diy coffee scrub

I love my morning ritual. Steven and I crate-trained our pups early so they could have little dens – or apartments as we call them – to comfortably sleep in, travel in, etc. Poppy generally wakes up first and as soon as she’s out of her crate, she jumps all over our pillows, smothers our faces with kisses, and then jets under the covers. She’s what you might refer to as a morning person. Daisy, on the other hand, would never be referred to as a morning person. She gets up last, slides out of her crate into a big stretch, and lazes her way onto the bed to steal a pillow. If Poppy tries to give Daisy good morning kisses – which she always does – Daisy nips and grunts at her. The shenanigans are all pretty adorable.

Honestly, I am more of a Daisy than a Poppy when it comes to getting out of bed in the morning – I don’t like to be woken up earlier than my alarm and I definitely don’t try to conversate, answer emails, or do any meaningful work without a warm cup of coffee.  For me, however, my morning cup of coffee is less about the caffeine fix and more about a nice ritual to start the day off right – almost like a meditation.

After about 15 minutes, the pups usually settle in and snooze with Steven in the bed so the casita is peaceful and I have it all to myself – bliss. I use a single serving french press and grind the espresso beans fresh each morning. While the grounds are seeping in the press, I set up my desk, make a quick to-do list for the day, and light some incense. A little cream. A little sugar. My favorite mug. It’s wonderful. It gets the day started on simply the best foot.

In the past, I would compost the used grounds; however, I no longer have a garden compost to bring the grounds to so I’ve been tossing them out – wasteful. BUT I recently had the bright idea to use them in a little DIY body scrub and thought I would share this bright idea and scrub recipe…

After I’ve poured my coffee, I rinse the french press plunger and set it out to dry. Then I scoop the grounds into a small mason jar and leave it on the counter to cool. The mason jar and grounds are usually cool enough to screw a lid on and go in the fridge within about 30 minutes (do not leave the grounds out for more than an hour as you may get unwanted bacterial growth in them – food safety!).

*You do not want the grounds to be hot when you make the scrub because you will be mixing the grounds with oil and heat deteriorates and oxidizes oil which can sometimes negatively impact the texture of the scrub.*

I save the grounds in the mason jar in the fridge until I am ready to make my scrub (usually about every 3 days or so depending on how my skin is looking). Label the lid of the mason jar with the date you started adding grounds and do not use anything more than five days old.

The only other ingredient you NEED for the scrub is a good body oil – jojoba, almond, argan, etc. – but you can also add a little sugar or a few drops of essential oil. I use a one-to-one ratio for the grounds and the oil.

• 1 Tbsp argan oil mixed with 1 Tbsp grounds for a face scrub
• 1/2 cup argan oil mixed with 1/2 cup grounds for a body scrub

The cool temp from the fridge and the yummy coffee aroma make for a refreshing scrub and a lovely addition to the morning ritual!