Month of fun: Day 29

Oh, it’s National Coffee Day? Well, this is a holiday I can wholeheartedly embrace.

I am a total coffee freak, which is why my caffeine-fueled trip around the globe could easily be subtitled: Americanos in Argentina, Lattes in Laos and How I Grudgingly Learned to Love Nescafe.

Aside: I once contacted Starbucks about sponsoring me on a bean-themed trip, where I would travel through some of the biggest coffee-producing countries in the world, writing stories about the process from bean to cup and the people who get it there. Sadly, Starbucks turned me down.

Back to my story. It’s coffee day. Yay!

Since today was my kind of day, I kicked it off with a total brewed awakening — a coffee mask, coffee scrub and piping hot cup of coffee.

That’s a lot of coffee!

First, I made a pot of coffee and put it in a carafe where it would stay nice and warm. Then I started working on the other stuff.

For the mask, I took 2 tablespoons of just-brewed coffee grounds, mixed it with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of soy yogurt, then slapped the mixture on my face. While the mask dried, I made a coffee scrub using a couple more tablespoons of coffee grounds, a tablespoon of sugar and a drizzle of olive oil. I applied the scrub in the shower, washed it all off and then relaxed with super-soft skin and super-yummy coffee.

You can just call me Sir Mix-a-Latte.

I got the idea from this Crunchy Betty post, which you can read for more details. (NOTE: The face mask can be made with honey and/or cow yogurt, for those who aren’t vegan.)

How does it work? Basically, caffeine detoxifies your skin and cuts down on puffiness and swelling, which is why it’s used in so many expensive beauty products.

Well, here you’re just cutting out the middleman and using straight-up, fresh grounds within 20 minutes of brewing. You’re isolating all the wonderful properties of caffeine without wasting all your dough.

Of course you know that your skin absorbs 60 percent of whatever you apply topically, which translates to an extra caffeine kick in your day! But don’t blame me if you end up running a triathlon instead of going to work.