How one brand is using coffee to rejuvenate our skin
A London-based brother and sister duo have stumbled upon a skincare secret that has been staring at us in the face from the knockout drawers of our espresso machines.
Instead of simply accepting that approximately 500,000 tonnes of used (and technically usable) coffee grounds go to landfill every year in the UK, this enterprising set of siblings decided that we could all do with a facial scrub.
On person’s trash…
After receiving a cafetiere for Christmas, the amount of waste was enough to give William the wherewithal to turn used coffee into a business venture when he discovered just how much ground coffee was left after each brew.
Sourcing their Arabica grounds from over 50 coffee shops in and around London, the grounds are utilised to make a whole range of beauty and skincare products.
Utilising this waste as a means to make a business, the pair decided to name their fledgeling business Optiat — an acronym for ‘one person’s trash is another’s treasure’.
“Having received a cafetiere for Christmas, I began making my own morning coffee. However, I realised that post-brewing, the freshly brewed grounds had to be thrown away,” explains the Optiat website.
“With more than 55 million cups of coffee drunk every day in the UK, this represents a big waste problem. Indeed, it turns out that more than 500,000 tonnes of coffee grounds are sent to landfill every year in the UK alone! I saw an opportunity to change this.”
By using used coffee grounds, the skin scrubs are free from the plastic microbeads that are a major cause in water contamination and end up back in the food chain.
The coffee particles break down eventually in water, and are still partially soluble, meaning no ill effect on the immediate environment.
So by using this ‘waste product’ as the active exfoliator, skincare products can avoid using harmful microbeads altogether.
Skinkind
Coffee is the same pH as our skin, which means that Optiat leaves your face and skin soft, smooth and supple without feeling dry.
We can wax lyrical about coffee all day, but it’s the antioxidant properties that is yet another reason for these enterprising siblings usage of used beans in their skincare range.
Brewed coffee grounds actually contain a higher amount of antioxidants than freshly ground coffee.
In basic terms this is why the usage is great for anti-ageing properties, whilst the presence of caffeine is said to help blood flow and therefore an effective way of minimising the effects of skin conditions such as acne, eczema and even cellulite and stretch marks.
More than just coffee flavours
It’s not just coffee that powers this recycled skincare product, a whole host of flavours have been added, so you won’t go round honking of espresso if that is what you were worried about!
Lemongrass, mandarin, peppermint and vanilla can all be found in the range, with each having their own unique properies and application.
With just the four products currently available, we hope to see the range grow as this brother and sister combo really corner the used coffee cleaning care market.
If you would like to learn more about Optiat, then please visit: www.optiat.co.uk