Green tea benefits in skin care

You have probably heard more than once about the anti-oxidant, anti-aging and rejuvenation benefits of green tea. I am definitely a big fan of drinking green tea (mostly because I love the taste) and I am just sipping on a large mug of freshly brewed green tea as I am writing this. Because green tea has so many benefits it can also be used in skin care and applied directly on the skin.

The medicinal properties of green tea are attributed to flavonoid phytochemicals called polyphenols. Although other teas also contain polyphenols, green tea has a much larger amount of polyphenols compared to black tea. Green tea helps reduce skin redness and inflammation, rejuvenates skin cells, and reduce effects of UV radiation exposure.

Knowing the benefits of green tea on our skin it is a good idea to incorporate it in our everyday skin routine. Many face creams containing green tea extract can be found on the market. However, like most other anti-oxidants the polyphenols found in green tea are oxidized and lose their activity when exposed to air. Therefor it is hard to say if store bought green tea face cream retain the activity. Personally I add green tea extract to many of my face creams, and I am also not sure if after a while they still retain their activity. Yet, these home made creams in general have a much shorter expiration date and I like to think that the green tea extract still has it's anti-oxidant activity after a few weeks. 

There are other ways to incorporate green tea in our everyday skin care. A very simple way is to prepare a green tea skin toner. Toners help adjust the right pH level of skin, remove any residues left on the skin after cleaning, tighten pores, and moisturize. You can brew a pot of strong green tea and either freeze it into ice cubes and then use daily as a skin toner (once an ice cube starts to thaw!)). Or you can prepare small batches of freshly brewed green tea, mix them with rose water and witch hazel hydrosol. A green tea toner is gentle and soothing and should be appropriate for all skin types.