Coffee is the new chocolate. The vogue of reverting to nature’s gifts of indulgence as wellness treatments has shifted from dark chocolate to coffee. Already coffee extracts, including caffeine, are finding their way into a myriad of beauty and wellness products with treatment variants using ground beans through to soluble coffee pastes are mushrooming in spas and wellness centres.

Gail Coetzer of Body Complete in Northcliff says that “there has been resurgence in the development and offer of coffee based treatments”. “Body scrubs, wraps and massages are gaining popularity along with coffee based treatments complementing traditional manicures and pedicures.” Coetzer says that already coffee extracts such as caffeine are increasingly included in wellness products, in particular for its stimulant and anti-cellulite properties.

Coffee paste, created from soluble, instant coffee, revitalises the skin and leaves a glowing and polished feel while, coupled with henna, coffee may be used as a natural hair dye. Mix it with beer and water to create a revitalizing shampoo and conditioner combination. Coffee provides a perfect natural alternative to several wellness and body routines.

“Massage and wellness treatments have served to not only relax, but assist in mending and healing bodies for millennia. The use of natural substances, like coffee, dates back equally as far and as with dark chocolate, the wellness properties of coffee are being rediscovered in the twenty first century,” says Coetzer. She says that for too long has coffee been mistakenly demonised while, in fact, its anti-oxidant properties along with effective wellness applications have been lost in translation.

Body Coffee, as it has become known, is available in various incarnations. Body wraps through to masks, pedicure dips, essential oils and the like. “Coffee is a natural neutraliser of free radicals, a gentle exfoliation tool that breaks up fatty deposits that may cause cellulite, it absorbs and neutralises odours and is a natural UV protector. Beyond that, coffee has the same PH (4.5) as our skin, helping to fend off blemishes and acne among others,” says Coetzer.

She says, “We are only really beginning to discover the properties of the humble coffee plant. Thus far, the benefits are astonishing."

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