Blemishes, pimples, acne, breakouts, patchy and uneven skin … it’s a nightmare for anyone of any age.
I used to suffer terribly with it, nothing worked for me … other than a small amount of products (face washes, scrubs, etc), but only temporarily.
One reason they don’t work and why I no longer use them is because they drastically alter PH levels in the skin, removing essential oils.
This leaves your skin sore and brittle; causing easy damage.
After using them, your skin is left without its natural oils and PH balance, so your skin tries to compensate by excreting more oils … in an attempt to rebalance them.
This means a higher level of oil / grease on the face, clogging the pores and causing dirt to get trapped in them. This turns into sebum (the white substance that appears in the spots) and contains bacteria that can spread, causing more spots to form.
Your skin needs something that will not remove any layer of skin or cause an acute alteration of its natural oil level or PH balance.
This is where black tea comes in.
The natural compounds found in black tea are great for the skin, soothing but strict.
The caffeine content in tea is high, which means it is a great source to use, especially on the eyes.
The skin around the eye area is thin, and I mean paper. This means that it is easy for things to absorb into the skin and more deeply, which can be both bad and good!
The downside is that dirt or grease is likely to get trapped here quite easily and stains to form. Not only that, but also stress, lack of sleep, diet, skin care – these can all cause those dark circles under the eyes (usually called ‘black bags’).
The good news is that the caffeine in tea can help promote and support higher levels of blood flow, which means that more blood will return to the eye and eliminate the darkness.
Tea is a natural astringent, which means it will dry out and tighten your skin. This is very important when it comes to blemishes, acne, pimples, etc.
This is because drying the stain will effectively remove it and tightening the skin will cause the pores to close and prevent dirt or oil from getting trapped and causing more blemishes.
The other compounds in black tea act as a painkiller, reducing and eliminating red spots / that may appear on the skin; sometimes these are bumps on the skin that are not quite blemished, but are not flat.
Black tea is a great way to treat your blemishes because it works quickly and if used as part of a daily skincare routine, it will leave you with cleaner, healthier, and brighter-looking skin.
How to apply black tea to stains
You will need to:
- A tea bag
- A cup
- Hot water
- Cold water
- Find a mug, fill it with warm water (a mixture of 2 parts hot water and 1 part cold water works best).
- Dip the tea bag in the water, letting it saturate the water for a few minutes.
- When the water is dark brown, take out the tea bag and apply it on the blemishes or acne area.
- Repeat this for a few minutes; the tea will dry out pretty quickly so you can use a lot of water.
- Leave overnight, do not wash immediately!
- In the morning, you can now use a simple face wash to remove any tea residue that may have been left.
- You will notice that your skin feels firmer, smoother, your blemishes will be reduced and the red marks will fade.
* OPTIONALLY *
You can use the tea bag (or two) on your eyes after applying it to the spots. You can do this by placing them on your eyes and leaving them for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Do this every night and you will see a big difference! The darkness will fade under your eyes.
