Coffee Skincare Is Buzzy Right Now, and These 13 Products Are Worth Trying

How do you take your coffee? It’s a question most of us can easily answer in cafés, but now it applies to your beauty routine, too. While coffee might be an integral part of your morning, it’s not usually considered a skincare ingredient. But lately, you might have noticed coffee grounds, oil, or extract on the ingredient labels of many skincare products. 

One key reason why coffee keeps popping up in skincare products is caffeine. "Caffeine is a wonderful ingredient in skincare products because it is a vasoconstrictor. That means that it constricts blood vessels, or makes them smaller,” explains Purvisha Patel, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare. Coffee is also secretly packed with good stuff for skin. "Coffeeberry extract is high in flavonoids and carotenoids and can help protect your skin from free radicals. It helps protect your skin from sunlight and photodamage,” says Dr. Patel, and adds that "coffee by itself has antioxidant properties as well.”

In an effort to use environmentally responsible production methods, some skincare brands are also repurposing used coffee grounds that would otherwise end up in landfills. UK-based skincare brand UpCircle Beauty works with London coffee shops to source its grounds. "In the UK, we send 500,000 tons of coffee waste to landfills per year, so there’s plenty for us to try to intercept before that happens,” says the brand’s co-founder, Anna Brightman. "Every day we’re contacted by coffee shops all over the country asking if we can collect their grounds.” And the brewing process may actually make the post-consumer grounds more potent, not less so. "The research has shown that antioxidant levels in used coffee grounds are actually higher than in freshly-ground coffee,” says Brightman.

We also have an emotional connection to coffee (seriously). When former fashion editor Sophia Chabbott was developing the hero products for her newly launched skincare brand, Testament Beauty, she looked to her grandmother for inspiration. "One of the things Grandma Frieda was known for was her Turkish coffee,” says Chabbott. "When I was a kid, we’d go to her house and pick grape leaves in her backyard garden, which we’d then roll in the kitchen. After that, my mom, my grandmother, my sister and I would sit with her while the adults had their Turkish coffee.” The memory is so close to Chabbott that it became part of her brand’s ethos. "The Turkish Coffee 3-in-1 Mask is a testament to her,” she says. 

Intrigued? Keep reading below for more coffee-infused skincare products that you’ll love just as much as your daily cup of joe.

coffee-skincare-294678-1628713763530-main

(Image credit: @haileybieber)

UpCircle Eye Cream With Maple and Coffee

Testament Beauty Turkish Coffee 3-in-1 Mask

Versed Recovery Mode Advanced Night Cream

coffee-skincare-294678-1628714401483-main

(Image credit: @itsheymorgan)

Paula's Choice Resist Skin Restoring Moisturizer SPF 50

Náu Anti-Fatigue Face Cream

coffee-skincare-294678-1628713780303-main

(Image credit: @allisonmcnamara)

100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream

Frank Body Caffeinated Face Moisturiser

coffee-skincare-294678-1628714512485-main

(Image credit: @kat.shearer)

Acaderma Better With Age Rejuvenating Rich Cream

coffee-skincare-294678-1628714359068-main

(Image credit: @jenniferaniston)

Kopari Starry Eye Balm

coffee-skincare-294678-1628714574793-main

(Image credit: @mishti.rahman)

Dermalogica Phyto-Nature Firming Serum

Itadi Face Wash

coffee-skincare-294678-1628714622463-main

(Image credit: @joannacoops )

Naturopathica Espresso Mud Body Scrub

The Body Shop Ethiopian Green Coffee Cream

Up next, these are the best body creams to firm and tighten, according to reviews

Freelance Contributor

Lindy Segal is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. She's originally from Atlanta, but she's sorry to report she doesn't have an accent. However, she does still have her taste for carbohydrates, love of losing sports teams, and fear of driving during rush hour. She's been in editorial for over eight years as a social media manager and writer covering beauty, fashion, and lifestyle at Glamour and People. Most recently, she was the women's editor at Express. These days, in addition to Who What Wear, you can see her byline at places like Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Ipsy, and WeWork. Both a skincare obsessive and a minimalist, she keeps her routine short, sweet, and effective—and she doesn't go a day without sunscreen. She's also deeply passionate about sustainability, and she strives to recommend products she truly believes are worth the investment. When she's not writing about the best and brightest beauty finds, she can usually be found hunting for vintage and secondhand treasures, attempting to find zen at a yoga class, bingeing Bon Appétit YouTube videos, or napping under her weighted blanket.