The Soft Skin Secret: Green Tea

As the weather cools down, you may notice your skin flare up (with bummers like dry, blotchy patches or redness). But before you reach for countless face products to soothe your inflammation, check your kitchen cabinet for green tea leaves. This antioxidant-rich beautifier can neutralize ruddiness, so you can score a glowy flush-without the wind chill. Try this quick DIY recipe, courtesy of Cindy Boody, spa director for Surf & Sand Resort in California. (Be sure to also check out the spa's Tea Blossom Refresher treatment if you're ever in the Laguna Beach area, which includes an 80-minute massage and body scrub with green tea as its star ingredient.)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon dry green tea leaves

1 teaspoon cherry kernel oil (available online and in health food stores)

1 tablespoon olive oil or grape-seed oil, plus more for texture

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, tea leaves, and cherry oil. Gradually mix in the olive or grape-seed oil, then slowly add more until you reach a thick consistency, similar to cake. Use in the shower, massaging all over damp skin, then rinse and pat dry. You'll be softer and smoother from head to toe!