When you’ve just turned 30, like I have, you start to take more notice of your skin. While I’ve never had amazingly clear skin, I have always longed for it and realised that it’s really about what you eat and drink along with of course your skincare regime. When you find that sweet spot of eating healthy and using the right products, is when you really see the change. The internet is rife with articles that tell you how caffeine affects your skin negatively. But you have to learn from your own experience, so I replaced coffee with green tea for a week.
Green tea is said to be loaded with antioxidants that reduce free radicals in the body, which can protect cells and prevent early aging and different types of diseases. It’s also been said, by many of my Asian friends (and from what I have read online) that it’s great for weight loss as it can boost metabolism. These two reasons alone are enough for me to switch to drinking only green tea in the mornings. For this challenge I used real green tea leaves that were given to me by my Taiwanese aunt. However I’ve in the past used the Cambridge Tea Party’s loose leaf green tea and it’s just as good, flavour wise.
I’m a busy girl, so a few leaves in a cup and some hot water poured in was my method of choice. You can get amazing tea infusers online, I might pick up these paint brush inspired ones as I’m seriously considering kicking the morning coffee habit altogether after this experiment. For a week, I substituted my morning and afternoon tea/coffee with green tea. So, here is what I noticed on my week long challenge.
1. Return of the oils
After about day two of drinking only green tea, I noticed that my otherwise dry skin started feeling a lot more hydrated naturally. I don’t know if this was just my body’s way of detoxing, but by day 6, I actually had to wash my face more regularly and did not need as much moisturiser. I’m not sure if this was just a personal reaction to green tea, or if this is something that happens to everyone. It would be interesting to see if someone with oily skin, had a different result.
If you have to wash your face more frequently during the day use a mild cleanser buy this Clinique Liquid Facial Soap Extra-Mild – Very Dry To Dry Skin (Rs 1,350)
2. Less Break Outs
I have always had acne prone skin, especially during humid monsoon months. I’m not going to say drinking the tea stopped my adult acne, but it did reduce it significantly. Maybe if I do this for more than a week, like a month or longer, there could be better results. I do also feel that washing my face more regularly as I’m not used to having oily skin, may have helped as well.
You could also try a cleanser made specifically for acne prone skin, get yourself the Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Wash here (Rs 549)
3. Stepping up my beauty game
Due to my slightly cleared skin, I also decided to go natural with my products. I got myself the clay mask from The Body Shop, in the hope, that it would enhance my skin from the outside, now that I was eating and drinking healthy. I used the mask twice, once on day 1 and then again on day 5, to see if there was any real change. Straight off the bat, I noticed that my skin felt really hydrated and clean the first time I used it. The second time, after 5 days of drinking only green tea, I noticed that my skin felt softer, clearer and looked healthier.
Shop for The Body Shop called Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask (Rs 1,995), it made my skin feel so good!
4. Nothing Else Happened!
Apart from my skin feeling slightly more clear and healthier, I can’t say drinking only green tea got me glowing perfect looking skin. If your body has been used to consuming unhealthy drinks and food, it’s going to take a lot longer than a week to see results physically. However, in just a short period I did see an improvement, which to me is a big first step to getting that amazing flawless skin we all dream about.
In my opinion, if you really want to see changes in your skin then not only drinking green tea, but also eating clean helps. Along with the green tea, I opted for lean meals with lots of fresh green produce. All of this combined is what makes your body stronger and reflects on your face and skin. Feeling inspired yet?