DIY Beauty: a quick caffeine eye bag fix
I’m on a roll with caffeine! If I’m not drinking it, I’m using it for my skin.
For those who remember, my last DIY beauty post was about a caffeine scrub using ground coffee powder. But since writing that post, I’ve developed rashes on my body and I can’t use any body scrubs at the moment. So what do I use the big packet of ground coffee powder? How about a DIY caffeine eye bag fix? And instead of just using the ground coffee in this beauty remedy, I’ve also added green tea leaves that contain caffeine as well.
Benefits of caffeine for the eye area
Caffeine is widely known to reduce puffiness, ease swelling and increase circulation when used around the eye area as the ingredient is able to help shrink the blood vessels. You probably have come across several eye creams containing caffeine. I’m not sure whether they work but you can always start off with caffeine on your eye area with this simple DIY recipe. In fact, some are even suggesting that caffeine is helpful in reducing dark circles under the eyes and Rennie just mentioned in this entry that her friend has success with using tea bags to reduce dark circles after a month. I guess the success rate will depend on the severity and causes for the dark circles.
Benefits of tannin for the eye area
Green tea on the other hand contains caffeine and tannin, and the later is said to diminish water in the tissues and tighten the skin around the eyes. It is also said to work on dark circles by decreasing the dilation of the blood vessels under the eyes. Green tea also contains a high level of polyphenols that work well as antioxidants for the skin.
Ingredients
These are the three ingredients I used:
– two tablespoons of ground coffee powder
– two tablespoons of green tea leaves
– one tablespoon of rose water (optional)
Disposable tea bags
I bought a pack of the disposable tea bags for my DIY eye mask but these bags are great for this recipe too. Just divide the portion of ground coffee powder and green tea leaves equally and put them into two of the tea bags. Place the two bags into a clean bowl.
Steep for 2 minutes
Pour steaming hot water into the bowl and steep the bags for two minutes before throwing away the water. Do not steep them any longer or the caffeine could lose its potency.
Use warm or chilled
Let the two bags cool down, squeeze out the excess water but not too dry as they should be kept damp. You have an option of either placing them on your eyes while they’re still slightly warm or even using them after you’ve chilled them for awhile in the fridge. I read that using them warm can help increase blood circulation around the eye area. If you use them chilled, they’ll help to soothe and relax your tired eyes. I’ve tried both but the cooled bags seem more pleasant in our warm weather. What I do is to douse the bags with a little rose water to increase the soothing effects before placing them on my eyes. And I also feel an immediate tightening effect around the eyes using them this way.
Used tea bags are possible
Okay, some of you are probably thinking this is too much trouble and why not just settle for used tea bags. That’s possible of course, but this is fun to me and anyway, I’m loving these disposable tea bags. They’re so handy in my DIY eye recipes. I found them at a medical hall in Serangoon Gardens going for $3.50 per pack and I have 85 bags to play with. So I’m definitely going to have my fun with all of them!
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oh man i really need this for my tired puffy eyes right now!
You probably need some caffeine in your system too. ?
I have been using green tea to reduce my dark eye circle but i never try it with coffee powder before
Does the green tea help? The coffee powder is just my concoction cos I have such a big pack in my kitchen and I don’t drink coffee. ?
I am so happy to see rose water mentioned. Where did you get them? Is this edible like the ones used by sarabat stalls to make teh tarik or bandung?
Tks
I am really surprised to hear that you apply caffeine directly to your eyes. Are you aware of the potential negative side effects of tannic acid? Especially since what you put on your skin is directly absorbed into your blood stream. If you google side effects of tannic acid, besides the potential of being very drying for the skin, you are told not to use tannic acid if you are pregnanat or nursing, have a kidney or liver disorder, have a fever, infection or any heart conditions.
I actually used to take a bunch of tea bags and put them in my bathtub because I wanted to reduce the appearance of cellulite (LOL)…but then I heard of how drying it is on the skin and the possible negative side effects, it just wasn’t worth it.
I’m just saying…. ?
Ah no, not the edible ones…this is cosmetic grade. I got it from a DIY ingredient supplier. Not sure if those used to make the drink can be used for the skin.
Thanks for pointing out about tannic acid. My understanding is contrary to popular belief, tea does not contain tannic acid – it seems there are some debates on the topic too. Perhaps coffee contain it.
Anyway, I don’t use this daily…maybe once or twice a week or when I can remember. I should have added that it’s important to moisturize after using such bags on the eye area; I assume that pple knew to moisturize after a mask of sorts.
But I would imagine more harm ingesting these stuff than using on the skin?
Anyhow, you’re right that it’s always better to be careful – especially if one has a medical condition.
I were using rose water intended for cooking and it has absolutely no affect on my skin, so for skin care needs is better to use cosmetic rose water.
I agree…it’s always better to use those of cosmetic grade for the skin.
would it not be safer to just appy caffeine powder mixed with any type of skin cream around you eye and leave out the tea part ? or are you reffering to putting it on the eye it self ?
Do you know where you can just get caffeine powder? The #1 ingredient that helps reduce cellulite in all those really expensive body firming creams is caffeine (not coffee or tea.. :>) The tannic acid is in the coffee and tea which can have a really drying effect on your skin. But, just plain caffeine is different story. If you know where i can get some, let me know! ?
i’ve bought it from someone on ebay who sells it consistanly (link below) and been mixing my own goods with it , all the goodies you see on thinkgeek.com caffine chocolates gums lip balms body washes soaps hundereds of caffine products there both for skin and consumption but soooo much cheaper to make your own , its less than $20 (with shipping) for 100grams of pure caffeine and most body washes (280ml ones) only havea total of 5 grams in them for 15-20$ per bottle (as their shower shock brand does) when i can just add 5grams of caffeine to my $5 axe body wash for less than $1 , or caffeine chocolates , mints , gums even stay puft marshmellows lol with 50 mg of caffeine in each (normal dose for a single stimulante) are about $20 plus shipping for a total of 1gram of caffeine , and since pure caffeine is water soluble it can be mixed into any think even … snuff (sniffing tobbacco found at any tobaccanist) incase you wanna get your nic fix and caffeine rush all in one snort lol check out “think geek.com ” for their “wakey edibles” and ideas of caffeine rich things you can make yourself . just remmeber 50-100 milligrams is a regular dose per item when you mix and 5grams is enough to stop your heart even though it seems like a tiny amount it is, good luck happy caffeining! <('.')#k8SjZc9Dxk
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Caffeine-Energy-Alert-Weight-loss-FatBurner-100g-Powder-/330461253204?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf1068e54
forgot to mention i had thought of buying caffine pills (wake ups caffeine tablets etc) since they are avalible at any pharmacy , and grinding them up to try this but they avaerage $10 a bottle for 100 pills at 100mg per pill so you pay $1 per gram to do that instead of $20 for 100grams or 20cents per gram and no grinding it up and no fillers mixed in which are not water soluble so they will not be absourbed completely into the skin the way per caffeine will
I wouldn’t recommend applying it cos the powder is not fine. This is just to use as a eye mask. You can leave out the tea if you wish.
i seem to have a very fine water soluble powder it dissolves in eye drops but i wasnt sure if there are any negative side effects to absorbing it directly into the eye
I see…I have no idea.
Your post is pretty illuminating and practical,I completely agree with the above comment. Thanks for the sharing.
isit can use any used green tea bag ? care to tell which brand of rose water u using?
You can use used green tea bag but it should not be too old. The rose water I use has no brand – a DIY ingredient.
how many time you do this in week two times or every day ?
I have big dark cyrcl around my eyes becouse I dont get enough sleep do you think I can ues this for dark cyrcl also?
You can try…maybe twice a week to see if it works. However, a lot of times, if you don’t have enough sleep, or your dark circles are due to some internal issues, then external application will only help in a limited way. Try get more sleep!
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Tea!!! I also love both but I couldn’t live without tea. I try to stay away from caffeine so that makes my options slightly more limited, and tea has so many more choices for decaf than coffee does (I also prefer iced coffee over hot). Teavana teas are my favorite. I love anything fruity, decaf green tea, and lemon black tea. There are very few teas that I dislike other than chai!