Green Tea Face Mask Made With Matcha

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Green tea face mask made with matcha tea contains a high amount of catechins, which are responsible for its antioxidant properties. And we now know that antioxidants are good for the skin.

"You look 'mahvelous' my darlings! Absolutely 'mahvelous'. And you know who you are."

Remember that skit from the comedian Billy Crystal? He was portraying his Fernando character, the superficial Latin lover who espoused it was better “to look good than to feel good.”

And looking good is important. Let’s face it.

Beauty, by definition, is pleasing - it attracts the eye. So we spend hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars on beauty products throughout our lives in pursuit of gorgeousness.

But for a fraction of the cost, you can use natural food-based products and get the same or even better results.

From acne to wrinkles, so many of us have skin care concerns. For me, since I have fair skin and blue eyes, I am more prone to skin cancer. Which I’ve already had in various stages and places at least a dozen times over the years. So what can we do about it?

Maybe basting myself like a Thanksgiving turkey in baby oil and iodine, day after day while I was a teenager sunbathing on the beach with my girlfriends wasn’t such a good idea. But we didn’t know any better back then. And, there was no such thing as sunscreen! Now I know better.

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

The Benefits of a Green Tea Facial

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

In fact, nature holds many answers to our health and well-being. The various catechins found in green tea include epigallocatechin gallate, also known as EGCG.

EGCG is a very powerful antioxidant with scientifically proven anticarcinogenic properties.

Why do we need antioxidants? Simply put, they fight off free radicals, thwarting the pathway of cellular damage.

Free radicals are those disruptive invaders formed from basic oxygen metabolism that generate stress at the molecular level. This stress causes cellular damage. So this treatment, being high in antioxidants, helps with that cellular damage.

To learn more about the benefits of tea read The Top 10 Health Benefits of Tea.

Why Use Matcha Powder for Green Tea Face Mask?

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

1. Matcha is a finely ground green tea powder and is easy to work with when making a facial mask. Matcha is a specially grown tea from the Camellia sinensis plant. The tea plants are covered in shade for about three weeks just before harvesting. This process increases their chlorophyll content resulting in higher EGCG content.

1. The concentration of EGCG from matcha is at least three times higher than that of other green teas.

1. Studies of skin pre-treated with EGCG experienced less DNA damage than untreated skin. Given my skin cancer history, this is all the more reason to choose matcha.

1. Matcha tea is extremely high in antioxidants, which counteract free radicals. This translates to anti-aging.

Our skin is a very large organ that absorbs and eliminates. Taking care of it is far more important than just cosmetic.

It is the antioxidant action you want while preparing antiaging 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.

In making this mask, I mix it with Bentonite clay. But you don’t have to.

Add Bentonite Clay Powder

Bentonite clay has also been used for centuries in facial masks. It usually forms from weathering volcanic ash and is used as a base in many dermatologic formulas. Bentonite is sometimes called Montmorillonite.

The Bentonite clay is excellent for removing toxins from the skin and shrinking pores. It is highly absorbent so it is often used to pull excess sebum (oil) from the skin, making it great for treating acne.

In addition to pulling oil, it also pulls toxins from the skin due to a mild electrical charge. The particles are bound by this electrical charge in the clay, preventing reabsorption into the skin.

For this reason, I have read that you should not mix the clay with a metal utensil as it interferes with the therapeutic binding of toxins by the electrical charge. You can use a plastic or wooden spoon.

Vitamin E Oil for Softness

You can add a drop or two of Vitamin E oil if the mask is too drying for your skin. Vitamin E oil is another powerful antioxidant.

Vitamin E can be very beneficial for the skin particularly when it is combined with other antioxidants. It has been used as an anti-inflammatory as well as in scar healing.

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