Beau-Tea for Travellers - III. Coffee

Sure. It's obvious.

Coffee is like that. It's the Ferrari of caffeine transmission. And when you fly from Brisbane to LA as often as we do - crossing the date line and finding you land 6 hours before you took off - coffee is a good great idea for keeping awake till dark.


But what else can this magic potion do for us? There are certain lines of thinking that regular ingestion of coffee via - well, other parts of your body - can be quite detoxifying. But I'm not here to tell you about that.

Nope, I'm going to tell you how coffee can be used for hotel-made beautification. Energization. De-travel-ization.

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Coffee Body Scrub

I don't know whether it's the traveling-in-the-same-clothes-for-long-periods, or the recirculated air, or the mad dash from disembarkation to customs and immigration (ideally before the hundreds of others on your mega-flight) ... but by the time I get to my accommodation, I often need new skin. And what I mean by that is that my skin feels like it has a layer of grime/sweat/pollution/other people's breath all over it.

Revolting, hey?

So let's scrub off that top little protective layer, and let the new, happy skin cells emerge. It's called exfoliation.  And one of the best natural exfoliants comes from something that you'd throw out anyway - hence, you get to use the whole food.

Coffee grinds. Just make yourself a pot of coffee, and save the grinds. Once they're cool, take them into the shower with you and use them to gently scrub your skin - focusing on the parts of your body that need a little extra love. Rinse off well, moisturise, and there you have it.

A fresh start (for next to nothing)!


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Coffee Foot Scrub
(with Peppermint Tea Soak)

I used to travel in thongs - and no not those kind ... the flipflop/plastic sandal kind. (Seriously, people.) Now? My feet require some support, some stability. Birkenstocks at the least. Running shoes, more often. A sign of getting older? Or maybe just the extra 15 kgs that carrying a child on one's back provides? Whatever it is, my feet ache after long days of walking/meandering/wandering.

Hence, a scrub and soak is fully in order. I told you about a lovely, relaxing foot soak made from chamomile tea - this recipe is for its energizing counterpart.

First, brew up some coffee - feel free to drink it all up if you want. Again, we're after the grinds. Also, make a large potful of peppermint tea - but just set it aside to cool. When the grinds are cool and the peppermint tea is no longer going to burn you - we're ready.

Use the coffee grinds to scrub your feet (over a large dish, filled with water). Then, rinse your feet and immerse them in a large dish of hot peppermint tea. Sit back, relax, and let the peppermint erase all weariness from your feet.

Then gently dry your feet with a towel and hit the road again.


Happy travels,
Amanda xx

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