Dark Spot Corrector: Matcha Green Tea Mask + Lemon Juice

Brighten dark spots and improve the overall tone and texture of your skin with this powerful two-step routine.

Since high school, my skin has always been relatively clear, except for the occasional hormonal breakout. For the past two or three months however, I’ve been experiencing the worst breakouts of my life all over the lower half of my face. Every morning it seemed like one (or multiple) new blemish(es) would appear, then after staying on my face for wayyyyy too long, it would fade away only to reveal a new dark mark in its place. When this first started, I thought it was just hormonal, but when it persisted I had no idea what was causing it.

My first thought was that it must be the new cleanser I was trying, so I went back to using my old cleanser. After a week or two, with no improvement, I knew it wasn’t the cleanser. Then, I started thinking that maybe I was over-exfoliating, so I started exfoliating only 1-2 times a week. This changed nothing, my skin still looked terrible. For weeks and weeks, I couldn’t figure out what was causing my skin to react this way. Since my skincare routine or my diet hadn’t changed, I started thinking that maybe this was linked to getting older in some way and that my skin was perhaps just changing. I did some research and even bought a special acne serum that’s supposed to clear and prevent breakouts. Can you guess what happened? Absolutely nothing! No matter what I did, my breakouts persisted and the number of dark spots on my face increased at an alarming rate.

Then, one morning, as I was getting ready to take my daily vitamins, it struck me like a bolt of lightning. I finally realized what was causing my breakouts, in fact, I was holding the culprit in my hand at that exact moment! 

A few months ago, I started taking L-Lysine supplements periodically along with my other vitamins. L-Lysine is an essential amino acid that strengthens the immune system. It never occurred to me that this was causing my acne because I’ve never experienced an adverse reaction to any supplement before, and L-Lysine is actually supposed to clear up acne. Since I’ve stopped taking the L-Lysine (about 3-4 weeks ago) my skin has slowly, but surely improved. New blemishes are no longer popping up nearly as much, or as often as they were before. Although my skin is very close to being back to where it was before this blemish filled nightmare began, I have been left with a multitude of dark spots all over the lower half of my face. What’s a girl to do? First, warn her friends about this blemish-causing supplement so they don’t have to go through the same thing. Second, figure out how to make my skin look healthy again and share that secret with my girls (that’s you).

New Routine + Results

Even though dark spots fade with time, I don’t want to wait months to see improvement. So I’m not going to wait, and neither should you if you have unsightly dark spots on your face. For a little over a week now, I’ve been implementing a new powerful dark spot fighting duo into my skincare routine that has already given me great results:

1. Fresh Lemon Juice: every morning, I take a freshly squeezed half lemon and rub it all over my face and neck. After letting it dry, I apply my toner with a cotton ball, and then apply the rest of my skincare routine as I normally would.
2. Homemade Matcha Green Tea Mask: I’ve also been applying a matcha green tea mask twice a week for 15-20 minutes (Scroll down to find out how to make one).

In less than two weeks, the results have been quite impressive. My skin has cleared up even more, my pores are smaller, and my dark spots are quickly fading, some of them are already completely gone! I’m getting better results with these two natural treatments than I have in the past with expensive store-bought products. It’s crazy how powerful and effective this skincare duo is!

Lemon Juice Benefits

Before I start talking about how wonderful lemon juice is for evening skin tone and preventing acne, I have to warn you that it also increases skin’s photosensitivity. This means that your skin will become much more sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun, increasing your risk of getting sunburned more easily and more severely. So, if you spend a lot of time in the sun unprotected, you’ll want to apply the lemon juice at night, make sure to wear sunscreen and a protective hat (which you should be doing anyway to avoid skin cancer and premature aging), or you might want to avoid the lemon juice all together. However, if you’re not planning on spending a prolonged amount of time in the sun, or if you’re like me, and try to avoid the sun at all costs, you don’t really have to worry. You can reap all the following amazing skin benefits that lemon juice has to offer:

• It’s a natural astringent and antibacterial agent that prevents clogged pores.
• Contains large amounts of alpha-hydroxy acids, which act as a natural exfoliant, lightens dark spots, and evens out skin tone and texture.
• High in vitamin C, this powerful antioxidant can reverse skin damage caused by free radicals, reduce the appearance of redness and soothe inflammation.

Matcha Green Tea Benefits

Although I’m not a fan of drinking matcha (the taste is just too overpowering for me), I am a fan of making a homemade mask with it. If you’ve never heard of matcha before, what makes it different from traditional green tea is how the leaves are produced. Before being harvested, the leaves of the green tree plant are covered in shade, which triggers the growth of the leaves, changing their flavor and texture. The dried leaves are then ground into a fine powder that you mix with water and drink. Since matcha is the highest quality powdered green tea available and rich in antioxidants, you might want to make a cup for yourself. Even though I don’t like the flavor, you might. Mix a teaspoon of matcha green tea powder with a third cup of hot water, and whisk until it froths. If you like the taste, enjoy a cup of this antioxidant-rich tea as your matcha green tea mask works its skincare magic on your face:

• Rich in epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), it reduces inflammation and evens out skin tone.
• High in antioxidants, which will revitalize and restore the skin’s elasticity, tone, and texture.
• Shrink pores.

How To Make A Homemade Matcha Green Tea Mask

1. Blend two teaspoons of matcha green tea with two teaspoons water.
2. Mix well until smooth.
3. Apply to skin in an even layer.
4. Leave on for 15-20 minutes (until dry).
5. Splash your face with a little water, then remove with a damp cloth using circular motions.

Both the immediate and lasting effects of this mask are pretty amazing. After the first use, my pores were substantially smaller. I was literally shocked but in a good way! I’ve tried special pore shrinking masks in the past and nothing has worked as good as this homemade matcha green tea mask. In fact, those fancy masks never did anything to my pores that I could see. This mask also tightens the skin and will leave your face feeling refreshed and renewed. You’re going to love it!

If you love this mask, make sure to share it with your friends and family on Facebook and Instagram with the #organicchristianliving. Don’t hold out on them, they want beautiful skin too!  🙂

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Notes

• Whenever something goes haywire with your skin always try to think about what you’ve changed within your day to day life/routine. This includes your diet, supplements, skin care products, stress levels, etc.
• Again, I want to remind you that lemon juice + sun = severe sun damage. DO NOT GO SUNBATHING, YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR SKIN.
• Every morning, I drink the juice from half a lemon + a little cayenne pepper with warm water to wake up my digestive system and give my immune system a little boost. The freshly squeezed lemon half is what I use to rub on my face.