I Took a Tea Bath….

I Took a Tea Bath….

I am not crazy… I think. I take baths probably once every two weeks to break up the normal showering cycle and it had never crossed my mind to add tea bags into my beautiful hot bath. But here I am, writing this. Prior to the bath, I looked up some basic information about tea baths, like how long to steep the tea (10-15 minutes), will this stain my bathtub (It didn’t for me)? All simple questions. I wanted the majority of my research to be done after taking the bath so I could have an unbiased experience.

The tea I used was Lipton’s regular black tea and I used five individual pouches. I also added Epsom Salts to make this bath feel less…odd. I let the tea steep for 15 minutes before squeezing the bags many times to make sure all the lovely tea juices were out and a bit of the ground up leaves (oops). I ended up being in the bathtub for 45 minutes (I love lonnnggg baths), with the last 10 minutes taking down my hair from its bun and soaking that in the tea water as well.

My Immediate Findings:

  • My skin felt very silky soft. My skin can be described as dry and ashy 95% of the time, especially my legs, even after I take a shower or bath. So this was a very nice surprise.
  • My hair also felt really silky as if I had just conditioned it. I dipped my hair in the last 10 minutes and let it soak once the water was cooled down. In the morning, my hair continued to feel really nice and soft.
  • I was AWAKE! I chose to sit in black tea which has caffeine. I did not think it through, to be honest. It is proven that certain properties are able to be transferred to the skin (this is why we should watch what we put on our skin!). Caffeine, in this case, made it harder to fall asleep that night.
  • Another thing I noticed while in the bath was that I didn’t sweat. This is an opposite reaction of what usually happens, so I thought would be good to note.
  • Additionally: I found in the morning, my skin looked more clear. I don’t know if the skin just happened to be clearer naturally or if it was the tea bath. My skin tone also looked evener. I did not expect immediate results of any sort, but this made me happy.

After taking this bath, I wanted to know more. I know a few things about taking a tea bath like it can be either green, black, or chamomile tea, but I wanted to know more. I know about the health benefits of tea when ingested orally, but what about if the tea is being absorbed externally?

Post-Bath Findings:

  • Relieves tension in the body and skin
  • Detoxifies the skin
  • Claims to delay the aging of skin cells and rejuvenates
  • Helps heal any wounds or sun damage
  • Reduces any inflammation
  • Reduces dandruff and improves Psoriasis
  • Helps reduce acne on the body and face and balance skin tone
  • Fights free radicals

I have come up empty handed though on why some health benefits are prevalent when ingesting tea, but seemingly nowhere when the tea is being absorbed into the skin. Some articles actually state that the skin absorbs 5-60% of what we put on it, so how come some health benefits do not seem to be absorbed?! If you have any input or know the answer, please let me know in the comments!

If you want to try this out, I have a few suggestions to help guide your way!

  • Be careful about how many bags you use! When looking this up, some people temporarily stained their bathtub from using many black tea bags!
  • Add some extra pizzazz to it! Rose petals or Epsom salts like I did! I usually use Dr Teal’s Epsom Salt , but you can also find some generic brand Epsom salts and still have an amazing bath.
  • I would suggest putting the tea bags in a large steeper (Yoassi Tea Steeper)or a Mesh Strainer, since a couple of the pouches ripped open and I had small black particles chilling in the tub with me. I added some links just so you guys would be able to see the type of products I am referencing. (side note: I love the Yoassi tea steeper for my looseleaf, my sister got me it for Christmas and I am in serious love)
  • Don’t run the water too hot! Super hot water is not good for your skin! So either run the water hot and let the tea bags steep while it cools down, or have medium temperature water and keep the tea bags in for longer.
  • Lastly, be mindful of the time! If it is late at night and you use black tea, caffeine is absorbed into your skin and might make it harder to fall asleep. Green Tea is the same, but chamomile might help you sleep better!

I hope this was as fun to read as it was to write and experience! Happy Brewing!

-Danielle

References:

Smith, Lyn. “Benefits of Bath Tea.” Natures Bath & Body, 11 Oct. 2017, www.naturesbathbody.com/blogs/news/83590593-david-lee-naturals-all-natural-bath-tea.

“The Benefits of Tea Baths.” Integrative Longevity, www.integrativelongevity.org/blog/the-benefits-of-tea-baths.

9 thoughts on “I Took a Tea Bath….

  1. Absolutely love the whole look that you created here! My new favorite blog, very excited to read more, Danielle!

  2. So would you take another tea bath or was this a one and done thing? Also what would you do differently if you took one again other than use a strainer?

    1. I would definitely do this again! Probably not every time, but maybe when I get frustrated with my dry skin or want a change in pace. I would like to also try a bath with green tea and chamomile tea. For anything I would change, I probably would like to find ingredients to add to the bath so I can get the benefits from the tea and also benefits from possibly anything else I add. Like Rose Petals or combining multiple teas so see what changes!

      1. So idk about teabaths but when I’m feeling run down & my skin feels dry I take a bath consisting of 1cup Epson salt, 1cup baking soda, and a little more than a table spoon I’d Coconut oil. Epson for pains, baking soda for PH balance (vaginal health aswell), and coconut oil for my skin ???. Expecially with the hot weather coming up keeping hydrated both internally and externally can help reduce the amount of sun damage wile enjoying the out doors

        1. Wonderful way of restoring moisture, I normally use Epsom salt and sometimes a bit of coconut oil as well. A tea bath was definitely one of the more odd things I have put in my bath, but my skin always feels lovely after.

      2. Did you rinse off after your tea bath? Or just dry off as is? I don’t have a bathtub, but do you suppose I could get similar effects with a tea sponge bath?

  3. Some things absorb into our skin & some don’t because of the product ingredients molecule sizes. ?

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