The best coffee scrub
There are tons of coffee scrubs on the market, but the Frank Body Original Coffee Scrub stands out.
It's formulated with"roasted and ground Robusta coffee beans" to physically smooth out dry, flaky patches, and instantly wake up your skin during your morning shower. It also contains antioxidant-packed cacao extract to help protect against environmental factors that can slowly break down healthy cells like smog and pollution, and cold pressed macadamia and sweet almond oils for hydration.
Your skin will feel super smooth after just one use; over time, you may experience diminished cellulite and stretch marks.
The Inventory recommends "grabbing a scoop of some sort" to help cut down on the mess. "Though," their reviewer warns, "[the grounds] do kind of get everywhere anyway, so be prepared to rinse your shower or tub afterwards."
The product is completely vegan and paraben-free. It's also been featured on Bustle and Best Products, and has close to 4,800 reviews and an average 4.5-star rating on Influenster.
Pros: moisturizing, great for dry skin, contains real coffee, vegan
Cons: makes a mess, doesn't come with its own scoop
The best coffee serum
Like most products from The Ordinary, the Caffeine Solution 5% + EGCG uses a simple, bare bones formula to target very specific concerns.
In this case, the active ingredients are high-solubility caffeine, and green tea cathechin, a powerful antioxidant. They work together to help reduce hyperpigmentation and puffiness, making this an ideal pick for use around the eyes. Keep in mind that this is a serum and not a moisturizer, so you'll still need an eye cream for additional hydration.
Many Sephora reviewers point out that it works well all over their skin. "[I] started using this all over my face. It soothes my redness, and inflammation when my skin is having those bad moments, and also when i have a pimple here and there, it helps to reduce their size and redness. I don't put this all over my face everyday, just when my skin is acting up," one shopper writes.
The serum has a 3.9-star rating on Sephora, based on 500+ reviews. It's also been featured on Bustle, which praises it for "containing one of the highest concentrations of caffeine on the market" for super cheap.
Pros: high concentration of caffeine, simple formula, inexpensive, helps lighten dark circles
Cons: might be too harsh for sensitive skin
The best coffee eye cream
Caffeine is a popular ingredient in eye creams because it's great at tackling the twin demons of dark circles and under-eye puffiness. 100% Pure Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream is an Amazon favorite with a 3.8-star rating and more than 1,000 reviews.
This cream uses three varieties of caffeine to tackle all of your eye-related concerns — green coffee, coffee cherry, and green tea — plus rosehip oil and vitamin C for brightening, and aloe and rose hydrosol for hydration.
All 100% Pure products use natural plant-derived ingredients, and are developed and packaged sustainability too.
"Most eye creams for puffiness are only made for area below the eye. I was so happy when I contacted 100% Pure one day directly through their site on a live chat screen and they said this product would work well on my swollen upper eyelids and it would be safe without any agitation, and they were right!" writes on Amazon shopper.
"This stuff is great. I'm 62, skin is pretty good, but around the eyes a little puffy and droopy. This cream makes a huge difference. Only need a tiny drop on each eye, I expect this will last quite a while," says another.
Pros: helps with dark circles and puffiness, uses natural ingredients, safe for entire eye area including eyelids
Cons: doesn't have powerful anti-aging ingredients, pricey
The best coffee face mask
Detox masks are a dime a dozen, but the Caudalie Instant Detox Mask is one of the absolute best.
The mask uses a combination of pink clay and coffee to draw out oil and dirt, unclogging your pores in just a few minutes. The formula is rounded out with brightening papaya enzymes and antibacterial lavender, cypress, sage, and sandalwood essential oils.
This product bears the Clean at Sephora seal, which means it lacks a host of ingredients that can irritate and harm skin. It's also vegan, cruelty-free, hypoallergenic, safe for sensitive skin, and formulated without gluten.
"This mask got rid of the blackheads and impurities in the pores of my nose [...] AND left my skin smooth and moisturized," writes one Sephora shopper. New Beauty says, "Five minutes is all it takes to get brighter skin with this fan-favorite detoxifying mask."
The product has an overall 4.4-star rating at Sephora based on nearly 500 reviews.
Pros: detoxifies in five minutes, vegan, Clean at Sephora seal, hypoallergenic
Cons: Pricey
The best coffee mist
Who doesn't love a good mist? The Origins GinZing Energy-Boosting Treatment Lotion Mist wakes you up with coffee beans, panax ginseng, and pomegranate.
This combination is designed to help make your complexion look more awake. You can apply this as a toner during your skin-care routine, or keep it at your desk for a quick pick-me-up throughout the day. It won't disturb your makeup, and better yet, can even make it look better if it's getting dry and cakey.
Though the word "lotion" is in the name, you won't get the same level of hydration as you would from a real moisturizer, so I'd suggest spritzing after your usual.
A few reviewers complain that the nozzle squirts out too much product, so if you find that bothersome, you can try it with a cotton round instead, or decant the product into another spray bottle with a more even mist.
"One spritz of this caffeine-boosted mist that delivers equal parts hydration, radiance and exfoliation in seconds," says New Beauty. The product has been featured by Allure, Dazed Beauty, and Bustle.
It has a 4.4 average rating on Influenster based on more than 2,200 reviews.
Pros: refreshing, can be used as a toner or mist, can help set and refresh makeup
Cons: some reviewers complained about the power of the spray nozzle
What else we considered
There's a host of other good caffeine-based beauty products on the market; here are a few that didn't quite make the cut for our top five.
- Wash With Joe CoffeeMint ($32.95): I came across Wash With Joe's invigorating body wash with coffee and mint a lot during my research. The product has a bunch of glowing customer reviews on Amazon, but many of them cite the high cost as a reason why they haven't repurchased. There are a ton of other good coffee-infused body washes out there for a fraction of the price.
- Frank Body Lip Scrub ($12.95): The lip scrub version of the brand's body scrub tastes delicious and could be a good option to try, though it didn't truly smooth my lips when I used it.