Re-posted from Fresh Cup Online Magazine

August 2010

BEAUTY AND THE BEANS

By Dan Leif
Coffee a hot ingredient
in cosmetics industry

If you’re a coffee lover, you no doubt want quality beans at the heart of your morning latte and maybe in the ice cream or cake you nibble on later in the day. But how about in shampoo or body cream? Thanks to a pair of recently rolled-out cosmetic lines, coffee consumption doesn’t have to stop when the eating and drinking do. Goodbye, aloe. Hello, Arabica.

The two cosmetic brands in question are Seattle-based Sweet Beauty, which has begun pushing its “mocha collection” that includes a sugar scrub using espresso beans from Caffe Vita, and Barista Bath and Body, a company that’s based in Portland, Ore., and uses coffee in a variety of products, including shampoo, conditioner, soap and lip balm.

“Coffee in general is loaded with antioxidants and is also an anti-inflammatory,” says Lisa Francoise, owner
of Sweet Beauty.Not surprisingly, the people behind both lines are longtime coffee drinkers. But both say the choice to bring coffee into a realm traditionally dominated by unpronounceable chemical ingredients is more than just a novelty play. “Coffee in general is loaded with antioxidants and is also an anti-inflammatory,” says Lisa Francoise, owner of Sweet Beauty. “It’s a real gift from nature when it comes to skin care.”

Francoise’s company was built on creating cosmetics using another bean-based food product, chocolate. But within her latest line, she formulated a lip balm, massage oil and body cream from coffee bean butter, which is made by extracting oils from organic coffee beans and adding them to hydrogenated vegetable oil. Don’t worry, though—it won’t lead to a triple bypass. “Hydrogenated vegetable oil is scary when you think about eating trans fats, but for the skin it’s an amazing product,” Francoise says. “It provides an occlusive barrier and seals in the moisturizer and antioxidants from the coffee bean.”

Sweet Beauty’s final coffee-based product, a sugar scrub, has an independent coffee shop at its roots. When Francoise needs a fresh batch of the cosmetic, she heads to a shop in her Seattle neighborhood and buys Caffe Vita espresso beans by the pound. Back at her workspace she grinds the coffee and combines it with coffee bean oil, chocolate and sugar. “We use the organic espresso beans just to add an extra exfoliation to the scrub,” says Francoise. “You’re not getting much benefit other than the feel and the look from the coffee beans.”

This August, cool off and tone your hot summer skin with this refreshing blend of Watermelon, Cucumber and Mint. Choose ingredients fresh from your garden or just pick them up at the local grocery store.

1 cup Watermelon, seeds removed and cut into chunks
1 cup Cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
1 handful Fresh Mint Leaves, removed from the stem
1.5 oz or 1.5 T of Witch Hazel, found at your local grocery or pharmacy
1.5 oz or 1.5 T Water, use the Britta if you can

Blend Watermelon, Cucumber and Mint together in a blender or food processor. Strain mixture through cheese cloth or a fine mesh strainer. Add Witch Hazel and Water to extracted juice. This should last for a week or so refrigerated.

Uses:

Put Toner in a spray bottle and keep cold until needed. Spritz skin as needed to cool off.

Rebalance the skin after cleansing routine. Apply with a cotton ball. You could rinse afterwards, but it is not necessary.

Additional Uses:

Leave out the Witch Hazel and drink to cool off and rehydrate.

Or leave out the Witch Hazel and add Vodka for a refreshing cocktail.

Benefits:

Watermelon aids the skin’s regeneration process, restores balance, is an anti inflammatory, as well as a natural acne fighter. Watermelon is rich in Lycopene, Vitamins A, B and C. Watermelons can be traced back to Africa.

Cucumbers contain Silica, a trace mineral, which is important for our bodies’ connective tissue. Cucumbers cool, calm, soothe, hydrate and rejuvenate the skin. Cucumbers can lesson dark circles in the eye area. Cucumbers are soothing to sun burnt skin. Cucumbers are known to improve one’s complexion. Cucumbers can be traced back to India.

Mint softens, hydrates, relaxes and refreshes the skin. Mint is a natural astringent, a natural anti inflammatory and a natural acne fighter. Mint can be traced back to the Mediterranean.

At Sweet Beauty we promote the benefits of feeling good in order to feel beautiful and what makes you feel better than chocolate? There are many things that feel good, but chocolate is still tops in our book and we don’t like to be limited to just eating bars of it, although that is pretty great. We have searched through the best drinking chocolate recipes far and wide. We tried and loved them all, but needed something even better. We invite you to try it for yourself.

16 oz Whole Milk
4 oz Heavy Cream or Half and Half
4 oz Roughly Chopped Organic Chocolate, 75% or higher
2 Fresh Vanilla Beans or 1.5 t Vanilla Extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup Cane Sugar, Honey or Agave Nectar

Gently heat the Milk and Cream, being careful not to scald. Scrape the Vanilla Beans and add to the simmering Milk and Cream. Add the Chocolate. Gently stir until melted. Add Your Chosen Sweetener. Stir Well. Top with Fresh Made Whipped Cream.

For different twist on this recipe you could add:
2 Cinnamon Sticks
Chili Water (Simmer chili pepper cut in half and cleaned in 2 cups of water until reduced by half, strain)
Freshly ground nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts
Espresso

You can adjust the quantity of Milk, Cream or Half and Half. The drink will be thinner and you get healthier.
I suppose you will too

Enjoy!

I eat a lot of chocolate since it is my passion and my business. Most of it is good, more than good, but I don’t think about it once it is gone. On a recent trip to Spain, I happened across Valor Chocolate or Chocolates Valor out of Alicante and I have been thinking about Valor ever since. I only spent a few fabulous moments at a Valor Chocolate cafe in Valencia, but my experience was wonderful.

I purchased a simple hot chocolate or so I thought. What I got was an extremely rich drinking chocolate sort of similar to how chocolate was consumed long ago when chocolate was first introduced to Europe. The drink is a tad sweeter since the processing of chocolate has changed dramatically, but wonderful all the same. I also purchased a few chocolate bars to take home which turned out to be nicely flavored and balanced. Valor does use Soy Lecithin, but there are worse things to worry about.

Although I won’t visit the Valor Cafe for a while, I have located a US source, in fact many, I have been out of the loop. You can visit www.worldpantry.com to purchase their chocolate drink mix and or bars. Enjoy.

I am not too much of a romantic, but i did feel the desire to make some cookies with some extra love for my sweet family. Here is the recipe for the cookies that make my family say “you do love us” I choose organic with all of these ingredients, but they will still taste wonderful if you are unable to do the same.

2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Cane Sugar
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (Chocolate #1)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter
1/2 cup Earth Balance Shortening
2 large Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
12 oz Dark Chocolate Bar broken into small pieces. (Chocolate #2)
1/2 cup Chocolate Nibs, slightly grounded. (Chocolate #3)

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

Beat butter and shortening together, add sugar and vanilla and mix well. Add eggs one at time, mix well. Mix dry ingredients together, mix well. Add dry ingredient mixture to butter mixture and mix well.

Prepare a cookie sheet with a non stick mat. 1 Tablespoon of dough make one cookie, although you can do whatever you like. Enjoy.

Try this simple face and body scrub to hydrate and moisturize summer skin.

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 fresh banana

1T Walnut Oil

1T Honey

Mash banana into brown sugar, add Walnut Oil and Honey, Mix Well.

Apply to moist skin, rub gently, rince.

Bananas are rich in potassium, vitamins A and B as well as being hydrating.
Walnut oil is a wonderful emollient and moisturizer for dry aged skin. Brown Sugar is a natural exfoliant

All had a wonderful day at the Seattle Chocolate Salon. Check out the video. The baby belongs to me. www.tastetv.com

A simple but fabulously delicious body treat to share with someone special. 1 cup Organic Cocoa Powder 1 cup Powdered Sugar 1 cup Grapeseed Oil Whisk until smooth. Apply, allow to dry, lick.

Please support Sweet Beauty and pick some up at Whole Foods Bellevue.