Why There Is Coffee Bean in Our Lava Body Caviar

Coffee bean is in our Hawaiian Black Lava Body Caviar Body Scrub with Charcoal for two reasons you can feel in the shower: texture and scent. Flecks of coffee bean add grit alongside sea salt and organic sugar, and their aroma is warm and invigorating as the water heats up. Coffee also carries caffeine and chlorogenic acids, which researchers study for antioxidant activity, but in a scrub that rinses off, those are a bonus. The real work is the polish, and the oils that follow it.

What coffee bean brings to skincare

Coffee ingredients come from the seed of the Coffea plant, most often Coffea arabica. They take several forms: extracts of green (unroasted) beans, extracts of roasted beans, the bean itself ground into a scrub, and by-products such as the silverskin and spent grounds. There is also coffee seed oil, cold-pressed from green beans, which carries essential fatty acids, plant sterols and vitamin E.

Across those forms, two families of compounds draw most of the attention. Caffeine is widely used in cosmetics, especially around the eyes. Chlorogenic acids are polyphenols with strong antioxidant activity, and they are richest in green beans. Coffee also contains ferulic and caffeic acids, two more antioxidant compounds familiar from skincare labels.

What the research says, kept in proportion

A peer-reviewed review published in February 2026 in the journal Antioxidants pulled together the work on coffee-derived skincare ingredients. Most of it is laboratory research, which shows antioxidant activity and some protection against UV stress in cells. The human trials are fewer and smaller. They report modest improvements in skin hydration, elasticity and barrier function, and less water lost through the skin, and the authors note that the way those trials were run limits how far their results can be read.

The best-known human study did not involve a cream at all. Forty-nine women drank coffee polyphenols daily for eight weeks in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Their skin was scored as less dry, it lost less water, and the outer layer held more moisture by the end. That tells us something about coffee and skin. It does not tell us what a scrub does.

One more finding matters for a body scrub. Once on skin, caffeine passes readily into the upper layers, while chlorogenic acids are larger molecules that the skin's outer layer largely keeps out. In a product that is rinsed away within a minute or two, neither has long to work. That is why we think of coffee in a scrub as texture and scent first, with whatever else it offers as an extra.

Why a scrub is the right home for coffee

A scrub does its job physically. The grains lift away dull surface skin and leave the body smooth to the touch, so whatever goes on next sinks into a cleaner, softer surface. Coffee bean suits that job: it has a pleasing grit, it mixes well with salt and sugar, and its scent is one most people already love.

Scent matters more in a scrub than people expect. It is the product you use slowly, with the water running, and the aroma is a large part of why the step feels like care rather than a chore. Coffee gives our scrub a warm, roasted edge underneath the Hawaiian Black Lava fragrance.

Inside the jar

Open the Lava Body Caviar and it looks like volcanic sand: black, glistening with oil and flecked with coffee bean. Stir it first, as the label asks, and the oils and crystals come together into a thick paste. Here is what each part does:

• Sea salt and organic sugar buff away dull surface skin, so skin looks radiant.
• Safflower, coconut, macadamia, kukui, passion fruit and Kalahari melon seed oils leave skin feeling soft and moisturized once you rinse. Kalahari melon seed oil is the light, quick-absorbing oil our brand is built on.
• Charcoal powder gives the scrub its deep Hawaiian Black Lava color.
• Coffee bean adds an aromatic, invigorating texture.

The scent is Hawaiian Black Lava, musky and woodsy. Like nearly everything we sell, the scrub is made by hand in our Williamsburg workshop in batches of 50 to 100.

How to use it

1. Stir the jar so the oils and crystals are evenly mixed.
2. In the shower, take a scoop and massage it over wet skin from the neck down, paying attention to elbows, knees, shins and heels.
3. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. The oils stay behind, so skin feels cushioned rather than tight.
4. While skin is still damp, smooth on a body oil or cream to hold in the moisture.

Our Imperial Jade Body Oil is the natural next step: mongongo, Kalahari melon seed, marula, grapeseed and argan oils that sink in without a tacky film. If you prefer a cream, the Rejuvenating Body Cream works the same way on damp skin. If you are sensitive to caffeine in skincare, try the scrub on a small patch first. You can read about each oil in the jar in our Ingredient Library.

Questions about our coffee body scrub

Which Marianella product contains coffee?

The Hawaiian Black Lava Body Caviar Body Scrub with Charcoal. It is flecked with coffee bean, which adds an aromatic, invigorating texture to the sea salt and sugar.

Can I use the Lava Body Caviar on my face?

No. It is made for the body only, from the neck down. The salt and sugar crystals are too coarse for facial skin.

Why is the scrub black?

Charcoal powder gives it the color of Hawaiian black lava. The color rinses away with the scrub.

What should I put on after the scrub?

A body oil or cream on damp skin. Imperial Jade Body Oil sinks in quickly and leaves a soft glow, and the Imperial Body Glow Bundle pairs it with the scrub.