What’s the best way to counter the third consecutive day of 100 degree and above heat? A frozen fruit smoothie and a green tea face mask!
Start by using good, clean filtered water and organic green tea to make a cold infusion of green tea.
I get my organic green tea from The Taste of Tea, and it is fabulous! A Taste of Tea is a small family business run by Nez and Donna Tokugawa, and their daughter Tai. They source their tea directly from various tea farmers in Asia. They have another website, Chado-En, that details their travels, and has a wealth of information on the health benefits of tea.
The tea leaves only need to steep a few minutes before the tea is ready to be strained.
Carefully pour some into a little spritzer bottle.
This will be liquid gold for your face.
Now pour some tea over one of these blooming facial masks, that first come in a compressed tablet form.
And watch as it quickly puffs up and expands. Facinating to watch, kind of like when you whack a tube of Pillsbury dough against the kitchen counter and the dough practically explodes out– as you can see, it doesn’t take much to amuse me…ah, but I digress…
Carefully unroll the mask, and place it over your face.
At this point, I like to lay down on a nice, cool sofa, or any cool surface for that matter.
When it is so stinking hot, any cool surface will do. A cold, hallway tile floor does nicely too– unfortunately, this I happen to know from experience.
Spritz the mask and gently press it against your face. Oh, that feels so lovely!
Sip some of the green tea while you’re relaxing. I especially love the light, fresh flavor, and it’s not bitter.
Keep the mask on for 10-15 minutes, spritzing occasionally, and think of all the antioxidants your skin is drinking up.
Surprisingly, my skin feels very soft and refreshed after this treatment.
I like to keep my filled spritzer bottle in the refrigerator and keep spritzing my face throughout the day. They do recommend you empty out and clean the spritzer bottle after 24 hours. I can see taking my bottle in the cooler for a picnic, a trip to the beach, or any outdoor sporting events.
After being outside in 100 degree heat, a cold spritz to the face is definitely called for.
I first met the Tokugawas at the World Tea Expo demonstrating their tea facial, and couldn’t leave without picking up one of their Spa Kits. They are suppliers to quite a few Spas, so I definitely wanted to try their kit out.
The kit includes everything you need : two glass pots, strainer, glass tea cup, spritzer bottle, organic green tea, four facial masks, small muslin bag for a foot/body soak, and even the black tray. This worked out so well, I’m definitely taking it on my next girls’ getaway.
Hmm, still a little organic green tea leftover… time to blend up a quick green tea peach smoothie. Stay cool everyone!
- ½ c. green tea, cooled
- 3 T. non-fat greek yogurt
- 1 c. frozen, diced peaches
- Sugar, honey,or stevia to taste
- Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth or slightly chunky. I like to leave a few nice chunks of frozen peaches-- they help to keep the drink cold longer, and are refreshing to bite into.
- Variation: Use frozen mangoes instead of peaches. Mango tends to be sweeter, so you'll probably need less sweetener.
