Black tea infusion for sun burn relief

[dixiedragon]

So, I made the super-adult decision to not wear sunscreen this weekend. so I want to make a sunburn relief lotion. My plan is to use aloe juice and to infuse my oils with black tea, since I've read a few places that black tea can help. Now, here's my dumb question - I'm not a tea person so do I just grab some black tea bags? Or is there something else I should be looking for?

Oils will probably be grapeseed, avocado and rice bran. Because I want to keep it in the fridge so I can put it on cold.

 

[SaltedFig]

Fresh aloe leaf gel works exceptionally well for burns applied directly, so I like your thinking on using aloe in your lotion.

Plain black tea, steeped in water that has been boiled and has been allowed to cool a little first will turn the very dark if you use 3 to 6 times the amount of tea you would use for a cup of tea. This should be strong enough. I have never tried extracting tea in oil.

Some extra ideas:
If you have access to calendula leaves, you can mash these up and add them to your warmed oils to infuse (the petals can be filtered out later). Calendula assists with skin repair and reduces itching.

I also like starches to cool and reduce itching ... oats and potatoes are particularly soothing (raw pototo while your skin is still feeling hot, and an oatmilk bath for when you start to get itchy).

Jojoba oil is close to skin sebum, but being mostly a liquid wax it can help avoid moisture loss (it's slightly occlusive). Maybe some rose hip oil and vitamin e in your oils to aid repair. I like your choice of grapeseed and avocado. Personally I would use Sweet Almond Oil instead of Rice Bran Oil, but I suspect that's personal preference

Sorry you are burnt dixiedragon.

 

[earlene]

Depending on what your store sells in the way of tea, you can purchase tea bags or loose leaf bulk tea (not in bags), and infuse the tea with a tea ball or make your own tea bag using a coffee filter. I'd go the loose leaf tea route if it were me, but I'm a tea drinker, so I won't have any trouble using it up. It might take a non-tea drinker a lot of sunburns to use up a box of loose leaf tea. Good luck with you concoction.

 

[BattleGnome]

If you want a brand recommendation I’d say go for a classic Lipton black tea. There usually aren’t any other flavors blended in you get the basic box. You won’t need the “pyramid bags,” it’s an up charge and probably a blend.

I’d stay away from Celestial Seasons (always a blend) or Numi (IMO it’s pricy if you aren’t going to enjoy a cup). Stash is another good brand but I think I’ve only seen it in blends (but it’s also pricier so a cross between the other two brands). Though these suggestions won’t matter as much if you decide you want a blend to get some other herbal benefits to your lotion.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm a big fan of lavender EO for burns of all kinds and keep a blend in my soaping kit for minor emergencies. To keep things simple, for pain relief from sunburn, mix 50/50 lavender EO with aloe vera gel and it will soothe the pain away quickly and the skin heals fast as well.

 

[SoaperForLife]

I'm sorry but Noxema has always been my "go-to" for sunburn. Wet black tea bags are good for treating hot spots on dogs due to the tannins and that's my "tip for the day".

 

[Obsidian]

I'd just make a strong black tea, put it in a spray bottle and use it like that.

I am also fond of noxema, cools the burn right away. Follow up with aloe

 

[earlene]

Noxzema's great for so many things. My last job as a nurse after retirement (yes, I do get that working in the field after retiring from the field is not retired - grin) was at a clinic that did colonoscopies. I learned from a patient that using Noxzema on the offended area produced a lot of relief. 'Who would have even thought of trying Noxzema there?', asked my SIL (another nurse in the family, who also worked at said clinic.)

 

[LaPrairieLady]

So, I made the super-adult decision to not wear sunscreen this weekend. so I want to make a sunburn relief lotion. My plan is to use aloe juice and to infuse my oils with black tea, since I've read a few places that black tea can help. Now, here's my dumb question - I'm not a tea person so do I just grab some black tea bags? Or is there something else I should be looking for?

Oils will probably be grapeseed, avocado and rice bran. Because I want to keep it in the fridge so I can put it on cold.

Add to your aloes some drops of lavender essential oil, it's a miracle for burn.

 

[dixiedragon]

I ended up infusing the aloe juice (don't have fresh aloe) with Earl Gray and calendula petals. Used emu, rice bran, avocado and meadowfoam for my oils. Added lavender eO and rose geranium EO, along with some vitimen E and glycerin. It smells nice, at least! Feels nice too.

I made 6 bottles, wonder if I can freeze it?

 

[earlene]

Good to know you put something together that you like. I will be watching this thread for your results.

 

[SaltedFig]

Sounds like it smells lovely

Maybe decant some into a little lip gloss jar (or similar) for a test freeze?

 

[Zany_in_CO]

With botanicals like aloe, calendula, and tea, I would add a little preservative to the mix, even tho the aloe juice may have preservative in it... I'm just sayin'... it sounds like a lovely lotion... I don't want it to go south on ya!

 

[dixiedragon]

I did put preservative in it, forgot to mention! Phenonip! for some reason I thought that cetaryl alcohol could replace e-wax as an emulsfier, not sure where I got that idea. So it didn't emulsify, so I took a bit of ewax and melted it with some water, then stick blended it in. So it it is sorta emulsified, but not all the way. It's a coffee-icecream color from the tea infusion. I think it's working, but not sure how much of that is just healing.

 

[dixiedragon]

So, update on this. I froze my six remaining bottles. My mom has had some kind of bad allergic reaction for about a month - she's on 4 antihistimines and a steroid (all Dr. perscribed). Well, her face was so irritated that her eyelids were swollen. She'd been using this lotion candle to moisturize her face. So I gave her a bottle of this - OVERNIGHT she improved. Not sure if it was just the fact that she was applying it cold, or the ingredients, but she is doing MUCH better.

 

[SaltedFig]

That is fantastic news!

Severe sensitivities/allergies impact on life so much, and it sounds like your poor mom was having a heap of trouble, so I'm really glad that you've been able to make her a lotion that she can use

So, update on this. I froze my six remaining bottles. My mom has had some kind of bad allergic reaction for about a month - she's on 4 antihistimines and a steroid (all Dr. perscribed). Well, her face was so irritated that her eyelids were swollen. She'd been using this lotion candle to moisturize her face. So I gave her a bottle of this - OVERNIGHT she improved. Not sure if it was just the fact that she was applying it cold, or the ingredients, but she is doing MUCH better.

The cold will have helped, but the ingredients might too (somehow - it's so hard to tell without lots of testing, unfortunately). In some ways it doesn't matter terribly - it works for your mom!

(I wonder if there was something in the lotion candle your mom was using, that was causing a hystamine reaction?)

 

[dixiedragon]

I don't think it was the candle - she's used it for a while. It's made of (IIRC), coconut oil, soy wax and sweet almond oil. But it probably has a lot of FO in it. I'm assuming the lady who makes them is using the amount of FO approved for skin use and not a higher amount, but I can't guarantee it.

 

[SaltedFig]

Quite a few fragrance oils were re-formulated after the Ludwigshafen factory fire last year, and from what the soy candle-makers have been saying, soy wax has been reformulated to (these changes created havoc for some people!), so I wonder if there's a change that couldn't be anticipated by either your mom or her candle lotion maker? A patch test would be one way to check .

But, the bottom line is that YOUR lotion is awesome!

(Do you think you will formulate a lotion bar version of yours?)

 

[dixiedragon]

Everything in it is liquid oils, so I'd really be building a whole new recipe. Though I do want to dry infusing the black tea in oil vs water (or in this case, aloe juice).