After a recent (pre-quarantine) massage, I fumbled off the table and back into my clothes to straighten myself up in the mirror expecting to find a puffy face and an asymmetrical bun in my hair per usual. Massages may be a glamorous luxury, but they can sometimes leave you looking anything but. Looking in the mirror, I expected to find one of those tell-tale face-to-sheet wrinkles across my cheek. Instead, I found that my skin was mark-free, dewy and completely aglow. During my massage (it was this transformative therapy, by the way!), the therapist had applied a caffeine-infused jelly sheet mask and I left my treatment nearly as happy about my skin as my refreshed muscles.
On Caffeine in Skincare
As skincare ingredients go, caffeine is nothing new. Coffee itself can be found as an ingredient in half the beauty DIY tutorials out there. To be honest, I’m not a big DIY beauty enthusiast. So it’s highly likely all those used coffee ground scrubs and hair rinses in my teens had kept me from any enthusiasm about more sophisticated uses of the ingredient. These are the days of marula oil, hyaluronic acid and cannibinoids, after all — there are so many other ingredients to try.
An ingredient like caffeine can be easy to overlook. Here’s why I’m now a big proponent — and apparently the last to know!
Caffeine acts as an anti-inflammatory, reducing redness and irritation, as well as flushing toxins from the skin as a diuretic. Caffeine is also packed with anti-oxidants that fight cellular damage, especially the type that comes from UV exposure.
Shortly after my massage experience, I went to (Instagram Stories to tell everyone about it) stock up on 100% PURE’s Caffeine Mask online, happily discovering that the sheet mask goes for just seven dollars a pop. It turns out the hydrogel mask is made from 95% organic aloe water and infused with green coffee extract, green tea, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and seaweed collagen. I now keep a small stockpile of these masks in my refrigerator door at all times and have since used them on quite a few early mornings to the same result: glowing, taut, calm and bright skin. I haven’t loved a mask this much since Herbivore’s Blue Tansy.
Apparently, 100% Pure (a brand who has also been around forever and is also easy to overlook) has another claim to fame in their best-selling hero product, Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream. I’ve not yet given the caffeine-packed treatment a try personally, but after my experience with their hydrogel Caffeine Mask I’m guessing the eye cream is as good as their 3,049 five star reviews claim.
By the way, this post was not created in partnership with 100% Pure. We do partner with many beauty and wellness brands, all of whom we vet closely and adore (like this and these). Sometimes, a brand just gets lucky and we happen to stumble into an incredible product we just can’t stop gushing about!
Do you have a favorite caffeine-based beauty product? Have you tried this culty eye cream? Or do you have an incredible mask we need to try? Let us know in the comments!
