Recently I was searching for an herbal tea recipe that would be refreshing as well as have healing goodness. I came across a recipe by Dr. Aviva Romm. While looking thru the ingredients to see if I would like the properties for what I needed right then (calming yet energizing) I kept finding myself thinking, “That’s a great wash for skin too!”. Even though I will be 50 on my next birthday I keep having acne breakouts! Blemishes showing up at almost 50? Yikes! Typically my Face Renewal keeps my skin evenly balanced, moisturized, and reduces the appearance of those pesky fine lines BUT hormones add in a whole new element!
So it was a pleasant surprise as I was looking over the tea ingredients to realize that each ingredient is GREAT for refreshing my face too.
Most of the time when we think of herbal teas we think of ingredients that will benefit our inner-self, but can some of those same ingredients also benefit our skin when applied topically?
Ingredients like:
Eleuthero root. Eleuthero is an adaptogen, meaning that it helps the body adapt to stress. YES! But eleuthero is also put in cosmetics because it’s known to be good for overall skin health.
Green Tea. Green tea has phytochemicals and polyphenols which helps the body reduce internal inflammation. When used topically on the skin green tea has many benefits! Green tea is an antioxidant , full of Vit B and E, contains tannins, al which helps to reduce inflammation and puffiness as well as brightens the skin (ie helps with those dark circles!)
Pomegranate, hibiscus tea and lemon are all high in vitamin c. While everyone knows that vitamin c is good for your body, did you know that vitamin c is necessary for collagen production in your skin? Topical vitamin C also helps your skin protect itself from harmful sun rays and environmental challenges.
Ginger helps with digestion and is anti-viral as well as anti-bacterial. For the skin, ginger helps even skin tone and improves elasticity.
Lemon balm is wonderful for it’s calming abilities! When you use it on the skin it soothes and tightens the skin.
So when you make this delicious drink recipe, be sure to save some back and wash your face with it too! If you want to wash your face with it for 2 days in a row just be sure to refrigerate the left-over. In fact, you could put the left-over in a mister bottle and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days for quick facial soothers for hot Summer days! If you want to keep it longer, freeze some in an ice cube tray to thaw and use for a facial boost another time!
Here’s Dr. Romm’s Summer Punch Herbal Elixir Tea recipe:
Ingredients
Makes one quart herbal tea
- One quart water
- 1 TBSP dried eleuthero root
- 1 TBSP green tea
- 1 TBSP dried pomegranate flower
- 2 tsp fresh or dried ginger slices
- 2 tsp fresh or dried lemon balm
- 1 TBSP dried hibiscus flowers
- 1 fresh lemon slice per glass
Directions
- Place water in a pot and bring to a boil.
- Add eleuthero root to the boiling water and cover. Reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add green tea, pomegranate, ginger, lemon balm, hibiscus, and lemon.
- Let steep, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Strain into a pitcher or glasses with ice. Add a slice of lemon to each glass.
- Optional add honey to taste – but do it before you pour over ice so the honey dissolves. If you prefer, you can add a drop of stevia to each glass (I don’t love the taste of stevia and prefer it with honey or unsweetened).
You can store any extra tea in a glass jar in the fridge, where it will keep well for two days.
Source: Dr. Romm’s full article
Have you tried this recipe? Have you thought about using these ingredients for your face before?