eBeautyDaily » antioxidants

Introducing Blueberry Tone Body Wash

Aly Walansky — Sat, 30 May 2009 16:10:03 +0000

A few nights ago, Tone held a launch party for their brand-new blueberry flavored body wash, and I am instantly hooked.

Aside from getting to hang out with Amber, Felicia, Dina, Sarah, Carolyn, and all the rest of my beauty blogger best buds, we got to enjoy a menu – and an evening – based all around the concept of the blueberry. (You haven’t lived till you’ve enjoyed a cocktail based on a mixture of blueberries and Prosecco.)

But back to the body wash – I must confess I have been SNIFFING it in the shower just about as much as I use it. It just smells that good.

It’s going to launch into stores in June, and is full of Vitamin E, A, and (obvs), blueberry extract! It’s totally delicious – though I swear I haven’t actually eaten it. My skin, however, has absorbed it, and is in full antioxidant glory.

Image: Tone

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Fresh Sugar Açaí Body Scrub

Aly Walansky — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:32:27 +0000

If you’ve been to an organic grocery lately, you probably know the antioxidant-rich Açaí is a Brazilian super-berry that is considered one of the healthiest fruits in existence.

What you may not know is that the oil derived from it has those same powerful antioxidants, and works to protects and rejuvenate the skin.

Fresh Sugar Açaí Body Scrub takes advantage of this oil and mixes it with a blend of cupuaçu seed butter, jojoba seed oil, and meadowfoam seed.

The result: My skin is super soft and silky, and probably pretty darn healthy, too!

Image: Sephora

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Clean is good…sterile is not

Aly Walansky — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:33:20 +0000

There’s a new way to naturally cleanse your hands and refresh your spirit, and it’s done with the same rejuvenating herbs that have been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine.

Created on the principle that “clean is good… sterile is not,” Green Tea Goods Natural Hand Refresher contains a blend of healing Chinese herbal extracts that cleanse and revitalize skin without the dryness and tightness that alcohol-laden hand sanitizers can cause. Keep a bottle with you wherever you go and pour just three drops onto your hands whenever they need a refreshing… after a trip to the store, a long car ride or a jog in the park.

Other cleansers are mostly alcohol and try to mask their caustic smell with artificial fragrance. But Green Tea Goods Natural Hand Refresher is only 12% alcohol and derives its cleansing powers from natural ingredients used in Chinese medicine. Its mood-boosting soft scent comes from its natural ingredients, which are well known for their healing properties as well, including:

· Green Tea Extract—a natural antiseptic and rich in antioxidants, which help protect the body from free radicals

· Ai Ye Extract (Mugwort Leaf)—known for its warming properties

· Gan Cao(Licorice Root)—used to relieve skin irritation, itching, redness

· Jin Yin Hua Extract (Gold Silver Flower Honeysuckle)—used for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties

· Hua Jia Extract (Sichuan Pepper)—used in traditional Chinese medicine to soothe skin irritation and relieve itching

· Huang Lian Extract (Coptis Chinensis)—a cooling herb, used by Chinese herbalists to heal bacterial and viral infections

· Tea Tree Oil—known for its antiseptic, antifungal and antimicrobial activity

· Aloe Extract—well-known in American culture for cooling and healing skin, but also used by Chinese herbalists for its immunity-strengthening abilities

This particular mixture of herbs is based on ancient herbal formulations used for centuries as a natural way to fight germs and bacteria. Green Tea Goods Natural Hand Refresher is brewed in China utilizing the process of traditional Chinese medicinal herbalists.

“What Burt’s Bees was to ChapStick, we’re hoping Green Tea Goods will be to Purel – a natural alternative to a great and much loved product,” says Green Tea Goods founder Barney Stacher. “Mother Nature has been cleaning naturally for thousands of years and we believe we should take our cues from her.”

Green Tea Goods Natural Hand Refresher can be purchased online for $15 for two 1-oz. bottles or $18 for three bottles at www.greenteagoods.com and at retailers such as CO Bigelow, Whitney Chemists, Copley Flair, Unicorn, Elm Drug and Beverly Glen Pharmacy. Each bottle contains 600-660 drops, which is equivalent to approximately 200 uses.

Photo credit: GreenTeaGoods.com

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Green Tea Poll

Christina Jones — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:18:26 +0000

These were the results of the poll that just closed:

Do you drink green tea?

Yes, for the health benefits.: 51% (18)
Yes, just because I like it.: 23% (8)
No.: 26% (9)

Total Votes : 35

Now, other than that being a pitiful number of responses (my fault, boring poll…), I was really surprised and happy to see that such big percentage of the responses were drinkers of Green Tea. It is truly a wonder I ever sleep at all with the caffeine running wild through my blood all day. I love my coffee and I love my Green Tea too!

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Skin Care Supplements – CoQ-10

Christina Jones — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 14:54:09 +0000

CoQ10 is a coenzyme, naturally occuring in your body that is available as a supplement and as an ingredient in many skin care products. It is also an antioxidant, which we all know about now, right? Coenzyme Q10 is normally produced readily in the body, but depletes very predictably as we age, and possibly depletes with exposure to the sun as well. CoQ10 is found in beef, spinach, sardines, albacore tuna, and peanuts, but is rendered inactive with high cooking heat. Studies have shown that CoQ 10 indeed can be used topically with benefit. From smartskincare.com:

In most people over thirty, levels of CoQ10 in the skin are below optimum, resulting in lesser ability to produce collagen, elastin and other important skin molecules. Besides, CoQ10-depleted skin may be more prone to the damage by free radicals, which are particularly abundant in the skin since it is exposed to the elements. Thus, CoQ10 may boost skin repair and regeneration and reduce free radical damage. Furthermore, CoQ10 is a small molecule that can relatively easily penetrate into skin cells.

This is how I use CoQ10 – I bite open the top of the CoQ10 capsule, squeeze out a tiny, tiny bit of the cream (I think it is oil/liquid at room temperature, but I keep all of my supplements in the fridge), and put it around my eyes and on any other troublesome wrinkly areas, then swallow the rest of the capsule, once a day. Be warned though, the cream is a carrot yellow color and you need about 30 minutes for it to be absorbed so you don’t look jaundiced (or like an Oompa Loompa). You can also mix the drop of CoQ10 with your eye cream first, and you won’t be left with the yellow color at all. Try this at your own risk and it would always be wise to test it on the inside of your elbow first for senstitivities.

[Edit] I wanted to add this in, about Coenzyme Q10 from MayoClinic.com: “The facts. Two human (clinical) trials show significant reduction in fine wrinkles around the eyes with no side effects. Other studies show that application before sun exposure protects against sun damage. More research is needed to examine the long-term effects.” You know I am SO all about sun protection…

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Ole Henriksen’s Visual Truth Eye Cream

Christina Jones — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:48:53 +0000

This is a new eye care product that I have heard much about recently. It is by Ole Henriksen and contains a big wallop of Red Tea extract. This is what Sephora says:

[...]it contains nature’s highest concentration of skin-saving antioxidants that repair collagen damage and strengthen the skin. Facialist to the stars, Ole Henriksen, loved the tea so much, he bottled it in his newest face and eye cream after clients raved about its skin-firming benefits, particularly around the eyes. “The great thing about African red tea is its ability to stimulate the cell turnover rate without causing any irritations. The result is firmer skin with a more refined texture and less visible pores,” says Henriksen. “It has an amazing ability to calm and soothe skin that’s prone to rashes and irritations, including rosacea, and really is a miracle ingredient for sensitive skin.”

In addition to calming irritated skin, it’s also said to be a wonder tonic for colicky babies and troubled tummies with its anti-spasmodic properties. From body aches to complexion pains, this wonder tea is sure to be your new health drink of choice. But thanks to Ole Henriksen, you won’t just be drinking it, you’ll be slathering it on like nobody’s business.

Ole Henriksen gives red tea a much bigger vote of confidence than Dr. Weil does, but again, Dr. Weil also said that there was not near the research on red tea as their has been on green tea. What we do know is that there isn’t much harm in giving it a try, and I am out of eye cream! You can buy Ole Henriksen Visual Truth Wrinkle Resistance Eye Creme at Sephora.com, for a pretty reasonable price of $45 for a .5 oz jar (I know, eye cream is expensive). Have any of you tried this?

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Benefits of Red Tea (Rooibos)

Christina Jones — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:30:06 +0000

African Red Tea (as opposed to black tea which is called red tea by the Chinese) is another tea that is rumored to have great health benefits, and is an ingredient in an eye cream that I will mention here in a bit. I wanted to do some research on it first, so here it is.

Dr. Weil says this:

Rooibos is being heavily hyped by producers and distributors as a new health beverage. Unlike true “tea,” it is caffeine-free and low in tannins. It contains minimal amounts of calcium, potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium and much less fluoride than found in real teas. Studies have shown that Rooibos does contain antioxidants and therefore might have some of the health benefits of green tea, but very little research has confirmed this. I found only 17 scientific studies of Rooibos compared to more than 1,000 on green tea. So far, none suggest that Rooibos is the health equivalent of green tea. Brewed, Rooibos looks red but doesn’t really taste like tea – it has a slightly sweet and fruity flavor. If you like the taste and color, and want a caffeine-free herbal beverage, by all means opt for Rooibos, but if you want the health benefits of tea, I recommend sticking with the real thing.

And this from AfricanTea.com:

This tea contains almost no oxalic acid, making it a good beverage for people prone to kidney stones. Rooibos contains the following minerals: copper, iron and potassium, calcium, fluoride, zinc, manganese, alpha- hydroxy ( for healthy skin ) and magnesium (for the nervous system) are also components of this tea. In South Africa pregnant women and nursing mothers drink Rooibos because it contains no caffeine.

And then finally this, from NutriIngredients.com:

Studies carried out in South Africa have showed that rooibos is rich in antioxidants and may help protect against free radical damage that can lead to varying types of cancer and heart problems.

“We concluded that rooibos extracts interfered with skin cancer in its promotion [later development] stage. This provides the first evidence of a protective effect for rooibos teas,” said Jeanine Marnewick, from the Medical Research Council of South Africa.

She added that: “Mouse skin that was topically treated with the rooibos extracts before cancer promotion showed a 75 percent decrease in the development of skin papillomas.” Marnewick and her team hopes now to carry out similar studies on human models.

This last excerpt talks about the benefits of extracts used topically, which is really my concern here. Sure you can reap the benefits taken internally, but what does it do used in skin care creams? I guess I will try it for myself and see. Next up, the next eye cream on my try-me list!

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Benefits of Green Tea

Christina Jones — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 13:16:52 +0000

You have probably heard about Green Tea and how good it is for you. Believe it or not, I used to drink the better part of 2 pots of coffee every day, but now I finish about 3/4 of a pot, and then switch to green tea for the later afternoon (tea time – 4pm) and into the evening. Green and Black Tea (the classic tea) are made from the same leaves, but Green Tea is much less processed and not fermented, like Black Tea, which saves lots of the beneficial compounds. This is from the Celestial Seasonings website, and is about the compounds found in green tea:

Flavonoids are nutrient antioxidants found in most plants and many foods common in the human diet. There are 12 types of flavonoids, and one plant species may contain hundreds of different flavonoids. Polyphenol is a broad class of antioxidants including flavonoids and catechins. Catechins are a type of flavonoid contained in the leaves of tea. Catechins are very strong antioxidants, even more powerful than vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene at combating harmful free radicals and protecting fragile DNA.

If you remember, antioxidants combat those free radicals, oxygen molecules that are floating around breaking apart your cells and causing problems from wrinkles to cancer. Green tea is also purported to help with things like cavities, weight loss and arthritis.
I have been drinking this super-yummy Moroccan Mint green tea from Teavana lately and it beats all the other green teas I have tried by a long shot!

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Free Radicals and Antioxidants

Christina Jones — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 16:14:10 +0000

You have probably heard a lot of talk over the last few years about free radicals and antioxidants, but do you know what they are, and what in the world they might have to do with beauty? Free radicals are very basically incomplete oxygen molecules that are created from the process of making energy from the foods you eat. These molecules have lost an electron, and are always in the process of trying to regain that missing electron by stealing it from another molecule, which in turn creates more free radicals, which will impede cell function and eventually destroy your body’s cells. It is a catch-22 process that possibly leaves your skin damaged (wrinkled) as well as causes a myriad of other problems in the body. So what do you do about it?

There is a lot of research going in to this subject currently, and the results are not yet conclusive. Along with the food you eat, free radicals can be formed from the sun, air pollution, and even rancid oils – basically all of that stuff that is supposed to be bad for you. A diet rich in vitamins and minerals will provide your body with plenty of antioxidants, which provide those extra electrons to the oxygen molecules who are seeking them (and destroying other cells in the process). In theory, anyway. Eating a well rounded diet- with a variety of fruits and veggies that contain natural antioxidants- of course, is your best bet to combat free radicals. If that isn’t exactly what you do, consider supplementing your diet with an antioxidant supplemental formula. This is what I take on a daily basis: Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Flax Seed Oil, Mixed Carotenes and Selenium.

For more information about free radicals and antioxidants, Paula Begoin has an excellent article on free radicals here and Dr. Weil talks about them here and here, and I did a bit more research about antioxidants here.

Photo credit (and more information about freeradicals and antioxidants: SiberianTigerNaturals.com

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