing in topics such as health, science, pets, and relationships. Her hugely successful Healing Powers book series include: The Healing Powers of Honey, The Healing Powers of Chocolate, The Healing Powers of Coffee, and The Healing Powers of Vinegar. She lives in Northern California. www.calorey.com
