This Green Tea Eye Depuffing Ice Cube DIY shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #AmericasTea #CollectiveBias

One of the best beauty-enhancing products is sitting right in your freezer – ice.  Ice is incredible for your face as it can shrink your pores, give you a glow, shrink pimples, reduce wrinkles and depuff the delicate skin around your eyes.  Amaze, right?

Ice is my soothing vehicle to carry powerful ingredients like green tea, cucumber and aloe vera – a powerful punch to brighten and depuff what I like to call “mom eyes” formerly known to me as “hungover eyes“.  Sometimes they are also known as “allergy eyes“.  Wherever you are in life, puffy eyes raise their nasty heads, but luckily we can DIY them away!

I am a tea maniac and drink it everyday, all day.  I try different blends according to my mood or how I feel, but green tea is always my #1.  Green tea has so many health benefits, too many to list, but today it is all about brightening and depuffing eyes and green tea is key.  When applied under the eye, the caffeine in green tea constricts blood vessels and reduces swelling.  It also contains beneficial antioxidants and tannins. Tannins stimulate healthy circulation and tighten skin, making green tea perfect for waking up those overtired eyes!

My green tea of choice is Bigelow Organic Green Tea, which is America’s Tea.  Why?  Bigelow Tea is 100% American made by an American Family; an American Company for the American consumer. If you ever are in the area, stop by Bigelow Tea’s Charleston Tea Plantation.  It is America’s largest working tea garden (!!) and you can actually visit via invited guest for a wedding – or a tour! Being from Virginia originally, I love the south and I love its ways.  Next time I head back east, this is a stop I would like to make.  Bigelow Tea also gives back.  They have sent almost 4 million bags of tea to troops overseas with Bigelow’s Tea for Troops program.  Learn more about –> Tea for Troops

We’ve all heard of putting cooling cucumber on our eyes to remove dark circles and puffiness, right?  Cucumbers contain an abundance of antioxidants and silica, which fade dark circles.  They also contain ascorbic acid, which when placed on puffy eyes, reduces the water retention, the cause of the puffiness.  On top of that, cucumbers improve your complexion and tighten pores — they are all-stars in the beauty world!

So now that we know the why, let’s get to the how.  These Green Tea Depuffing Eyes-Cubes (<– see what I did there?) are super easy to make.

1. brew your tea, allow to cool
2. mix with aloe gel, pour into molds
3. drop in your cucumber (pulsed in food processor) and flowers
4. freeze until solid, allow to sit on counter for 1-2 minutes, release from mold
5. press ice cube onto puffy eye area, constantly moving in circles, discard

Why flowers?  For no other reason than they make these Eyes-Cubes prettier and that makes me smile.  This is a great use for cut flowers that have reached the end of their shelf life!

I’ve used many different molds for my Eyes-Cubes and my favorite material is stainless steel.  It creates clearer ice.  However, there is a perfect shape for under the eye and it is the kind of cubes that are long ovals.  They frame that under eye area so well and you can find them in Walmart.

Alternatively, you could use any shape silicone mold to fancy up your Eyes-Cubes.  I love hearts for under the eye.

Find a whole variety of Bigelow Tea at America’s beloved Walmart stores, in the tea aisle!

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