The Benefits of Green Tea Skincare and Other Tea-Infused Products

Green tea skincare products and other anti-aging beauty creams infused with tea have shown fantastic skincare benefits.

Anti-aging beauty products are the holy grail of all lotions. But what if we added tea to the mix? By now, most of us know the health benefits of drinking tea, but did you know that tea-infused skincare products have many benefits?

Studies have shown that skincare products made with the Camellia sinensis tea plant can slow wrinkle formation, protect against sun damage and soothe redness.

Many skincare and beauty products infuse teas, such as camellia sinensis leaf extract, camellia seed oil, and leaf powder. Tea's effectiveness depends on the concentration level and quality.

You may have heard of the teabag trick for sunburned skin. I learned this from my friend while on a spring break trip to Florida. My eyelids were so sunburned I could barely open them. My friend took two tea bags and soaked them in tepid water. Once cooled, she placed them over my puffy eyes to reduce the pain and swelling. It worked!

How Topical Tea Applications Protect the Skin

• Green tea plant polyphenols, especially Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), have healing properties that amend the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) light, protecting the skin against damage.
• When used in products, green tea may help wound healing. Adding green tea to face cream may also help acne and control oiliness because it inhibits an enzyme in your skin's oil-producing glands and has antibacterial properties.
• It's not only green tea that contains skin-protective chemicals. Black tea extracts also decrease inflammation and signs of sun damage. The tea bags my friend used to treat my severe sunburn were black tea bags.
• Because white tea is the least processed tea, it contains the highest amount of antioxidants. These specific antioxidants may help protect the skin by protecting collagen and elastin breakdown.
• High amounts of antioxidants are in all tea from the Camellia sinensis plant.

Why do we need antioxidants?

Simply put, they fight off free radicals, thwarting the pathway of cellular damage, which causes premature aging.

Free radicals are those disruptive invaders formed from primary oxygen metabolism that generates stress at the molecular level. This stress causes cellular damage. So tea treatments, high in antioxidants, help reverse cellular damage.

Black Tea Skincare Products

Is Green Tea Good For Your Skin?

There are many overhyped reports regarding green tea benefits. Nonetheless, don't underestimate the power of green tea products. Numerous underlying clinical studies support the claims of this significant antioxidant.

There is evidence that flavonoids physically block UV penetration, influence DNA repair, reduce oxidative damage, attenuate the inflammatory response, preserve immune function, and induce cytoprotective pathways."

The Linus Pauling Institute at Orgon State University

The catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the main flavonoid compound in green tea leaves and has received enormous pharmacological attention because of its beneficial health effects. The potent antioxidant protects against UVA-induced oxidative skin damage.

Green Tea Skincare Products

Related:

• 15 Best Online Tea Shops
• How To Make A Purifying Green Tea Face Mask
• Black Tea Is The Best Way To Treat Sunburn
• 6 Different Types of Tea: The Ultimate Guide

White Tea Skincare Products

Herbal Tea Skincare Products

Make Your Tea-Infused Beauty Products

Face masks have been used for centuries and often come from our food. Our grandmothers were always making food facials; the only difference now is we have some scientific basis for their formulations.

The green tea facial, which is also quite ancient, has now been found to contain catechins responsible for its antioxidant properties.

Nature holds many answers to our health and well-being. EGCG is a potent antioxidant with scientifically proven anticarcinogenic properties.

DIY Green Tea Skin Care Products

You could use any green tea for this facial, but I chose matcha powder for four main reasons:

1. Matcha is a finely ground green tea powder and is easy to work with when making a facial mask.
2. Matcha is a specially grown tea from the Camellia sinensis plant. The tea plants are covered in the shade for about three weeks before harvesting. This process increases their chlorophyll content resulting in higher EGCG content.
3. The concentration of EGCG from matcha is at least three times higher than in other green teas. Studies of skin pre-treated with EGCG experienced less DNA damage than untreated skin. Given my skin cancer history, this is another reason to choose matcha.
4. Matcha tea is extremely high in antioxidants, which counteract free radical damage. This translates to anti-aging.

It is the antioxidant action you want while preparing anti-aging solutions that our ancestors realized centuries before, although they did not have the technology to prove it. Matcha is perfect for this, both internally and externally.

To get the recipe to make your own green tea skincare face mask, go to my post, Matcha Face Mask.

The Many Health Benefits of Tea

Skin health is far more critical than just cosmetics. Our skin is a vast functional organ that absorbs and eliminates.

You can find a comprehensive guide to the many scientific studies on tea published in Tea in Health and Disease Prevention by Victor R. Preedy, (editor) King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, London, 2012.

Even though it's an academic tome at 1,612 pages, it's full of helpful information if you have doubts about tea's health benefits. This book identifies therapeutic benefits and includes coverage and comparison of the most important types of tea – green, black, and white.

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