The Beauty Guinea Pig

Theory tested: Black tea bags can satisfy two major beauty nuisances: red, irritated skin and puffy eyes.

I suffer from both slightly pillowed under eyes and easily bothered skin (you’re jealous I am sure). If something as simple as a wet tea bag can help remedy both of these problems, count me in. According to The Beauty Cookbook, the anti-inflammatory properties in black tea cause blood vessels to constrict and move away from the surface area of skin decreasing redness. The caffeine in tea also reduces blood vessels, working to deflate swollen eyes.

Products used: Four black tea bags—two dunked in cool water and two moistened with warm water.

Duration of test: 10 minutes

Test: The Beauty Cookbook addresses these two issues with two different recipes, but I thought if I am going to lie around with tea bags on my face I might as well do it all at once. I placed the cold tea bags on my cheeks and bridge of my nose, warm tea bags over my eyes and laid down for 10 minutes. Douglas and Pearlman suggest relaxing for the full 10 minutes and clearing your mind of stresses, I didn’t want to affect the results and obliged.

Results:After the 10 minutes were up, I ran to the mirror and then promptly instructed the boyfriend to take a picture of the results. My skin felt tighter and the area around my nose, which was a little red and raw from cold weather, felt soothed. The puffy pillows under my eyes, on the other hand, did not look deflated or even that much smaller. I did feel rejuvenated after the process.

                                                    

Conclusion:You can judge for yourself from the photos (or maybe not, they’re a little unclear) but I am not sure the tea bags worked. I do know that many eye creams use caffeine to help reduce swelling, so, I think there may be truth to The Beauty Cookbook’s claims. I will say that the act of lying down for 10 minutes with warm tea bags over my eyes did help bring a little peace to my usually hectic day and that alone makes it worth it to do this occasionally. My red irritated skin definitely felt better after 10 minutes under the cool tea bags and while the redness reduction wasn’t permanent, it certainly helped for a few hours.