Re: Cosmetic advice (on-topic, I think)Lewis Perin wrote:
> I'm considering a small (amateur) cosmetics manufacturing project and
> looking for - no, not investors! - just advice. I'm asking for it
> here because I'm less likely to be laughed at on this newsgroup than
> somewhere else.
>
> I can explain...
>
> People who fitfully follow the research on the relationship between
> tea and health probably have heard murmurs about beneficial effects of
> tea applied directly to the skin. It's starting to look as if the
> active ingredient isn't theanine or polyphenols but good old caffeine:
>
> http :// www .ingentaconnect,com /content/bsc/bjd/2007/00000156/00000005/art00023
>
> I have tea leaves I'll never brew and drink, so I'm thinking it might
> be interesting to boil them down to a concentrate and combine them
> with something - what? - so the result would sink into the skin and
> stay there. Does anyone have some advice?
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin / perin@acm.org
> http :// www .panix,com /~perin/babelcarp.html
FWIW, my previous dermatologist didn't like lotions or oils or anything
like that at all, he said none of it actually moisturizes or penetrates
the skin. Water does hydrate, and then putting some sort of cream on top
of that (he actually preferred petroleum jelly over other things with
more "stuff" in them) kept the hydration in longer.
Lanolin can cause skin rashes in susceptible people. Personally, being a
sensitive-skin person, the more absolutely basic and non-formalin
forming the better. If I wash my face with tea (which I have thought
about doing more as an astringent and bacteria-killing option than any
penetrative result) I just steep some old green tea bags in hot water
and rinse my face with them, no fussing. If you really want a base cream
you could try the base that goes into most creams which is somthing like
white petrolatum possibly mixed with mineral oil. If you want something
less petroleum-originated, my first choice would be almond oil, but it
won't penetrate, if my dermatologist was correct, and it probably somes
off easier than a white petroleum base. What would penetrate I am
guessing would be soaking the skin in water containing the tea (or
caffeine, but really I don't know what the skin uptake of caffeine is,
so that might be a problem for people who are caffeine sensitive) and
then after the skin has been hydrated with the tea-containing water,
"sealing" it in with an oil or petroleum cream of some sort.
So in sum I guess I see two modes of possible "delivery", a white
petroleum cream base like what goes into, for instance, hydrocortisone
creams on the shelf, or using a water bath and then sealing it in. This
is all total brainstorming on my part though, I'm not a doctor or an
herbal practitioner or anything but a tea drinker and person who's skin
is very sensitive to lots of things unfortunately. If you were to pursue
this I'd first find out what the uptake of caffeine is through the skin,
that might be a serious problem if the caffeine were concentrated and if
it permeated the skin quickly.
Melinda