Brew-it-Yourself Winter Skin Treatment

During the chill of wintery months—or pre-wintery months, as we're off into November—our skin starts clamoring for attention. It gets dry and whiny, begging you to start ransacking the nearest Sephora, where you might spend anywhere from $20 to over $100 on facial products just to get through the season. (Same goes for Lush, Sabon, etc. Your wallet doesn't know the difference.)

If you have tea, however, you can outwit your skin and your wallet with a nifty little scrub—no name brand required.

DIY Tea Scrub Ingredients:

• Tea leaves
• Yourself
• A whole lotta love

Steep 1: Make a cup of tea. Steep according to the instructions, or if you're already a superpowered tea master, according to taste. If you've been following Adagio and Teamuse for this long, trust your expertise for experimentation.

Now, some considerations. This cup is going to be destined primarily for your skin-sides, rather than your insides, so you'll want to choose one known for its soothing, anti-inflammatory properties. (The more antioxidants, the better.) In this scenario, Silver Needle is one of the best. A white tea with low astringency and soft buds, it'll be the gentle touch that your skin needs in the winter.

If you're looking for something more abrasive, with just enough caffeine to wake up your skin cells, then try a mild green tea like White Monkey or Jasmine Pearls. Anything stronger will have too much astringency, leaving your skin feeling even more parched than before—save those for the summertime, when moisture isn't an issue.

Whatever tea you decide upon, don't do a black. Common sense here: if you're already using that stuff to craft an epic zombie getup, then imagine the kind of stain it's going to leave on your skin. Not really useful in this situation.

Steep 2: You've made the cup, now enjoy it! When was the last time you treated yourself, anyway?

Put on some music. Get in the mood. Dance a little. (I won't tell anybody.)

When you've finished your cup, you're primed and ready for Steep 3.

Steep 3: Make like Dr. Cox and get scrubbing. A pinch at a time, take the tea leaves left from the infusion and use them to massage your face, standing over the sink to account for the falling leaves. It's a messy endeavor, but the results are worth it.

Start with the T-zone, that area from forehead to chin where people have the majority of their skin trouble. As you go, make sure to give love to the flaky spots that always come out during this time of the year. Above all, be gentlest to your eyelid era, which possesses the thinnest layer of epidermis on your entire body.

Steep 4: Rinse off the leaves that decided to stick around. No pun intended.

Steep 5: Apply a tea-based moisturizer or lotion. If you want to go the extra mile, Naturopathica does a great mask with white tea for hydration.

Steep 6: Relish your newfound babyskin.

Cheers.