Although famous for its calming, relaxing and cleansing properties, it’s also thought that green tea can have a surprisingly restorative effect on your skin. In fact, green tea is considered by many to be one of the most powerful natural aids when it comes to improving the health of your skin.

Across China and Japan, green tea has been used a natural remedy for skin problems for centuries. In the west, we are only just beginning to realise the amazing potential it could have for revitalising and protecting our skin from damage.

The secret behind green tea’s restorative power lies in a powerful natural antioxidant that occurs in high amounts in dried green tea leaves—EGCG, or epigallocatechin gallate to give it it’s full name. Belonging to a group of natural chemicals called catechins, EGCG could provide a host of benefits to the human body—from improving brain function to aiding weight loss. Importantly, scientists also believe that EGCG could reactive dying skin cells, rejuvinating your skin, with several recent studies showing promising results. This means it could help to reduce the risk of wrinkles, and keep your skin looking and feeling younger.

Using green tea topically (applying it to the outside of your body) could be particularly effective when it comes to fighting common skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis, potentially helping to reduce the redness, flaking and itching that comes with such complaints.

It’s also thought that applying green tea directly to your skin (when using it in conjunction with suncream) can help to provide protection against damage from the sun, thanks to its array of beneficial antioxidants.

If you want to achieve skin that glows with health, drinking and using green tea could really help.