Look at the skincare products on the market these days, and chances are, you’ll find a lot of them with green tea extract. A lot of beauty products are infused with green tea these days; hey, green tea’s the new black (tea). 

So, what’s the big deal with green tea? We know that green tea is a good antioxidant for our body. Specifically, what benefits does it bring to our skin?

According to Smart Skin Care, green tea has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and are likely to slow down the development of some signs of aging. However, whether green tea can actually diminish wrinkles and skin sag remain uncertain. The extent of green tea benefits and its optimal usage is likely to be subjected to uncertainty for years to come. Yet, if you wish to include green tea into your skincare regime, there are sensible ways to go about it.

Sun protection benefits of green tea are particularly well reported. Green tea appears to protect against sun damage by quenching free radicals and reducing inflammation rather than to block UV rays. Thus, green tea may indirectly enhance screen protection when used in addition to a sunscreen. Of course, this does not mean to rub green tea leaves onto your skin together with sunscreen!

It is best to combine green tea with zinc oxide-based sunscreens because zinc oxide is chemically inert and should not react with green tea (which some chemical sunscreens might do, especially in sunlight). I have yet to find a sunscreen with green tea formula here though; I shall update you when I do source one. It sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? At least our sunscreens wouldn’t reek.