Thursday, July 24, 2008

Green Tea salve


Mmmm....green tea. I had a client request green tea salve this week, so I went and had a go at this creation, which I must say I'm very happy with!

Green tea is well known for its antioxidant properties and it is becoming quite popular as an ingredient in natural face care products. Topical use of green tea has been used in some novel ways, including skin cancers, radiation and burns, and other skin damage, even for HPV and Herpes Simplex virus.

The potent antioxidant polyphenols in Green Tea, specifically EGCG (Epigallocatechin gallate) is the most often studied compound in green tea. Most people just drink the tea, or take capsules of the concentrated and standardized extract of EGCG.

I think this salve is a novel way to administer a highly respected traditional medicine for skin needs. Plus it was fun to make. I used some high quality sencha green tea from Seven Cups Tea House. and infused it in a base of almond oil into a rich emerald green oil, full with the green grassy scent of tea leaves. The salve leaves a lovely scent of green tea on the skin, long after the oil has absorbed. I look forward to giving this a try myself on burns, and sun damaged/exposed skin. Someday soon I might make more oil for a lovely green tea skin cream when combined with shea butter and aloe vera.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This sounds fabulous Darcey! I am very interested in purchasing some green tea body cream (maybe with a touch of lavender) when you get around to making some.

Love,
Jenni

Anonymous said...

what a great idea! yum! i can practically smell the grassy frsh scent... i've seen green tea appearing in lots of fancy shmancy beauty products, but your looks delish. i am inspired to experiment myself! thank you!

"The mother of us all, the oldest of us all, Hard, splendid as rock, Let the beauty you love, be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth"~ Rumi ~