Green tea in skincare – Green tea is excellent for the health and beauty of your skin. You can get the positive skin benefits from green tea in two ways: by drinking green tea or by using skincare products that contain green tea extract or actual green tea leaves or tea. Green tea is definitely a skincare ingredient that you want to check out and use.
What Is Green Tea And What Are The Health Benefits Of Green Tea?
Green tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant.
Green tea is made by quickly heating, either by pan-firing or steaming, the freshly picked leaves of this plant. The leaves are then dried before they can oxidize. This is in contrast to how black tea is made; to make black tea, the leaves are allowed to oxidize fully. Chinese green tea is usually pan-fried while Japanese green tea is usually steamed.
This also explains the difference in taste and color between different types of green tea.
Green tea offers many health benefits. Green tea is rich in antioxidants which protect the body from disease and free radical damage. Green tea specifically contains a large number of polyphenols most of which are a type called catechins. The most commonly studied catechin is called epigallocatechin-3-gallate or EGCG for short. Green tea has a lot of EGCGs. In some studies, EGCGs have been found to be anti-cancerous, and like all antioxidants EGCGs are anti-inflammatory. Also, green tea has less caffeine than a cup of coffee which is good for people who are looking to restrict the amount of caffeine they consume.
How Drinking Green Tea Helps Your Skin
Inflammation is at the root of common diseases, including skin conditions such as rosacea and acne, so drinking green tea can help reduce inflammation in the skin. Research has shown that long-term drinking of green tea can help prevent skin aging. Different studies have shown that green tea can even repair sun-damaged cells.
Drinking a few cups of green tea a day will not only protect your skin from wrinkles but will help your body stay healthy as well.
Green Tea In Skin Care Products
One of the best methods to get all the skin-saving benefits of green tea is to use a skincare product that contains green tea or green tea extract. As mentioned above green tea contains powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants will help your skin fight inflammation, redness, and even prevent non-melanoma skin cancer. In addition, green tea in skincare products can prevent collagen breakdown and help reduce sun damage in the skin making it a great anti-aging ingredient for your skin. A great way to use a product containing green tea extract is underneath sunscreen so that you get extra protection from the sun’s damaging rays. Skincare products with green tea in them also calm the skin so these products can be used by anyone including people with oily, acne-prone, or sensitive skin.
Products To Try:
- Neshi Botanical Japanese Green Tea Facial Cleanser
- Replenix Power of Three Cream
- Green Tea and Its Benefits for a Healthier You
- Aster & Bay – Organic Green Glow Mask
- Pangea Organics Facial Mask – Japanese Matcha Tea w/ Acai & Goji Berry
- Ole Henriksen Truth Serum
- Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist
- Eminence Green Tea and Guava Fortifying Serum
Make Your Own Green Tea Skin Care Products
You can easily make your own skincare products that contain green tea. The products you make on your own can soothe, brighten, and treat your skin. Plus the small amount of caffeine in green tea can reduce puffiness in your skin. Here are two recipes to try:
Green Tea-Rosewater Mist
You’ll need: 1/2 cup water, 2 green tea bags, and 1/2 cup rosewater.
Boil the water and then add the tea bags. Let this steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and add the rosewater. Mix well. Let it cool and then pour into your spray bottle. Keep in the refrigerator. Spritz as much as you want throughout the day. This mist goes great under moisturizer or even on top of make-up.
Matcha Green Tea Mask
Matcha is a Japanese powdered green tea that is used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies.
You’ll Need: matcha green tea powder, honey (if you can use manuka honey), yogurt, and 1 egg yolk.
Mix the ingredients together in a bowl so that they form a paste. Use more green tea powder than honey and yogurt. Apply to your face using a brush or even your fingers if it isn’t too runny. Leave on for at least 15 minutes and up to 40 minutes. You can even apply wet, cool green tea bags to your eyes while you relax with the mask on your face. Green tea bags will reduce under-eye puffiness.