Be Beau-tea-ful
8th June 2009
Lock yourself in the bathroom with these brilliant beauty products that all contain tea. By Alexandra Fullerton.
Drinking four cups of tea a day helps hydrate your body - a process vital for keeping your skin glowing and gorgeous - but as well as getting healthy hydration from your drink, there are some brilliant beauty products that have harnessed tea's amazing antioxidant properties. In 2003, scientists proved that the components of white tea (which include polyphenols - powerful antioxidants) can help boost the immune function of our skin cells and protect against sun damage.
But, let's be clear that white tea isn't just your average brew with extra milk! White tea - like green and black - comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, but only the freshest buds and some of the youngest tender leaves go into white tea. You might have seen Silver Needle and Pai Mu Tan on the menu at a tearoom near you... they're the most famous white teas available in the West and and both green teas and white teas are absolutely delicious and refreshing – so look for these teas in your supermarket or better still go out for tea and enjoy them with a wonderful afternoon tea – visit The Tea Guild channel to find your nearest Tea Guild members!
Origins A Perfect World collection
Chinese emperors in the ancient Song dynasty believed that white tea was a key ingredient in the fabled elixir of immortality and today we can see the science that supports the legend: the antioxidants in white tea have been shown to boost the skin's defences against pollution and aging environmental aggressors. Origins was the first beauty brand to harness the power of white tea, using it in their renowned A Perfect World collection.
As white tea's production means the leaves are never rolled, crushed or fermented, it's nutrients are fully preserved which allow it's famed antioxidant properties to get to work on your skin.In beauty terms, Origins' studies found that white tea is 100 times more effective than green tea and drinking just one cup of white tea will give you the equivalent nutrients of eight glasses of orange juice!
These are some of the star products in the range...
White Tea Skin Guardian was the first product in Origins' A Perfect World collection. The silky serum helps to create an impenetrable shield over your skin (to protect against aging stress and pollution). By repelling negative outside forces it leaves your face free to repair and renew itself too.
Deep Cleanser with White Tea. This foaming facial cleanser gets deep into your pores to sweep away lingering dirt and oil before the potent polyphenols in the rare silver tip white tea give your face an anti-aging boost.
Dry skins should try the Liquid Moisture with White Tea. It's an alcohol-free toning lotion that helps replenish, firm and moisturise your skin with white tea's amazing antioxidant properties.
Protect your peepers with the extra-gentle Firming moisture treatment with White Tea. White tea helps block the aging oxidation process while the other ingredients in this cream-gel hybrid hyrdate the delicate eye area and allow your skin to produce natural collagen to plump up the skin again.
Take the tea treatment into your bath with the Creamy body cleanser with White Tea. While some soaps and shower gels can strip delicate skin of their precious protective surface oils, this soothing cleanser ensures your body stays as soft as it should be.
Available in a cream or lotion, the luscious Intensely hydrating body cream with White Tea takes after-bath care to a whole new level. Dry skin is instantly deleted while gentle exfoliators work to smooth stubborn patches of roughness (such as elbows and knees). The addition of white tea adds it's antioxidant touch to your bath-time routine.
Available from 0800 731 4039 / www.origins.co.uk
Elizabeth Arden Revitalize Spa collection
A cup of green tea has long been known to revitalize and refresh the drinker. Now you can bring some of the brew's uplifting effervescence into your bathroom with Elizabeth Arden's Revitalize range. While some products just include a synthetic scent of green tea, Revitalize has harnessed the protective powers of green and white tea to leave your skin soft, protected from potential free-radical damage and smelling great.
Our favouries include...
Hand & Foot Moisture Therapy. Infused with green tea, the creamy formula provides intense, quickly-absorbed moisturization while the tea protects against further damage from environmental aggressors.
A clever alternative to slathering on body lotion after you've bathed, the Moisturizing Body Rinse is an innovative oil that you simply smoothe on in the bath or shower.
Body scrubs are beauty's secret weapon, quickly sloughing off dull old skin and revealing the new you. The Renewing Body Scrub is infused with green tea to gently exfoliate and then protect your body with it's intense antioxidant qualities.
Available from www.elizabetharden.co.uk
Clarins UV Plus Day Screen High Protection
Now it's Summer, your thoughts should turn to slapping on some sunscreen. Clarins' high protection day screen is ideal for city dwellers as it provides a light, but powerful, veil of oil-free sun and pollution protection for your face. Pollution levels rise in Summer, which means that aging free-radicals become more active. Clarins' sun-screen includes white tea extract and protects against atmospheric pollution and sun damage with factor 40, while the antioxidants in the white tea neutralize the free radicals which can damage your skin and cause aging.
Available from 0800 036 3558 / www.clarins.co.uk
Sue Devitt Microquatic Prime Target Intensive Eye Treatment Primer
This gel delivers an intense dose of hydration to the delicate area around your eyes, which can become papery, dry and prone to wrinkles. The smart pen-shaped applicator means you can slip it into your handbag for day-long touch-ups while the genius transparent formulation allows you to wear the gel under make-up. Including caffeine extracts from white tea, the primer helps decrease puffiness, increases circulation to the eye area and firms the skin. It cleverly continues to treat the eye all day long while genius light-reflective properties in the gel means your dark circles are less noticeable too!
Available from Harvey Nichols' Knightsbridge store, QVC and suedevittstudio.com
Aubrey Organics Green Tea and Gingko facial toner
Give the classic cleanse, tone and moisturize ritual a tea-scented update. These three steps are often touted as the key to getting great skin but it's the toning step that can often make the biggest difference by balancing your skin after cleansing and preparing your face to absorb moisture. This 100% natural toner uses green tea's refreshing properties to sweep away dead skin and revitalize your face to bring it's natural radiance back. Also includes invigorating peppermint oil, witch hazel and gingko biloba.
Available from www.victoriahealth.com
La Natura Green Tea body lotion
Drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day is the key step to getting a gorgeous glow (and tea works just as well as water, FYI) but you can increase your body's hydration benefits by moisturizing with this rich tea-infused lotion. Calming, just like a good cuppa, the high levels of both green and white tea will repair dry, stressed skin while protecting from future damage with tea's genius antioxidant properties (which help get rid of damaging - and aging - free radical particles). The lotion also includes essential oils of bergamont (the key scent in a cup of Earl Grey), mandarin, amber, jasmine and basil.
Available from www.victoriahealth.com
John Masters Organics green tea and rose hydrating face serum
This divinely scented serum has been hailed as a 'God-send' by top facialists and penetrates deep into your skin to bring in maximum moisturization. As well as being a brilliant radiance booster the serum can be used at night, instead of a heavy cream, to continue it's free-radical scavenging. High levels of green tea extract will help protect against oxidation while allowing the skin to heal itself. Gorgeous.
Available from www.victoriahealth.com