You may have heard about using tea in your skincare regimen but do you know why? Tea has many benefits for the skin. It is very high in antioxidants which keep your skin looking young and beautiful, it reduces the appearance of puffy eyes and dark circles, AND it's anti-inflammatory making it a natural acne buster! These are just some of the benefits of using tea in your skincare.
Adds Antioxidants to Your Skincare Routine
Tea is very rich in antioxidants especially those that fight cancer. The antioxidants and polyphenols that are in tea can protect your skin from premature aging and wrinkles. Black tea was a more effective anti-wrinkle agent over other teas. Green tea offers anti-aging and antioxidant benefits that can help delay the signs of skin aging. Some of the ailments it helps are sagging skin, sun damage, age spots, fine lines, and wrinkles. The polyphenols present in green tea help neutralize harmful free radicals. These free radicals can cause significant damage to the skin and accelerate the aging process. UV radiation is one of the leading causes of skin cancer. Research as found that drinking black tea can help protect the skin and even improve skin problems caused by excessive UV exposure (thanks to those antioxidants and polyphenols). Researchers in Malaysia even found that applying a black tea extract on wounded skin helped heal the wounds quicker with less inflammation and more collagen .
Reduces Puffy Eyes and Dark Circles
Caffeine and tannins in green tea help shrink blood vessels around the eyes, making it a miracle for treating puffy eyes and dark circles. Due to its antioxidant effects, green tea helps reduce or even eliminate dark circles around the eyes and puffy eyes. Green tea is also rich in vitamin K which helps lighten up the dark circles under the eyes. We've talked about the benefits of caffeine for skin before in this blog post.
Is Anti-inflammatory
Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, tea can help end your war with acne by reducing the inflammation that causes acne. If used topically, tea can help fade spots, eliminate acne scars, and fight breakouts. Green tea contains catechins which are antibacterial and reduce irritation, redness, and swelling. Green tea also contains epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which is known to modulate the intracellular molecular targets, inhibiting bacteria growth, helping to improve the appliance of acne.
Pro Tip!
Next time you drink a cup of tea don't throw away the bag! You can put it in the frige then place the cool tea bag under your eyes for a cooling under eye treatment to reduce dark circles and puffiness. You can also take the leaves and mix with sugar (optional) and coconut oil and use it as a face scrub. Powdered tea like matcha can be mixed with an oil, water, or vinegar of your choice (add your favorite clay or some activated charcoal if you like) and used as an anti-aging face mask.
Want some more face mask ideas? Click here to get my go-to face mask recipe!