Do you suffer from Depresso ? That sinking feeling when you have no access to coffee and every cell in your body is screaming for caffeine ?

I have always had a love- hate relationship with coffee. There is no problem in this world that a good cup of coffee can’t cure and nothing worse when you remain bright eyed in bed at 3 AM , all that caffeine keeping you wired enough to run a marathon .
And the next day when you  look so hung over without sleep, eyes wearing a naturally smoky look with dark bags, what do you do? More caffeine to the rescue please !! Just don’t drink it, apply it !

Yes this post is a DIY, but before you go ahead, take a look at why caffeine is a numero uno ingredient in leading eye care cream products all over the world. And what’s more, this eye cream which is super easy to make will also give you long fluttery eye lashes!

5 benefits of caffeine in skincare

1. Caffeine naturally increases blood flow to the skin ( it doesn’t just light up your brain cells ) , and when there is increased blood flow, fine lines on the skin get blurred temporarily .

2. Hair follicles get a boost when in contact with caffeine, this results in enhanced shaft elongation , which means that the follicle is able to retain that strand for a longer period of time. This makes it an excellent eye lash growth ingredient.

3. When taken internally ( in the right quantity and at the right time of course !) it has amazing anti oxidant properties that fight the free radicals in the environment, which basically means better general health.

4. It tightens the skin and reduces the appearance of cellulite, ( good bye to dimpled thighs ), now you know why all the big skincare companies have a coffee scrub formula always.

5. We all know coffee is a diuretic ( it sucks out the water, and actually dehydrates you). Not a bad quality when this works externally, since it draws out all the water that causes the puffiness on the face, and great to eliminate those pesky under eye bags.

Take a look at these top 15 under eye cream products which all have one common ingredient – caffeine amongst them ( below listed are only 15 amongst the thousands of products available in the market )

1. Loreal Paris Revitalift Laser X3 Eye Cream
2. Philosophy Ultimate Miracle Worker Eye
3. Garnier Skin Renew Anti Dark Cirlcle Roller
4. Origins Ginzing Eye Cream
5. Kiehl’s powerful Wrinkle Reducing Eye Cream
6. Peter Thomas Roth De-Spot Skin Brightening Corrector
7. Organix Awakening Mocha Shampoo
8. Smashbox Photo Finish Hydrating Under Eye Primer
9. Shea Terra Green Coffee Eye Serum
10. Dr. Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Eye Gel
11. Dr.Brandt No More Baggage Eye Cream
12. Algenist Eye Renewal Balm
13. Estee Lauder ANR Eye Serum
14. 100 % Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream
15. Oriflame Age Revive Eye Cream

The DermReview quotes – “ An eye cream with caffeine is more effective at treating than a regular eye cream moisturiser because caffeine treats a number of symptoms that moisturising ingredients do not “.

Read the whole article HERE

Make Your Own Caffeine Infused Under Eye/ Lash Cream

To make this, you will have to first make the caffeine oil.

To Prepare The Caffeine Oil

Ingredients

1 tbs Castor Oil
1 tbs Grapeseed Oil
1 tbs Jojoba Oil
1 tbs Almond Oil
2 tbs coarsely ground organic coffee beans or coffee powder

The caffeine oil can be made in two ways- the hot and cold methods.

Cold Infusion Method

1. Mix all the ingredients in a small glass bottle, thoroughly shake it and leave it in a shelf without direct sunlight.
2. Give the bottle a good shake once a day to keep the mixture chemically active.
3. After 2 to 4 weeks, strain the mixture through a cheese cloth and store it in a bottle.

Hot Infusion Method

Use this method if you are too impatient to wait for 2 weeks.

1. Mix all the oils and coffee and heat on a low flame over a DOUBLE BOILER for atleast 4 hours.
2. Be careful, not to over heat and burn the coffee. If you feel it is getting too hot, turn off the flame and re -start again.
3. After 4 hours, strain the mixture through a cheese cloth and store in the bottle.

In my opinion, the cold infusion method works better. Cold blending preserves the chemical properties of the oils and the coffee while heat extraction often results in loss of beneficial compounds. I managed to burn the mixture twice while using the heating method ( it’s impossible to stand for 4 hours and watch over a boiling pot !)

So now that your caffeine oil is ready, you can use it for a variety of purposes right from skin to hair care. The oil can be stored upto 3 months.

How to make your own under eye gel

1 tbs of aloe vera gel ( do not use freshly scraped aloe gel, use a store bought one )
1 tbs cucumber gel ( alternatively you can also use aloe-cucumber gels readily available )
1 vitamin – E capsule
1 tsp caffeine oil

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients using a wooden or plastic spoon in a non metallic container .
2. Store it in an air tight jar preferably in the refrigerator.
3. Using a chilled under eye cream works far better than at normal temperature.

How to Use

1. Gently pat the eye cream using your ring finger all over the eye area after your cleansing routine during AM and PM.
2. The gel may resemble a caramel mouse but will not transfer any brown colour to your eye lids and is non greasy.
3. While using at night, gently massage along the lash line for optimum lash growth. Castor oil, aloe vera and caffeine are lash friendly ingredients that give you super length lashes over extended use.

Now let your eyes be as intoxicating as that mug of coffee !