410 replies to this topic

[sepsi]

Sorry for my late reply. I haven't had much time to visit the ORG lately. For the past 4 months I've been busy researching and writing, or updating, my book. So glad to get this monkey off my back

 

I'm not a cosmetics chemist, so I can't give you authorative answers. But I think there are 2 reasons why antioxidants don't degrade in creams. One is that the manufacturers add stabilizers and preservatives, such as vitamin C. Another one is less exposure to the elements. One reason why antioxidants in brewed tea degrade so quickly is that they are constantly exposed to light and oxygen, both of which can degrade them. In a sealed container there's  much less interaction with both of those elements.

 

Hmm.. don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you've confused antioxidants and anti-inflammatory. In practical terms they are the same thing. Antioxidants, like vitamin C, quench free radicals and thus has an anti-inflammatory effect. 

 

Antioxidants by their very nature are very reactive with free radicals and other prooxidant molecules. That's why they always degrade quite rapidly.

 

Yes, even if the tea evaporates from your skin it would leave a residue layer, but as far as I understand that layer won't actually do anything. For EGCG to reduce sebum production and inflammation it has to penetrate the top layer of the skin, or the skin barrier and down to where the relevant cells are. Just having something sitting on your face wouldn't do anything.

 

The problem is that the skin barrier is very good at repelling water. This same function that keeps us alive (and prevents your body from getting flooded when you swim or take a shower) also keeps tea out. Fat soluble substances penetrate the skin barrier much more readily, but water soluble substances have much lower skin penetration.

 

This is why skin care products have all those chemicals in them. Some of them allow water and fat soluble substances to mix while others help the product to penetrate your skin.

 

Hope this was helpful.

[SweDan]

Apologies for the late reply as I'm on a trip. It's pretty evident that tea did very little now, as it's been weeks without. Yes, if I was still a teen I wouldn't despair. But I'm clearly not outgrowing it (age 29) so I'll have to work on finding a working treatment. I'll go back to BP for now because I don't need a lot of it to stay clear. As for the questions... I have eliminated sugar and dairy as I'm sure that it gives me acne. But I'm struggling to find the other causes. To be fair, though, I haven't been completely strict. I've been especially bad on this holiday and it is showing. I also stopped junk food and grains, as mentioned. Again, not 100% strict. I'm not filtering my water, neither for drinking nor cleaning. There's a lot to try still, but I'm out of motivation. It's such a huge task when BP is quite effortless and allows me to be less careful with what I eat (eating healthy on a budget is tough where I live). I read about your new toner but I'm afraid it's not possible to fimd the ingredients easily in Sweden. Even the green tea had to be ordered online. Else I'd try it out.

[CBIOT13]

Hey guys this looks like a very interesting toner. I have recently been doing 4 weeks trials of ACV and zinc oxide, and while they both helped with acne they didn't do much for oily skin. I've heard studies that show the ECGC in green tea reduces oil production over time because it suppresses the conversion of Test to DHT. But I'm pretty sure that green tea spoils rapidly, so in practicality what's the shelf life of this?

I'd be thrilled with a week or two, but I'm not sure if even that is possible?

 

Anyone that has used this, I'd love to hear about how it worked for you. Thanks in advance

[BSider]

I figured I'd report my negative reaction to matcha green tea as a topical, in case it's useful for anyone else thinking about using matcha with their toner.

 

3 weeks ago I purchased Organic 100% matcha green tea from Whole Foods, with the reasoning that ECGC content is higher in shade-grown matcha green tea (it cost $39 for a small tin!).  Every morning I brewed a fresh batch of green tea with 1 teaspoon of matcha.  I then applied a tablespoon of the fresh brew everyday for approx 3 weeks.  Here were the results:

• After the first week, my eyes became really puffy, so thereafter, I was careful not to get green tea in my eyes.  The swelling decreased after a 3-4 days.

• After the 2nd week, I noticed parts of my cheeks and temple were red and slightly irritated.

• Near the end of the 2nd week, I had increasing irritation and noticed the appearance of dead skin around my temple. I discontinued applying the green tea at this point.  The irritation, dead skin and redness went away after a couple days.

During this experiment my acne worsened slightly and my skin became a bit oilier.

 

I am continuing to drink matcha green tea daily with a bit of citrus.  While expensive, I find it to be quite tasty and invigorating.

Edited by BSider, 19 February 2013 - 12:22 AM.

[onefatalgoose]

One final update to the OP.  Think it will be the single greatest difference maker in how effective this treatment can potentially be.  Thanks to Sepsi for bringing it to my attention

[CBIOT13]

I've experimented with Green Tea alot over the last month or two, and unfortunately adding Vitamin C will only add around 1-2 days shelf life at best, in terms of protecting the polyphenols at least.

I see you referenced Sepsi in your post, and while he did say that it helps preserve it, he didn't specifically say how long.

This is actually his website, and he mentions specifically how much longer you can get out of the
catechins.

http://www.acneeinst...acne-treatment/

Edited by CBIOT13, 25 March 2013 - 02:40 PM.

[onefatalgoose]

Sepsi discussed adding 50 mg per cup.  In using half a level teaspoon, so i'm adding roughly 44x the amount.  Roughly 2.25 grams. 

 

I imagine this will have a significant impact on how long the batch lasts.  

[CBIOT13]

Probably not. This is not a sitiluation where you can just dump a boatload in to make it last forever lol, there is a finite lifespan once exposed to air unless you are using real preservatives.

But I guess it won't hurt, and the Vitamin C may add other benefits to the toner as well.

[onefatalgoose]

Probably not. This is not a sitiluation where you can just dump a boatload in to make it last forever lol, there is a finite lifespan once exposed to air unless you are using real preservatives.

 

 

Try this at home.  Mash up a few avocados and add half a squeezed lime.  Stir and store in a sealed container.  At the same time, mash up three avocados and add the juice of three full limes and store the same way.  I've done it. And the one with half a squeezed lime lasted one night before beginning to turn brown.  The mixture with three limes lasted a week in a sealed container in the fridge before starting to turn. 

 

Quantity does make a difference my friend.  And ascorbic acid is what i would consider a 'real' preservative.  Same goes for sea salt.  This is why in the old days they would store pork in barrels of salt.  It kept the salt from going rancid for long periods of time while at sea.  The same amount of preservation could not be achieved by sprinkling a bit of salt over the pork 

[missalvarez]

Hello!

 

So I want to make this but I need to know for how long will this be good and "active" for if I store it in the fridge? A month? Few weeks? Please let me know!

[pav6629]

Quick question onefatalgoose:  throughout this post the tea to use for your toner is referred to as green tea:  please clarify for me should i use the gren rooibos tea you have pictured in your initial post or plain regular green tea.....is there any significant difference between the two??

 

Also, I have used a toner in the past made of thyme infused witch hazel, green tea and chamomile with some success....any experience with these ingredients???