Natural Skincare & Green living: Ways To Reuse Coffee and Make a Coffee Body Scrub

"Hey!!!Don't waste this"!!! These are the words I tend to tell my husband, my kids and my friends when it comes to certain things. I make sure that leftover water and leftover tea are poured on plants and when it comes to coffee it's no exception. So, I just I wanted to take some time to share some of my simple ideas for re-using coffee and hope to learn something from you guys in return!

Picture taken at a local Starbuck!

As a plant lover I learned that coffee and leftover tea, are good plant food!,
Simply pour your leftover coffee on your indoor or outdoor plants. The coffee grounds can also be used as compost. I always make sure to get some extra leftover coffee grounds from the coffee shop. It's great nutrition for acid loving plants and I must say it also seems to do some good to all my indoor tropical plants.

In the kitchen I found that rubbing some coffee on my fingers with ground coffee work as a good odor remover, especially if I had handle fish, garlic or anything smelly.  It works well too in the garbage disposal to deodorize and disinfect.  The leftover coffee can also be used as a fridge deodorizer, simply  place a small bowl filled with fresh coffee grounds in your fridge.
I love the smell of coffee so much that it's my room deodorizer of choice during the winter months. I simply brew some fresh coffee when I need to fill the house with a pleasant aroma! You can actually put some leftover coffee grounds on a cooking sheet and place it in a warm over, but I just prefer brewing.
Leftover coffee can also be used to:

Picture taken at a local Starbuck.

• Make some frappucino
• Marinate your meat
• Replace red wine when cooking meat in recipes calling for wine!
• Flavor cake or waffle recipes ( replacing milk or water for coffee)
• Mix with condensed milk and freeze as popsicle.

Replace milk in your smoothy! Deliciouuuus!
Make ice cubes.  Why wait on a super hot coffee to cool down when you can just throw a coffee cube in?!
Well there must be many other ways to use leftover cofee in the kicthen but that's my little tried and true repertoire here!

It's also possible to use leftover coffee as a dye! You can use your leftover coffee to dye paper or fabric to give it an aged look.
Did you know you can also add it to the wash water when you wash your dark color clothes?! It's also a good dye as beauty hair treatment if you have dark hair. Apply about 5-6 cups of leftover coffee to your wet hair and cover and leave it on your hair from about 15-20 mns before rinsing! But it's only a temporary dye I can not claim that it will work like Garnier!

Since I love hanging at perfumes counters and shopping for candles I also learned to use it to trick my olfactory senses. Carry along some leftover coffee beans  or grounds and inhale them after smelling a perfume! It neutralizes the scent of the fragrance you smelled previously and help you to better sense the following fragrance.
And as to my favorite use of leftover coffee grounds, a little messy I should admit but very rewarding, I use it as a scrub! Yep! I love to use leftover coffee grounds as a facial scrub or a body scrub in the shower.

MAKING COFFEE SCRUB
2 cups coarse coffee. I prefer to just recycle the one I freshly brewed
1/2 sea salt or brown sugar. I skip that step most times
3 tbsp. oil such as olive, coconut, sweet almond, jojoba etc
A drop of scented oil of choices. Totally optional!


The only inconvenience is having the grounds over the shower floor and in...well...let's say that I advise wearing a swim suit bikini when you decide to use it as a full body scrub! I don't know if it's the pleasure of rubbing something totally organic on my body, or feeling like I am giving myself what could have been an expensive spa treatment from the comfort of my home, but I love love love the way my skin  feels afterward! It's best to use fresh ground coffee as it still have many of it's antioxidant property when it's fresh. Like 20-30 minutes after you have brewed some since it will need time to cool some.
So before you think it's a messy idea ( I am making a face)give it a try because you might love the way your skin feel afterward, it's worth trying!

So... no need to let that leftover coffee go to waste right?
What do you tend to do with your leftover coffee? If you tried or try to use is as a facial or body scrub please let me know what you think of it as a scrub! Have you heard that it's claimed to remove cellulite when used as a scrub on thighs and legs?

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• N'na

Interview: My findings about Sensaria & beauty tips from Janine Aguero

Have you ever heard about Sensaria? Well, I had never heard about it until recently when my new friend, and co-owner of The Sample Shoppe, Janine Aguero told me about it!  True to my curious nature I asked her to share more about the company before I did some research on my own! It's great to come across things online but it's always better to talk to someone in person about  a particular product. Don't you think?!




 This gorgeous woman is Janine Aguero, so you see why I would turn to her for beauty tips! (smiles)


Janine kindly agreed to an  'interview' about Sensaria  but before I say more about Sensaria let me tell you a little bit more about Janine! Janine Aguero is a Sensaria sale representative, but she is focusing most of her energy on her own business. Her cousin Lisa and her are the proud and successful co-founders of an online business with a pretty neat concept. Called The Sample Shoppe,   they actually sell samples of products thus allowing customers to try some samples before committing to the purchase of a particular item.  This idea is not just great for a customer, it's also great for a vendor willing to market their products!

I encourage you to read more about their unique business and those special women right after reading this! The link to their site will be provided below,  please stick around for a while and let's just talk about Sensaria first...

GoodHealthDiva: What's Sensaria?
 Janine Aguero: Sensaria Natural Body care is the premier direct seller of spa-grade products for home use.

GHD: How did you come in contact with the products?
J.A:  At Christmastime, I decided to only purchase my gifts from independent business owners instead of going to the "chains" at the mall.  I asked some women on a forum I belong to if they would send me their catalog.  I received a Sensaria catalog with a few samples of their products.  When I put on and smelled the Mango body lotion....I was hooked!

GHD:What appealed you to those products?
J.A:  I loved the freshness of the products. They are all natural, with little or no parabens or fillers.  Since your skin is your biggest organ, I don't like putting chemicals on my skin, so Sensaria was the intelligent choice.

GHD: What do you think make them special and which one would  you greatly recommend?
  J.A: What makes Sensaria special is the fact they use the finest grade botanicals, essential oils, vitamins and minerals.  There are no harsh chemicals, lanolin, or mineral oils in their products.  And one of the most important reasons I think Sensaria is special is because their products are cruelty free!  It's hard to recommend just one product...I love their body butters and, of course, the Mango body lotion.

GHD:  Is there any products for men? I love to promote the ideas of men pampering themselves and taking care of their skin beyond the daily hygienic and grooming routine !
J.A:  Yes, we actually have a Men's Skin Care System which includes  Face Wash for Men, Face Scrub for Men, and Hydra gel for Men

 ( I just found that picture on the Sensaria site. It's the men skin care system, currently available for $55.00)


GHD: What are some of beauty tips beyond Sensaria that you would love to share with any female and male reading this article?
J.A: I would say to keep your skin cleansed thoroughly, especially before bedtime.  NEVER go to sleep with makeup on...it ages your skin.  Also, always use a moisturizer, day and night, even if you are only in your 20's, you're never to young to start taking care of your skin.  Another tip would be to always eat a balanced diet, with a minimal amount of sweets, fried food, and junk food, with lots of fruits and veggies.

Doing some researches on my own, I found that in addition to skin care, hair care and body care products, Sensaria also offers Home Care products like their "Aroma-sensory burner" and home fragrance oils available in scents like rosemary, vanilla, mandarin & cucumber.
 This 32 flo oz citrus cleaner is available for $18 and is:  

" A safe, phosphate-free, non-alkaline, biodegradable household cleaner that can be used diluted or full strength. Effective as a household cleaner, a laundry detergent, a stain remover, a fruit and vegetable wash and more. At full strength, Citrus Cleaner is strong enough to take on the most stubborn surface stains, yet mild enough for dish washing or hand washing delicate fabrics.

Recommended for Use By

Households looking for a naturally-based, all-purpose, multi-use cleaner"  (http://www.mysensaria.com/jaguero)

 
They also have some products called Mineral Genesis, those have great reviews but I must tell you the price tag on those is not for people on a budget! However, I am sure those products might be well worth the try! For my part, I will simply start with the Mango lotion. If I get hooked I might go for more of their products.

You can order Sensaria products on the following link http://www.mysensaria.com/jaguero. For those of you interested in a business opportunity selling a great product, there is the possibility of becoming a Sensaria representative.
I for my part, I intend on ordering thw mango body lotion because mango is actually one of my favorite fruits and I know that  mangoes have amazing health properties!

As Janine suggested, eating a balanced diet, with a minimal amount of sweets, fried food, and junk food, with lots of fruits and veggies, and drinking plenty of water is probably the best beauty practice one can have.
Back in college, I suffered from a 2nd degree burn due to a household fire and in spite of the repulsive look of my burns my skin and my wound healed pretty well with minimal scarring due to the fact that my diet mainly consisted of fruits and vegetables. So I do strongly believe that good healthy food  and plenty of water play a considerable role in the beauty of our skin!

Janine is obviously a very beautiful woman and I will take her word for it concerning the mango lotion! If you are curious to learn more about The Sample Shoppe visit http://www.thesampleshoppe.com
To learn more about Sensaria and their products go to http://www.mysensaria.com/jaguero . I guarantee you that both sites are worth a visit.

Was it your first time hearring about Sensaria? If are familiar with Sensaria, what is the one product that you would recommend? Is there any brand of botanical skin care products that you would recommend as highly as Janine recommends Sensaria?
If you make a stop on either sites or both please be kind to come back and let us know more about your impressions! Should you eventually order a product from any of those sites please grant us the pleasure of reading all about it by leaving us a comment! (smiles)






N'na