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5 Beauty Uses for Tea Bags: Reuse your tea bags for beautiful skin!

5 Beauty Uses for Tea Bags: Reuse your tea bags for beautiful skin!

Next time you brew a cup of tea, don’t toss the empty bag into the trash or compost! Try some of these beauty uses for tea bags instead.

We drink a lot of tea here in the U.S., and the vast majority of the hot tea we drink is steeped in tea bags. That’s about eight billion tea bags in a single year. That means it’s really important to properly dispose of those used tea bags. Tea and compostable paper tea bags are organic materials, meaning that they’re particularly harmful if you send them to the landfill. Reusing and then composting your tea bags is the best way to reduce the impact of your tea-drinking.

Not all tea bags are compostable, so after you try these beauty uses for tea, take a good look at the bag. Does it seem like it’s made from paper, or does it feel more like plasticy fabric? If you suspect that your tea bag isn’t compostable, bust it open and dump the tea leaves into the compost. Then the bag goes into the trash.

Talancia Pea at our sister site Sustainablog shared 15 ways to reuse old tea bags, and her list included several great health and beauty uses for tea bags that were too good not to share here. You can head over to Sustainablog for the complete list or get the beauty uses for tea bags right here!

5 Beauty Uses for Tea Bags

1. Calm Itchy Skin: Soothe irritated skin caused by bug bites or poison ivy with a dampened, cool tea bag. This will reduce inflammation and promote healing.

2. Wake Up Tired Eyes: Place cooled tea bags, particularly chamomile, on tired eyes to lessen puffiness and feel rejuvenated.

3. Mouth Health: The antibacterial properties of tea can aid in drawing out infections linked to tooth aches, fever blisters, canker sores and other mouth-related illnesses. Warm up the tea bag and place it on the sore area for best results

4. Rehydrate Your Skin: Add a few tea bags and/or essential oils into a soaking basin with warm water to soothe tired feet. Soak for 20-30 minutes for softer skin.

5. Facial: Give yourself a spa-like facial by repeating the steps above, but holding your head above the basin and covering with a towel. The tannins will help to tighten your pores and reduce puffiness.

Image Credit: Tea photo via Shutterstock

Written by Becky Striepe

My name is Becky Striepe (rhymes with “sleepy”), and I am a crafts and food writer from Atlanta, Georgia with a passion for making our planet a healthier, happier, and more compassionate place to live. My mission is to make vegan food and crafts accessible to everyone!. If you like my work, you can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, and .

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