DIY Green Tea Overnight Face Mask for Glowing Skin

Get glowing skin while you sleep with this DIY green tea overnight face mask! Inspired by Korean skincare, this simple recipe helps brighten your skin overnight. It’s packed with antioxidants from green tea that help to repair skin while also soothing any redness or irritation.

I recently shared a moisturizing overnight face mask. It’s still one of my favorite recipes, and it’s earned a permanent spot in the collection of homemade skincare products I always keep on hand.

But since sharing that post, a flare-up of skin irritation, redness and hypersensitivity (likely caused by overusing retinol and exfoliants) led me to create a new variation of that recipe.

In an effort to heal my skin barrier, I pared back my skincare routine and incorporated soothing, anti-inflammatory green tea into my overnight mask.

That addition turned out to be very beneficial for my skin, so I’d like to share the new recipe with you, too. If you love antioxidant skincare and the smell of green tea, I think you’ll enjoy this face mask recipe.

It may not get you flawless skin overnight, but over time, adding green tea to your sleeping mask might just help you wake up with a softer, more glowing complexion.

Why I created this green tea mask

I’ve always had dry, sensitive, irritation-prone skin. I can’t use most store-bought skincare products, and I’ve memorized a long list of ingredients that provoke a reaction.

Around a year ago, something triggered a flare-up. Patches of redness cropped up on my cheeks, and even some of my go-to skincare products started stinging my skin – a telltale sign of a damaged skin barrier.

After doing some research, I decided to incorporate green tea into my nightly sleeping mask for its anti-inflammatory benefits. I also scaled back my skincare routine to the bare minimum: gentle K-beauty moisturizers, my DIY cleansing oil, and this green tea overnight mask.

I’m happy to say that my skin healed after months of this simplified routine, even tolerating retinol again. I believe the combination of gentle skincare products and the soothing, antioxidant properties of green tea helped repair my skin barrier (and there’s evidence to back this up).

For those who are interested, you can read more about green tea’s proven benefits for dry skin, redness and inflammation after the recipe. For those eager to get to the DIY, I’ll get right into it below.

What is an overnight mask?

Otherwise known as sleeping masks or face packs, overnight masks are rich night treatments that have their roots in Korean beauty products. Whichever name you use, the goal is the same – to keep skin hydrated throughout the night.

Some offer other benefits besides hydration, such as antioxidants or active ingredients like vitamin A. But the main purpose of an overnight mask is to create a seal that locks in moisture.

This green tea mask offers both: it has all the moisturizing properties of an overnight mask, with added antioxidant and reparative benefits that will help you get glowing skin.

What You’ll Need for this DIY

You’ll need only a few ingredients for this nighttime face pack:

• Green tea in the form of green tea wax, matcha powder, or green tea infused oil
• Squalane oil for a non-greasy balm texture
• Purified white beeswax pastilles to thicken the mask
• Vitamin E oil for extra antioxidant protection

For more details about the ingredients, why they help your skin, and possible substitutions, remember that you can read more information after the recipe below.

Equipment + Supplies

You’ll also need a few supplies to make this easy DIY:

• Turkish coffee pot, glass beaker, or double boiler for melting
• Spatula for mixing
• Glass cosmetic jar for storage

DIY Green Tea Overnight Mask Recipe

2 tbsp squalane oil
1 tbsp white beeswax pellets
1/8 tsp vitamin E oil
Small chunk green tea wax (about 1/16 tsp) OR 1 tsp matcha powder

How to make overnight mask with green tea wax

1. Using the double boiler method, combine squalane and beeswax over medium heat. You can use a small Turkish coffee pot or a glass lab beaker over a water bath to create a double boiler.
2. Stir frequently to encourage even heating, and be sure that the beeswax has melted completely before moving on to the next step. If not, you could end up with a lumpy mask.
3. Once the beeswax is liquified, add green tea wax and stir to combine. Once the green tea wax melts, remove from heat promptly. Then, add vitamin E oil and mix it into your mask.
4. Pour your overnight mask into your desired container, such as a small glass cosmetic jar.
5. Immediately place your mask into the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This is important to ensure a smooth, pleasant texture that melts on contact with your skin.
6. Once the face mask has hardened, remove it from the fridge. You can now store it at room temperature.

How to make green tea face balm with matcha powder

1. Using the double boiler method, combine squalane, beeswax and matcha powder over medium heat. Stir frequently to encourage the beeswax to melt.
2. Once the beeswax liquifies, turn the heat down to low to allow the matcha powder to infuse into your mask.
3. After about 5 minutes, remove the mask from heat. Add the vitamin E and stir to combine.
4. Pour your overnight mask into an airtight container, such as a small glass cosmetic jar with a lid.
5. Place your mask into the refrigerator to harden for 30 minutes. This ensures even cooling and a creamy, uniform texture.
6. Once the mask has solidified, you can remove it from the fridge and store it at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

• This recipe yields just under 50ml overnight mask, so choose your container or jar accordingly. Options include glass cosmetic jars with bamboo lids, small 4oz mason jars, and lightweight and durable stainless steel condiment jars. For more inexpensive packaging ideas, read our post on the best containers for homemade skincare.
• You don’t need to measure the green tea wax precisely. Adding more will add extra antioxidant benefits, but you will end up with a darker colored mask that is more likely to stain clothing and bedding.
• Please be sure to place your mask into the refrigerator to harden. Leaving it at room temperature causes uneven cooling, which can make the mask lumpy or grainy.
• If using matcha powder, know that it will leave some sediment at the bottom of your jar. However, the rest of the mask will be a smooth, silky green tea infused balm.
• Storage and shelf life: store your mask in an airtight container in a cool, dark place to protect it from light. Since this recipe does not contain any water, it doesn’t require a preservative. It can be kept at room temperature for 2 years without going rancid, as squalane oil is highly stable, and vitamin E helps slow down oxidation.

How to use this green tea face pack for glowing skin

Scoop out a generous amount of green tea mask and massage it gently into your skin as the last step of your nighttime skincare routine.

Pay extra attention to the areas of your face prone to dryness, such as the cheeks and around the mouth. Don’t forget to pat some of the mask gently around the eyes too, as it makes a lovely, rich eye treatment.

For best results, avoid any areas that are particularly oily or prone to breakouts, like the nose or forehead.

Tips for using this face mask:

• This mask is best used as the last step of your skincare routine to seal in moisture. Before using your mask, apply any hydrating serums, toners or moisturizers that you typically use before bed.
• I like to use Paula’s Choice BHA or SoonJung Moist Emulsion under this mask, along with a face mist for extra hydration, such as grape water or my homemade rosewater face spray.)
• Depending on how much green tea wax you use, your mask could cause staining on clothing, bedding or pillowcases. So please use caution, especially with light colored bedding.

Is this mask a moisturizer?

Because it does not contain any water, it’s important to note that this face mask is not a true moisturizer – though it has a creamy texture, it’s technically more like a green tea balm than a skin cream.

Oil-based products like balms and salves are occlusive. They help your skin retain its existing moisture throughout the night, but they don’t add any additional hydration. In fact, applying occlusives to dry skin can actually make dry skin worse.

So, please ensure your skin is sufficiently hydrated before using this overnight mask. That way, it can help lock the moisture from your other skincare products into your skin.

Green tea benefits for skincare

Green tea possesses many well-documented skin benefits, many of which can be attributed to its high levels of catechins, a group of flavonoids that act as potent antioxidants.

In fact, since most skin disorders have an inflammatory component, it’s difficult to find a skin ailment that green tea cannot help improve in some way.

• Dry skin: Green tea has been shown to improve skin moisture levels and enhance wound healing, which makes it beneficial for dry, irritated skin.
• Sun damage: Green tea has also been found to help protect against UV rays and photoaging, making it a useful ingredient for your summer skincare routine. There’s evidence it can be beneficial for pigmentation issues as well, helping to brighten and even the skin tone.
• Anti-inflammatory: Green tea has soothing, anti-inflammatory properties that make it helpful for a variety of skin disorders, including rosacea, eczema, and acne, as well as acute issues like sunburn, redness, and irritation.
  
  In a study on people with rosacea, green tea demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory effects. And in acne sufferers, a green tea skin lotion was shown to reduce inflammation and acne severity. In yet another study, those with atopic dermatitis and pruritus (itching) found relief by bathing in green tea (recipe here).

Green Tea Overnight Face Mask Ingredients Information

As mentioned, here is some more information on the ingredients needed for this recipe.

Green Tea Wax

Green tea wax is a unique substance harvested from the waxy layer found on green tea leaves, and it’s chock full of skin benefits.

Highly pigmented and strongly fragranced, a small chunk of wax imparts a rich green tea color and scent to this overnight mask. If you love the aroma of a steaming cup of green tea, you will definitely love green tea wax!

According to SkinChakra, green tea wax is both a wax and a CO2 extract. The wax is extracted with carbon dioxide, which preserves the antioxidants, terpenes, polyphenols, and other beneficial constituents in the green tea leaves.

Because it’s an oil-soluble green tea extract, green tea wax is ideal for oil-based balms like this overnight mask, and I also love adding it to my my green tea oil cleanser. But green tea’s benefits aren’t just limited to the face – if you have dry hands, you may want to try using it in a hand treatment as well, like my overnight hand mask.

Green Tea Wax Substitutes

After publishing this post, I received questions about substitutions for those who couldn’t find green tea wax. So I wanted to offer another option to make this DIY accessible to everyone:

• Matcha powder: Matcha will leave some sediment at the bottom of your mask, but the rest will be smooth and silky like a matcha face balm. The key to using matcha powder is to let it infuse into your face mask. Any matcha will do, and the main thing is to make sure your matcha is pure and free of any additives like corn starch or sugar. Please use pure matcha and not a matcha latte mix.
• Green tea infused oil: Vibrant, fragrant, and full of skin benefits, green tea oil is very easy to make. As long as you have green tea, you can make green tea oil. Simply infuse loose green tea leaves into your squalane oil, and used the infused oil to make your sleeping mask. You can find instructions for making green tea oil in my green tea cleansing oil recipe.

Squalane Oil

Squalane oil makes the perfect non-greasy base for this green tea sleeping mask. It’s chemically inert, highly stable, and won’t clog pores, making it well-tolerated by most skin types, even oily and acne-prone.

It has a light, dry texture and an almost silicone-like feel that disappears into skin. In fact, though squalane looks and behaves like an oil, it’s actually a hydrocarbon created by hydrogenating squalene, a natural compound secreted by our sebaceous glands.

Squalane doesn’t feed malassezia yeast, making it one of the only oils safe for those with seborrheic dermatitis, fungal acne, or other disorders caused by yeast overgrowth.

Finally, squalane oil is also completely devoid of polyunsaturated fatty acids, so it’s also suitable for those following a low-PUFA skincare routine.

Squalane Oil Substitutes

Squalane oil’s unique texture allows it to be used in high quantities without feeling heavy. Therefore, replacing it with anything else will completely alter the texture of this recipe.

The closest substitute for squalane is caprylic/capric triglycerides, otherwise known as MCT oil. Though MCT oil has a similar lightweight feel, please note it has a slightly heavier, less silky texture than squalane.

If you can find it, I recommend using squalane as the recipe intended. It’s very inexpensive, especially if purchased in larger bulk bottles, and any leftover can be used on your hair or in other homemade beauty recipes, such as a DIY vitamin C serum.

White Beeswax

Beeswax’s main purpose in this recipe is to thicken the mask to a balm-like texture, but it also has a multitude of other skin benefits.

Dry air or contact with bedding can dry out our skin while we sleep, so our skin is particularly vulnerable during this time. Beeswax creates a protective barrier that helps prevent skin moisture loss during sleep, making it a wonderful ingredient for a nighttime face mask.

I used filtered white cosmetic beeswax in this recipe, which imparts a much smoother, creamier texture than regular beeswax. It also has the added benefit of being much less allergenic than typical beeswax, as many of its allergens are filtered out.

The closest substitute with a similar creamy texture would be sumac berry wax (Japan wax). If you’d like to substitute regular beeswax or another substitute, I can’t guarantee you will achieve the same result.

Vitamin E Oil

Vitamin E is the most important lipophilic antioxidant in our bodies. In fact, some evidence suggests that one of the functions of sebum is to deliver vitamin E to our skin’s surface – this is how integral vitamin E is for skin health!

Since vitamin E is produced in our sebum, oilier skin has naturally higher levels. If you have oily skin, you’re in luck! But topical vitamin E can benefit everyone.

Among other benefits, vitamin E helps stabilize the fatty acids in our skin, protecting them from damage and oxidative stress. It also helps improve skin hydration levels.

 I added vitamin E oil to this green tea overnight mask for its moisturizing and antioxidant effects. A little goes a long way, as vitamin E is effective even at low concentrations.

Packaging your homemade mask

Beautiful packaging helps take your homemade creations to the next level, and I love my DIY skincare products to have a fancier, more upscale look.

These frosted glass jars with real bamboo lids are perfect for gift giving and come in a variety of sizes. They also add an element of luxury that makes any handmade gift look and feel like an expensive store bought skincare product.

It’s fine to gift them to yourself, too! You can reuse them over and over again for future creations, and they look gorgeous in your beauty cabinet.

Since I made a larger batch, I used the 100ml jar for my overnight mask. They also come in medium sizes for smaller batches, as well as a tiny 15ml variation that’s perfect for lip balm.

More DIY skincare recipes for glowing skin

If you liked this mask, you might also enjoy:

• DIY Overnight Sleeping Mask
• DIY Oil Cleanser with Green Tea
• Green Tea Lip Balm Recipe
• DIY Aloe Vera Face Mask for Glowing Skin
• 2-Ingredient DIY Cleansing Oil
• DIY Caffeine Mask (Puffy Face Remedy)
• Makeup Melting DIY Cleansing Balm

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