I've found that this toner always makes my skin feel soft after it dries. The only tightness i've experienced was when i went from a year not using green tea topically, or any topical for that matter, to suddenly using it again. And that lasted for a couple days. And we're not talking stretch your face til you can't talk tightness, as i've experienced on many occasion with store bought acne toners. This was more of a feeling like 'hey i haven't used a topical in a long time, and my face is adjusting now'
But experiment with it and see for yourself. I guarantee (unless you have some sort of rare allergy to either of these two ingredients) that it won't do anything harmful. And you can always stop if you don't like it. There's no purging bullcrap either. That term is so abused by the acne industry. I can see where if you added a cup of sea salt instead of 1/4 teaspoon, that you might get some negative drying effects, but I feel comfortable advising this ratio
What's up Max. No you don't have to make a fresh batch every day. I've kept one in the fridge (in a locktight container) for almost a couple weeks. And it might stay fresh longer than that, i really don't know. When i make it now, i get about 5-7 days use before it's gone, based on the ratio i described in the original post. But i use cotton pads so alot of it is getting tossed out. Gingergirl22 said she just puts some in the palm of her hand and rubs it into her face, so that's another option if you want to make it go further. Or you could make bigger batches. Just as long as you don't make so much that it sits in your fridge for a month, ya know?
It might take some time to realize how much you go through per week, and then you can adjust how much you make based on that
Also:
It's a good idea to slosh the toner around in the container each time before opening the lid and applying to your face. That way everything is well mixed when you do
I know there are threads on this site discussing ACV, and from what i've read it seems to help alot of people. I've tried it, and i even mixed it in with green tea. Personally, i'm staying away from topical acids from here on out. My skin is sensitive enough to where i'm not even going there again. However i'm sure if you put a little ACV in this toner it'd be fine, and for all I know it could make the toner even more effective. But i'd read up on how much to dilute it, cause i know adding too much of that stuff can be harsh
oh great!!! i am going to an herb shoppe this weekend for some items and am very excited about getting organic loose leaf green tea & now i am even more excited because i can still try the acv lol!
Kojoka are you also going to use sea salt? I'd be interested to see your results combining all three of these. I'm personally sticking with only green tea and sea salt, as i've found it to be more than effective enough. But again be careful with the ratio of ACV, cause while it's praised for it's effectiveness, everything i've read and heard says you need the right ratio or it'll be too strong.
I know there was a thread started by a girl on this site talking about how she saw amazing results by drinking something like three glasses of water a day with a teaspoon of ACV in each. I know she did this everyday for a month with great results, and she said when she stopped her acne came back. I can't find the thread but i'll keep looking. When i've done this i usually add stevia and lemon to make the water taste better. And i use Bragg's, which i think is one of the best brands. But for sure i'd check out using ACV internally as well.
I'd like to know if my toner looks strong enough. Since I am using loose green tea I wasn't sure how well I calculated the ratio of tea to purified water. The formula on the left was made from Sencha green tea from an Asian market with sea salt added. The solution on the right is my newest version, made from organic Frontier Sencha tea which I found at a local health food store in bulk, without sea slat added. I'm experimenting with using the formula without salt for overall use and the salted version for spot treating blemishes.
Thanks for the pics gingergirl. Yeah they look good, the murkier the better. I'll try and upload a picture of my solution, once i figure out how to...
But yeah, when you see green tea in pictures on these health sites, it's in a white cup and has a very bright green color. And that's because it's a very mild solution. After i pour my solution into the container and wash out the pan that i boiled the tea in, the water that i'm rinsing with turns that light green color. And that's with just about nothing left in the pan, so it just shows how concentrated this solution is.
And:
I forgot to mention this in the original post, but it's something interesting that i don't think alot of people know about. This solution really helps with redness because green cancels out red in the color spectrum. And that's just regarding pigmentation. It also helps with redness simply due to the nature of the green tea
Looking forward to seeing a photo of your toner! (I had to put my photo in Photobucket in order to post it because this site wants a URL for a picture.) I'm glad I'm on the right track. I love this stuff for myself and my son's acne is looking good and he actually doesn't mind using this toner which is nothing short of amazing.
I think we should be drinking green tea too, but it just doesn't appeal to me much. I'm trying to come up with ideas for an iced tea drink for the summer though, maybe blending green tea with other flavors.
I am going to kick this up several notches by using Matcha Green Tea that I found in my refrigerator. It is over a year old, but still, it is a very concentrated form of green tea and I am curious how this works on acne and skin tone in general. I have some on my face now and it does leave a green tint so it will be for indoors only, at this concentration anyway. I just added a little water to it to make a thin paste. I'll report back.
Ok gingergirl, how the heck did you upload your photos? I got them to photobucket, but when i enter the url in the box i just get a little picture of a question mark in the typing box. Maybe that's how it's supposed to look i don't know. Whenever you get a chance. Or if anyone else knows, feel free to chime in
In Photobucket I selected the jpeg photo I uploaded and clicked on Direct Link and it gave me a message that the link was copied. Then in my reply here I put my cursor where I wanted the photo to go. I clicked on the photo icon and pasted the Photobucket Direct Link (URL). The first time I did this I felt like the photo was too big so I went back to Photobucket and resized and went through the process again. Before all this I searched this site for some directions on uploading photos but found nothing, then thought of Photobucket. Someone please tell me there is an easier way! Good luck ofg!
Any suggestions if i need a bit of a moisturizer? Certainly do not want to use any chemicals , but would need something that doesn't break me out. I am only doing this once a day, but i might add in manuka honey as a cleanser.
Hey Gouldberg,
Just thought i'd post a couple links to some natural homemade moisturizers some people are making. I like the idea of a simple aloe vera moisturizer with an essential or carrier oil added, as long as it's pure aloe vera and not that bright green fake crap banana boat sells. I've tried extra virgin olive oil when i was oil cleansing a couple years back, and it was nice, but it's also very acidic and was slightly irritating to my skin. I mean it even burned my throat when i'd take a spoonful of it straight. But I know virgin coconut oil is another one you could substitute in as well with these moisturizers. I'm sure as long as you're choosing from good quality natural ingredients, you could have some fun experimenting with your own concoction. I don't think it would take much of these moisturizers to get the job done either
Anyway here's a couple links:
http://frugallysustainable.com/2011/12/non-greasy-homemade-moisturizing-lotion/
http://www.blogher.com/homemade-moisturizer-recipe-face-can-t-be-more-simple
Just wanted to post my initial experience etc with this, I've used it a day and a half (3 applications) after showering and washing face with just water and it has been good so far.
I made it with 16 Yogi Pure green tea bags+the sea salt, been applying it with cotton like i said after showering.
I feel like it has reduced redness and made my skin more "calm" if that makes sense, I will definitely continue to use it
Also, i was wondering: after putting it in the fridge overnight for the next use, quite a bit settles at the bottom of the liquid, I AM supposed to shake that up correct? or just use the liquid that sits on top?
Also, i was wondering: after putting it in the fridge overnight for the next use, quite a bit settles at the bottom of the liquid, I AM supposed to shake that up correct? or just use the liquid that sits on top?
Yeah you are. That way everything gets reincorporated when you apply it again. Looking forward to seeing your progress with this Eleck
Spoofy i think you'd have to try it and see. I tried sea salt once before as well and i was using way too much of it in relation to how much water i was using. Also the main component of this toner is the green tea, and that may indeed help with closed comedones. Or...it may not. But i think it's worth a shot for all types of acne. Also if there is another ingredient that you know helps with closed comedones i think you should feel free to mix it in with this toner. As long as it's natural.
There are so many different toners you can make, and this is just one, focussing primarily on green tea with a touch of sea salt. I've found it to be very effective for me, but there's no reason you couldn't experiment with other ingredients
