Why You Should Add Tea to Your Skincare Routine
Photo: Carlton Davis / Trunk Archive
Sure, you’ve heard about how drinking tea is great for your complexion and even for aiding digestion—but what about applying tea directly to your skin? Joanna Vargas, a New York City celebrity facialist whose clients include Emma Stone and Julianne Moore, is a fan of adding tea to a skincare routine.
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“If your skin tends to be on the sensitive side, if it’s red and irritated, you can rinse your face with chamomile tea after cleansing,” says Vargas. “It will help to cool down the skin and take down any redness.” Vargas says she also likes to mix chamomile tea with a bit of rosemary and add it to bathwater in place of a scented soap for an extra-soothing bath.
Chamomile isn’t the only tea she recommends for application on the skin. “If you have really mature skin, you might want to consider using a green tea,” Vargas adds. Green tea is packed with antioxidants and is great for promoting circulation notes Vargas.
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Use a loose tea and make sure you strain it from your water before using it. Vargas recommends letting the tea steep longer than you would if you were making it to drink. “Boil it on the stove for half hour to make it super strong,” she says. Of course, you’ll want to let the tea cool down before splashing it on the face. For an extra boost, you can also soak cotton in the tea water and place the cotton on top of a face mask. “This will keep the mask active while acting as an additional ingredient,” says Vargas. Try incorporating tea into your routine once a week—but keep on drinking it everyday.
