As I’ve mentioned numerous times before, I have been cursed with oily skin. Rare it is for me to experience a dry spell in the oil works, yet a couple of months ago, I did. I wasn’t entirely sure what the problem was at the time, but after I kept seeing the word “caffeine” come up in articles related to skin issues, I started to have my suspicions.
And looked at my beloved coffee with a sad twinge in my heart.
Could it be…? The timeline was about right.
Did coffee really affect my skin?
I had to admit, my skin problems exacerbated after I increased my coffee intake. It was during a time when I had a lot of work to do and was barely getting enough sleep to cope with staying awake at work. Plus, coffee is a hella cheaper and healthier alternative than my usual Red Bull. So my choice on whether to swap my Red Bull with coffee was obvious.
Sadly enough. Because as time went on after the change, my skin condition steadily worsened. It got to the point where it was the near polar opposite of what it used to be.
And when I say near polar opposite, I really mean it. The oil that used to sit obnoxiously on my face had just about dried up, and my skin, from being relatively young-looking looked almost scaly. I’m serious when I say that it was that dry. And as though to add salt to injury, I also had a nasty case of cystic acne, when before that, I only had those once every few months. Apparently, after having too much coffee in my body, I’d get them all the time. Most frequently on the sides of my face.
Mad annoying.
Despite how much I had come to love coffee, I love my complexion more. So from that day onwards, I decided to go cold turkey and swapped over to green tea.
Did it make a difference?
Honestly? Yes. I was actually able to see results in less than a week, which was, trust me, more than enough compensation for having to give up my sweetened milk coffee for bitter green tea. Thanks to the swap, my skin started to lose the scaly look it had gained after increased consumption of coffee. Much to my relief. For an awful second there, I had thought I was experiencing heightened signs of ageing.
So happy that wasn’t the case. My skin eventually returned to its usual self; oily and relatively smooth, certainly not suffering from dehydration. The fine lines I had faded as well.
And the inflamed cystic acne? Thank the Lord that those receded too. I’m used to getting one or two every now and then, but consistently every week? So not okay.
That said, I’m not perfect (as I so often hint or even highlight on this blog haha). Sometimes I take coffee when I’m exhausted, have work to do and have no other caffeine-filled alternative close by. Needless to say that those God awful cystic acne and other skin problems consequently returned not long after, so I was glad to immediately drop the drink once I was done with that particularly hectic (and recent) episode of my work life.
While it was annoying, it at least further confirmed that coffee = skin problems. And hey, at least I got some work done, so that was nice.
Tldr; I’m sticking to tea.
