08 Juni 2010

Tea Spa: Treatments at Home

Home is where the tea is, an old adage says. And it rings true. At home, tea doesn’t only accompany you during snack-time, but is also goes along amazingly with your skin and body treatments. Wonder what tea can do for you?

Bathing ritual
Too broke to leave home for a spa? No worries. Enjoy your homemade tea bath by taking a couple of tea bags to your bathtub and throwing them into the running water to infuse.

Relieving your tired eyes: Forget cool cucumber slices – choose teabags for a soothing eye remedy. When your eyes are tired from computer work or lack of sleep, these really rest and refresh your eyes. Cool two tea bags in the refrigerator and place each of them on each of your lids. Enjoy the cold sensation for 10 to 15 minutes. An alternative is to warm the teabags and use them to revitalize your puffy eyes. The tannins in the tea act to reduce puffiness and soothe tired eyes.

Refreshing your face
Crush tea leaves inside your face cream for a mini-facial. Gently massage your face with the cream in circular motions. This will polish your skin and can help make it appear younger and fresher.

Adding shine to your hair
Tea can temporarily make your hair darker and shinier. Shampoo your hair as you regularly do, then rinse with plain water. Next, rinse your hair with a cold brewed black tea. Leave in for at least five minutes, then squeeze out the liquid from your hair. Let your hair dry naturally and see the difference.

Spoiling your feet
Tea can rescue you from your tootsies’ stress! Fill up a large pot of warm water, pour in a cup of concentrated, heavily brewed tea, and soak your feet for 10 to 20 minutes. Refreshed feed will be yours, and you’ll be ready to dance the night away. Tea has anti-fungal qualities, so it makes your feet fresher and healthier.

Tanning your skin
Yes, forget than pale skin and have it tanned without having yourself exposed to dangerous ultraviolet rays. Brew two cups of black tea, let it cool, and pour into a plastic spray bottle. Make sure your skin is clean and dry before spraying it directly onto your skin. Let it air-dry and repeat as desired for a glowing tan.

Cooling sunburned skin and curing minor irritations
Wet teabags can be a quick remedy for sunburn, paper cuts, painful injections and other minor irritations. Just apply them to the affected skin. This works well for other types of minor burns like those resulting from a teapot or steam iron.

If the burn is too widespread to treat this way, put some tea bags in your bathwater and soak the affected areas in the tub. To stop bleeding gums and soothe the pain from a lost or recently onto the affected areas. The tannic acid in the wet tea leaves will soothe and help heal the soreness.
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sources: The Jakarta Post