Green Tea’s Benefits for Your Skin

Green tea is by far one of the world’s most popular drinks, and with good reason. While drinking green tea is great to enjoy any time of day, making it a part of our skin and body care has incredible benefits, too. 

Cosmetic and personal care product manufacturers, both large and small, have discovered green tea’s benefits in soaps and skin products for all the health benefits that the leaves of Camellia sinesnsis, or the tea plant, contain. 

Green Tea Contains Powerful Antioxidants

Our bodies are continually being bombarded by free radicals. Free radicals are molecules that both occur naturally in our bodies and from other factors in our environment. Those factors can include sun exposure, smoke, radiation, or other pollutants. These can all cause damage through oxidation and directly affect our health and how our skin looks. 

Antioxidants are molecules that prevent the oxidation process. Green tea contains catechins, which are water-soluble antioxidants. These include Epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, Epigallocatechin (ECG), and Epicatechin (EC). These protect from the damage caused by free radicals. 

While we briefly touched on just a few of these uses in our previous blog post, Green Tea In Your Life & Around Your Home, here are several more ways that you can make yourself feel better both inside and out. 

Green Tea Cleansing Toner

Because of its natural astringent properties, using green tea as a toner can soothe and gently exfoliate your skin. Green tea is also loaded with Vitamin B2 and Vitamin E that can further benefit your skin’s health.

• Brew a cup of Sir Jason Winters Green Herbal tea (G.H.T.) using one or two tea bags.
• Take a couple of fresh mint leaves and add them to the tea. 
• Allow the tea and mint to steep as long as it takes to reach room temperature. Squeeze the liquid out of the tea bags and mint.
• Place this mixture in a spray bottle. Amber glass is the best, as it will keep out light that can break down the mix. Store in the refrigerator to keep it super cool and refreshing.

Green Tea Soap

Because green tea leaves contain properties that can help naturally and gently slough off dead skin cells, soap makers love putting it in their homemade soaps. Here is a simple way to craft your own soap that will make you feel super self-sufficient and help nourish your skin.

For this, you might save tea leaves you have used from past cups of tea so that they can be re-used in the soap recipe.

• 2 cups of Castile or other gentle soap
• 1 cup of steeped green tea leaves (Note: You may also use Sir Jason Winters Classic Herbal Tea for additional soap making options.)

1. Soak the grated soap in a bowl of water until it is softened. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the soap flakes and place them in a second bowl.
2. Add the green tea leaves to the bowl, mixing gently and just until they are incorporated into the softened soap.
3. Place in a sieve or colander and allow them to sit for 20 -30 minutes to get out excess moisture.
4. Pack the soap and tea leaf mixture into soap molds, miniature gelatin molds, muffin tins, or miniature bread loaf pans. 
5. Allow to dry thoroughly. This drying time usually takes anywhere from 8 hours to overnight or as long as two days.

Green Tea Bath Salts

Since ancient days, adding scents and skin-softening ingredients to the bath can feel like an absolute indulgence. In Istanbul, Turkey, the baths or hammams are a delight for the senses that are enjoyed as often as possible. You can create a similar experience for yourself in your own home’s comfort with this bath salt formula that incorporates green tea.

You will need:

• 2 cups of Epsom Salts
• ¼ teaspoon of glycerin
• 10 to 15 drops of your favorite essential oil such as lavender or eucalyptus
• ¼ cup of strong green tea. 

Mix the ingredients together and add to your bathwater. Allow yourself to soak your cares away.

Green Tea Facial Mask

This mask can not only help rejuvenate and moisturize your skin but can also help whether your skin is prone to acne or if you’re trying to fight off the effects of aging. 

You will need:

• The contents of 2 or 3 tea bags of Sir Jason Winters Green Herbal Tea 
• 1 Tablespoon of raw, unfiltered honey
• ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

Mix the contents and gently apply them to your face. Allow it to remain on your skin for 10 -15 minutes. Thoroughly rinse off the mask and pat dry. Apply your favorite moisturizer. Note that this mask is excellent while relaxing in the bath!

Green Tea to Soothe Tired Eyes

With so much of our lives being lived in front of screens of one kind or another, it’s no wonder that our eyes get tired and sore. According to a recent study submitted to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the caffeine in green tea was shown to help reduce dark, puffy circles under the eyes.

• Save two Sir Jason Winters Herbal Green Tea and place them in a small container in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• When you are ready, sit back and place the refrigerated tea bags over your eyelids and relax for 10 to 20 minutes.

Do this whenever you need to rest your eyes. The tannins will soothe your eyes and help ease puffiness, while the polyphenols will help undo the damage from the sun and other environmental factors that contribute to premature aging.

Green Tea Moisturizer & Under Eye Cream

You can also take advantage of green tea’s goodness in your moisturizer as well. Rather than infusing green tea in water, you can gently heat skin-nourishing oils such as extra virgin olive oil, jojoba, or rosehip oil instead. This lotion creates an excellent base for a moisturizer on your face and body.

• 1 or 2 green tea bags
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive, jojoba, rosehip, sesame, or other skincare oil.
• 3 Tablespoons shea butter.
• Add several drops of your favorite pure essential oil as desired. Lavender oil is excellent, as are rose, sandalwood, or jasmine. Add this only after the base of green tea, oil, and shea butter cools.

If you want to make this into a more stable under-eye cream, add about1 teaspoon of grated beeswax or beeswax beads.

Gently heat the skincare oil on low heat. Add shea butter and optional beeswax until it melts. 

Add green tea bags and allow the mixture to cool. Remove the tea bags and add essential oils. Mix, then place into a glass bottle or jar. Apply to your face and under-eye area as desired. You don’t have to refrigerate this moisturizer; however, it’s best to keep it out of direct sunlight and in a cool, dry place.

Resources

“Beauty and the East: A Book of Oriental Body Care” by Wendy Bounaventura, 2001, Interlink Books, Brooklyn, NY

“Almond Eyes and Lotus Feet: Indian Traditions in Beauty & Health” by Sharada Dwivedi & Shalani Holkar, 2005, Harper Collins, New York, NY

“Nature’s Secrets for Health & Beauty” by Minoo Glnazar, 1998, Minoo Publishing, Los Angeles, CA

“The Book of Green Tea” by Diana Rosen, 1998, Storey Books, Pownal, VT