There’s nothing like dry air to make your skin look lifeless and dull, especially when it comes to your face. To keep their skin bright and smooth, men and women alike use a wide variety of products to peel away dead skin and revitalize their complexion.
These products contain questionable ingredients that penetrate your skin and make their way into your blood stream, causing toxins to accumulate in your body tissue. Scrubs and exfoliating soaps and cleanser are even worse, containing plastic microbeads that harm our aquatic ecosystems and kill our fish (1).
The Natural Solution
Green tea contains caffeine, which helps to shrink blood vessels underneath the skin and brighten the under-eye area to ward off dark circles. It also tones and moisturizes skin while soothing sunburns, healing rosacea, and calming skin irritation (2). Green tea also contains antioxidants that fight skin aging to give you healthy, youthful-looking skin.
Coconut oil is full of essential fatty acids that hydrate the skin and diminished the appearance of wrinkles. This oil is soft on the skin and fights bacteria and fungi that cause conditions like acne and skin rashes. Before applying it to your whole face, test a bit of oil on your cheek to make sure your skin can handle it (3).
Sugar acts as an exfoliating agent that removes dead skin and leaves your complexion clear and smooth. It’s best not to use sugar if you suffer from acne, so use a fine-grain sea salt or Himalayan salt instead. Since salt is more abrasive than sugar, make sure to rub the scrub very delicately when using it on your face.
Coconut Green Tea Scrub
Keep a jar of this mixture in your shower and use every 2-3 days for clear skin. You can even use it for the rest of your body if you wish.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 tablespoon loose leaf green tea
- ¼ cup filtered water
- ¼ teaspoon matcha powder
- 1 cup raw organic extra-virgin coconut oil
- ½ cup raw organic sugar
Instructions:
- Boil water and let it cool for 2-5 minutes.
- Measure out your tea, place in a strainer, and steep for 2-5 minutes.
- Remove the strainer full of tea and let the drink cool in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
- In the meantime, combine the oil, sugar and matcha in a medium bowl and stir well. Once cool, add 1/8 cup of the green tea and mix. If you do not own matcha, add the remaining 1/8 cup of green tea. If you do, use the remainder of the tea to make a body scrub, substituting the sugar for some fine-grain sea salt or Epsom salt.
- Store the mixture in an airtight container and use in the shower to gently exfoliate your skin. Since the scrub contains coconut oil, do not slather on cream or lotion after use.