Hey Lady,

I feel your pain! For me, coffee makes my skin very dry and red patchy if you look very close. Almost like an allergic reaction. You would think that should be enough to make a girl kick the habit! The thing is that, for me..... it builds up in my system until the symptoms get really bad and then I quit for 2 weeks. Before you know it I am at Starbucks getting more coffee. It seems to be a 2 week on/2 week off cycle for me. It's amazing how obviously my dry skin is related to drinking coffee. After one day of stopping my face feels super soft again. And the thing is that I don't ever have more than 1 Starbucks (mind you loaded with caffeine) in one day.

It's such a treat... and like you I think it is more of a social thing. Possibly an addiction?

I recently heard from a Barista that most coffee is loaded with chemicals including formaldehyde to keep it fresh and preserved. My new theory is that it's not the caffiene or the coffee that I am allergic to, but all the crap that mixed in with it. BTW... legally they are not required to put toxic chemicals as a preservative (this one barista mentioned to me).

So, I am trying to stick to green tea which has caffeine and I get no side effects from. So hard though!!!!