March 2010

GREEN TEA OFFERS BENEFITS BOTH INSIDE AND OUT

This month enjoy a complementary upgrade

to the Karigane Green Tea Masque

with any 75-minute skin care treatment

At Osmosis we offer this Japanese skin care tradition using only freshly brewed organic Japanese green tea to capture the full benefits of green tea. Green tea has become a popular skin care ingredient in recent years. Is it just a fad, or does this botanical product have something to offer? Freshly infused organic Karigane green tea actually benefits the skin in many ways:

• Amino acids and caffeine nourish, hydrate and plump the skin.
• Antioxidants fight free radicals to soothe sun damage.
• Polyphenols are antibacterial and help repair the skin.
• All skin types see improvement after a green tea mask, from irritated and blemished, to dry or sensitive.

More on Why and How Green Tea Can Benefit Your Skin

All tea is from the plant Camellia Sinense. The difference in tea varieties come from where and how the tea is grown, and how it is processed after harvesting. Our green tea comes from Chado-En Tea Docents, who import only the finest hand-picked teas from Asia. We use organic Karigane green tea from Kyoto, the birthplace of Japanese green tea. Because of how it is grown, this Karigane tea has very high concentrations of nourishing amino acids. Because of how it is processed, it is also very rich in antioxidants and polyphenols including catechins.

While green tea is rich in beneficial nutrients, these potent ingredients are also very fragile and break down quickly. The powders and extracts found in many skin care products are highly processed and have sometimes been around for years before reaching your skin. Osmosis' masque uses green tea freshly infused for your treatment. This captures the full potency of the beneficial ingredients, and immediate results are seen.

Green tea is rich in antioxidants to help neutralize free radicals. These are molecules with at least one unpaired electron, making them highly reactive with other molecules in your body. A free radical will stabilize by stealing an electron from a healthy molecule, damaging cell proteins in the process. This has been linked to higher rates of cancer and degenerative diseases. While some free radicals are naturally produced in the body, levels increase with exposure to pollution, smoking, UV rays and radiation. The catechins found in green tea not only scavenge free radicals, but are antibacterial, boost natural immunity, and help protect against sun damage.

Green tea offers benefits both inside and out. Here are some additional sources of information.

References:
"Topical green tea and UV damage protection" by Donna Tokugawa, Les Nouvelles Esthetiques, March 2009.
Drug Dictionary, National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Guide, University of Maryland Medical Center, www.umm.edu.