Do you have a favorite habit? One that energizes and comforts all at once? A habit that makes you feel like you’re wrapped snug in your favorite, cozy blanket and light as air, all at the same time? It clears your head AND gives you remarkable focus? You were dragging your feet but now you're awake? A routine that has you eager and ready while mere moments ago you were anxious it would be impossible to get anything done?
You do? Me, too. As fantastic as this daily ritual makes you feel, you also think it’s too good to be true. You’re even a bit guilty?
Don't be! I’m not guilty - and I feel guilty at the drop of a hat. I’ve felt ashamed for stuff I didn’t even do.
My daily latte is good for me. And for my skin! However you drink it (as long as it doesn’t give you the jitters agitate you), your caffeinated coffee is a habit you'll want to keep.
How can this be? Habits this fantastic are usually slated for the cutting floor - with the others we can't quite manage to give up. Coffee really is great. Coffee is filled with caffeine, polyphenols, purine alkaloids, and other components that work with your own chemistry and increase your projected lifespan. They do this in all sorts of ways. I'm grateful that if I'm going to live longer, I get to enjoy the way coffee makes me feel, each and every day. I confess if I'm going to be here a long time, I’d like to feel beautiful as I travel through this life. I feel shame in saying this. My inner life is rich and I’m anything but superficial. I feel I shouldn’t care about how I look – that I should be above this. But I'm not. I do care. I want to feel good and I want to look good. There. I've said it! Ahead of me on this path, I’ve watched other women age. I’ve admired many. And there are others I’ve sworn I'll never emulate. Years ago I promised myself I wouldn’t fall into a trap of wishing for youthful beauty when I’ve passed it by. That every step of the way I’ll accept where my body is at, the face that stares back at me. Thoughts of getting a face lift, wearing thick layers of makeup to conceal my aging skin, or surgically implanting an artificial chin simply horrify me. If I engaged, I’d let myself down. I have a young, beautiful daughter. I'm an older mom. I had my daughter when I was 42.
When my daughter and I are next to each other in the mirror – which happens every morning as I brush and fix her long hair – I’m forced to see that I am aging, growing older. I see I can’t stop time. For a moment I’m dismayed. I admit it. Then I remind myself that I’m so much more than anything I see in the mirror. I’m at an age where I have enough experience to know my mind, to feel my open heart, to know my values well enough to live them out each and every day. That said, I’m not above doing what I can, if it’s natural and if it’s healthy, to slow down the changes that creep across my skin as I orbit around the sun. And I love it when my favorite habit can help. Do you LOVE a daily cup of coffee? I do. How lucky for us our skin loves it, too. Something to be grateful for!
There are well-researched benefits (and, yay, the research continues!) Here are 6 ways coffee gives you beautiful skin:
1) Fades age spots, sun spots and freckles (the umbrella term is hyperpigmentation)
2) Makes your skin smooth
3) Prevents long-term skin reddening coming from too much sun
4) Decreases redness caused by rosacea
5) Helps your skin cells keep growing and dividing despite lives of too much sun exposure, too much pollution, too much sugar and processed foods, and too much alcohol (in short: your skin behaves like it's still young)
6) It's anti-inflammatory, meaning coffee can reduce the rashes, itchiness, dryness and pain that plague your skin So, let's make a coffee date :)
It'll be a chance to applaud ourselves for maintaining all our new, healthy habits ;)
After all, don't you deserve to celebrate your small successes?
If you've missed the last three easy habits for beautiful skin, read them here and here. If you've enjoyed this post please leave a comment and forward this post to someone you care about. Thanks!
And, of course, have a wonderful week! All my best to you, Chwynyn
***Who shouldn't drink coffee? It's best to skip coffee if you are at risk for bone fractures or if you're pregnant. Drinking coffee during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight and decreased oxygen to your baby.