Coffee is my one serious addiction. I have tried to cut it out but failed miserably. I have one cup of black espresso a day (and about once a month a second which leaves me jitter and not quite right for the rest of the day). My naturopath friend Ben Brown wrote about the psychoactive effects of coffee in his recent blog titled “Caffeine and your mood: friend or foe?” which outlines how some people feel caffeine improves their mood (me with one coffee) and others feel the opposite (me with more than one cup of coffee). Ben writes that “caffeine can improve mood, alertness, attention and energy. The positive effects of caffeine on mood occur at lower doses (50-100 mg) and may be limited to regular caffeine users.” However, caffeine may also be “detrimental for people with anxiety, particularly if you are sensitive to caffeine or consume high amounts (300 mg or about 3-4 cups of tea or 2-3 cups of coffee).”

Of course if you consume too much caffeine from coffee, tea or soft drink can also cause skin problems, particularly dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic which means it encourages the body to expell water via urine. If you drink a lot of caffeine containing drinks and don’t top up with water, it is highly likely your body and therefore your skin will be dehydrated. 

It is a different story when applying caffeine topically - for a start isn’t addictive!  As mentioned in a previous blog, caffeine can help to stimulate local fat metabolism increasing lipolysis (fat burning) which may help with cellulite. Read full article here.

Caffeine may also have a positive effect on the delicate skin around the eyes. The skin around the eyes is different from skin elsewhere on the body for a number of reasons:

  • It has minimal sebacious glands, which means it produces no protective sebum making it prone to dryness.
  • It is much thinner than other facial skin making it more sensitive and prone to reactions
  • It has a dense capillary network and has limited fat padding, making the area prone to puffiness.

    • When applied to the tissue around the eye area the stimulating effect of caffeine helps to tighten the skin by reducing capillary permeability (leaky blood microvessels) and increases constriction thereby moving the fluid away from the eye area. This effect has been shown to help with puffy bags which are characterised by fluid build up and leaky microvessels. I want to note that there is a difference between puffy eyes and skin sag or fat deposits below the eye. Usually puffy eyes will be worse in the morning and clear up as the day progresses. So to be clear, it is unlikely that caffeine will have any impact on skin sag. At this stage I am not sure if it will assist with fat deposits under the eyes despite the stimulating effect it has on lipolysis as there just isn’t enough research to indicate a positive effect.

    Eye care products that contain caffeine may also help with dark circles due to their ability to reduce capillary permeability however, dark circles are notoriously difficult to treat topically and can often be the result of other health issues.

    Caffeine can be included in eye care products in the form of caffeine-rich green tea, however, this won’t be as effective as use of coffee or pure caffeine. Lavera My Age Intensive Eye Cream incorporates organic caffeine from coffee and Fair Trade organic green tea to ensure a stimulating effect.

    As to my own caffeine use, I am going to relax and enjoy my one cup of coffee a day and on the days that I need it, instead of a second cup, apply some caffeine containing eye cream to my eyes. Please let me know if you have had any experience with caffeine containing products and what results you got.

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