I'm seeing so many skin care products come out highlighting green tea as an ingredient. Probably a little of both. Green tea , the national beverage of Japan, is made from the unfermented leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis . Within the last few years, researchers have discovered a number of health benefits of green tea, having to do with its content of catechins, a group of compounds mostly destroyed in the fermentative conversion to black tea.
Catechins lower cholesterol and generally improve lipid metabolism.
They also have significant anticancer and antibacterial effects. The first topical green tea product that I saw was an underarm deodorant stick that relies on its antibacterial properties. Now there's a wide variety of green tea products including hand and body lotions, facial masks, cleansers, toners, shower gels, shampoos, rinses, bath crystals, revitalizers, moisturizers and sun blocks. Aubrey Organics, manufacturer of many products containing green tea, claims that green tea extracts, when used topically, seem to protect the skin from serious damage and aging due to UVB rays. There is evidence accumulating that topical applications of antioxidants may be beneficial for skin.