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Pop quiz: What are the two most common ingredients that make up a good moisturizer? Water and oil. This answer may seem deceptively simple, but let’s explore it a little further.

Skin 101

The topmost layer of our skin, called the stratum corneum, needs to be made up of at least 10% water to look and feel healthy — though 20-30% is ideal. But water, as we know, evaporates easily. That’s where other ingredients like emollients, humectants and occlusives come in. Often made from oil, these ingredients act as a barrier or sealant to lock moisture in the cells to stop water from evaporating. And a well-moisturized stratum corneum can soak up to six times its weight in water, nicely plumping the skin. Water also interacts with enzymes to help skin shed dead cells in an orderly way. Without water, dead cells pile up on the skin, making it red, chapped and rough. Skin that’s not properly moisturized can develop cracks and become itchy, scaly and even painful. So, moisturizing is a must after your daily skin cleansing routine, but how do you know which kind best suits your skin type? Let’s break it down into two categories of moisturizers — gels and creams — and weigh their pros and cons.

Gel Moisturizers | Cream Moisturizers | Dry Skin | Oily Skin | Combination Skin | Sensitive Skin | Normal Skin 

What Are Gel Moisturizers?

Facial gel moisturizers are lightweight and water-based (and sometimes oil-free … more on that later). They make a nice, smooth base for makeup and feel cool and refreshing when applied to the skin. Absorbent with a non-greasy texture, gel moisturizers are perfect for oily or combination complexions that don’t necessarily need any more oil added topically. If your skin is prone to dehydration, the humectant properties of gel moisturizers make them ideal — they draw water from the surrounding air as well as pulling moisture from deeper down in the skin itself, aka the dermis layer. 

What Are Cream Moisturizers?

Thick and oil-based in composition, creams are intensely hydrating and seal in moisture better and with longer-lasting effect than gels. They can leave oil residue, which is not ideal if your skin already skews oily. Creams are often also enhanced with nourishing, emollient ingredients like shea butter and coconut oil, which soothes and softens rough, dry skin. This can be especially important if you live in a place with long, cold winters.

What’s The Right Moisturizer For Your Skin Type? 

Dry

If you have parched skin, oil-free facial gels are probably not your best bet. As mentioned above, they don’t form as effective a barrier to moisture loss as creams do. Look instead for nourishing creams with luxurious emollients, like shea butter, that make your skin feel smoother. A good option for daytime is the Lilikoi Daily Defense Moisturizer SPF 40. Formulated with larch tree, a moisturizing ingredient that shields skin from dehydration and antioxidant-rich lilikoi seed oil, this SPF and moisturizer combo protects and improves the appearance of dry skin in one step.

Another great product for dry skin is the Coconut Age Corrective Moisturizer, which uses coconut water, coconut oil and shea butter to add moisture. A customer, Diana, reviewed it on the website saying: “The coconut moisturizer is amazing … my skin looks great and the fine lines are really hard to see. Love, love, love this product line.”

Oily

While cream moisturizers are perfect for dry skin, they aren’t necessarily the best pick for oilier complexions. Light facial gel moisturizers are better options for skin that is on the oily side, and a good all-over choice is the Strawberry Rhubarb Hyaluronic Hydrator. This vegan gel-cream contains Botanical Hyaluronic Acid Complex, a blend of hyaluronic acid and marshmallow root that intensely hydrates and preserves moisture in the skin. This formula is also made with plant sugars that optimize the skin’s moisture reserve. Another gel moisturizer to try is the dewy, lightweight Mangosteen Gel Moisturizer. It melts into your skin, imbuing it with ingredients like mangosteen fruit extract and pore-minimizing red clover flower extract.

Combination

One strategy is to opt for gel moisturizers on the oily parts of the face and cream moisturizers for dry patches. But if spot treating different areas on the face seems a little high-maintenance, the Bakuchiol + Niacinamide Moisturizer is a good choice for combination complexions and aging skin. Besides bakuchiol, a natural alternative to retinol, this moisturizer contains niacinamide, which supports the skin barrier, and panthenol, which hydrates and prevents moisture loss. Happy customer, Emily B., says in a review on our website: “I feel hydrated and glowy all day AND the consistency is lovely under makeup … I’ve been getting compliments on my skin all week!” 

Sensitive

Cream moisturizers with gentle formulations and minimal fragrance should be your go-to if you have sensitive skin. The Apricot Calendula Nourishing Cream contains apricot, which replenishes the skin’s barrier, while flax seed moisturizes, hydrates and lubricates. Revitalizing Echinacea Recovery Cream is another good option for sensitive skin types. It moisturizes with replenishing yarrow herb and evening primrose oil. Or try Calm Skin Chamomile Moisturizer, which is formulated with calendula oil and grape leaf extract, plus shea butter that improves the skin’s barrier and protective sunflower oil, chamomile and arnica.

Normal

If you don’t have problematic skin, then choose a gel or cream that suits your skin’s other needs. You might want a moisturizer with age-defying ingredients that plump, firm or heal your skin like the Coconut Age Corrective Moisturizer. Or, if you spend a lot of time in the sun, a two-in-one moisturizer with SPF like the Tropical Vanilla Day Cream SPF 40 is a good option to consider for daytime, while the Stone Crop Whip Moisturizer makes a great nighttime cream. Don’t forget, you can always choose more than one moisturizer, customizing your ritual to your skin’s changing needs moment by moment.

The most important thing is that you moisturize and that you use a product that fits your skin’s profile. Remember this general rule of thumb: light-as-air gel moisturizers for oily complexions and nourishing, hydrating cream moisturizers for dry. Interested in finding out more? Visit your nearest Eminence Organics Spa Partner to help choose the best products for your skin.

A cup of tea is a perfect pick-me-up in the afternoon but did you know it’s also a great pick-me-up for your skin? From fighting free radicals to reducing the appearance of fine lines and dissolving dead skin cells, tea has become a popular skin care ingredient. Read on to find out whether this ancient elixir is your skin’s cup of tea. 

A Brief History Of Tea 

The story of tea begins in China in 2737 BCE. According to legend, Chinese emperor and renowned herbalist, Shen Nung, was sitting beneath a tree when some leaves from the tree blew into water that was being boiled for drinking. He decided to try the infusion that had accidentally been created. The tree was a Camellia sinensis, and the resulting drink was what we now call tea.

All traditional teas are still made from the leaves and buds of different varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant — originally from the borderlands of northern Burma and southwestern China. The difference between teas lies in how they are processed — whether they are fermented or not, for instance — and this determines their oxidation levels. Green teas are not oxidized at all, while black teas are very oxidized. In terms of beauty benefits, green tea and matcha are very poplular, but black tea, white tea and kombucha are also potent allies for your skin.

What Are The Benefits Of Tea For Skin?

Tea has bioactives that have been scientifically proven to hydrate skin and protect it from aging and environmental harm. Antioxidant tea polysaccharides fight free radicals and absorb and retain moisture. Tea polyphenols protect skin by absorbing ultraviolet radiation and diverting it from doing epidermal damage. Polyphenols dive deep into the skin, putting up roadblocks around destructive enzymes that work against the skin’s “body-building” collagen and elastin. They protect your skin’s hydration by boosting hyaluronic acid and their anti-inflammatory activities improve microcirculation. So we’ve established that tea is your skin’s best friend, now we’ll spill the tea on which blends will help you!

Green Tea

A perfect accompaniment to sushi, green tea is grown mostly in Japan. Green tea leaves are harvested, withered and steamed so that they stay green and unoxidized. There is an abundance of good things for the skin in this type of tea, especially EGCG, a polyphonic compound that is a powerhouse for the skin. It is known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. It protects against the redness that UVB rays produce and is being studied for its role in healing wounds and lessening scarring. EGCG also has a remarkable ability to get inside the skin and stay there, mostly in the stratum corneum, where it actively moisturizes and smooths skin roughness and wrinkles.

Matcha Tea

Another Japanese export, matcha tea is green in color, but grown differently from regular green tea. About a month before harvesting, it is covered from direct sunlight to increase chlorophyll and amino acid levels. Intensely nourishing matcha tea powder is regenerative for tired, damaged skin that is low on oxygen. It also fights inflammation and protects skin from harmful free radicals.

White Tea

Young tea buds and leaves are harvested only once a year in early spring to make white teas like Bai Mu Dan (White Peony) and Yin Zhen Bai Hao (Silver Needle). The leaves and buds are minimally processed — not oxidized or rolled — which means that nothing has been bruised or twisted to damage cell walls and release the plant’s juices. As well as having strong anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, white tea extracts in skin care products are believed to boost hyaluronic acid action for a plumper, more hydrated-looking complexion.

Black Tea

Black tea, like pu’er from China’s Yunnan province, is the most oxidized of the teas because it is produced from leaves that are harvested, dried, rolled, ground and fermented. Black tea extracts are new to the skin care game and their tannins appear to protect skin from environmental damage as well as perform anti-bacterial, nourishing and hydrating functions. Other teas do that as well but black tea has one feature the others don’t: caffeine. Caffeine in skin creams stimulates microcirculation and helps reduce the look of puffiness under the eyes.

Kombucha

A by-product of black tea, kombucha is produced by fermenting black tea with sugar, yeast and bacteria. As a beverage, probiotic kombucha builds an ideal bacterial environment in the gut that aids digestion. And it can do something similar for your skin. According to dermatologist Dendy Engelman, MD, FACMS, FAAD, kombucha “… is excellent for balancing the skin’s microbiome by promoting a healthy ratio of good bacteria.” This is great if you are prone to acne or rosacea. Kombucha is also a natural exfoliant and antioxidant.

Darjeeling Tea 

Often referred to as the “Champagne of teas,” true Darjeeling is grown exclusively in select tea plantations at the foothills of the Himalayas spread across the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. It is said that this tea grows at the highest elevation of all teas and that it is the altitude that creates an ideal environment for the tea plant, giving these teas a unique flavor and aroma. The natural antioxidant properties found in Darjeeling tea can promote healthy skin, while the polyphenols are known to combat inflammation.

Pineapple Tea

One more tea that is making its name in the beauty world is pineapple tea! It is made by boiling pineapple rinds, which extracts an enzyme called bromelain that is very helpful for digestion, but also has exfoliating properties for the skin — which makes pineapple tea a rising beauty star on TikTok. Bromelain dissolves the proteins that bind together dead skin cells with minimal irritation for clear, radiant skin. If you’re looking for the benefits of bromelain, our Pineapple Refining Tonique is where you’ll find them.

Tea For Different Skin Types

Dry skin

Tea-infused products in your daily beauty routine can really up your skin’s game, and there seems to be a type of tea for every type of problem. Those with dry skin that is sensitive to pollution, cigarette smoke and the sun’s UVA and UVB rays should look to beauty products with extracts of hydrating green tea, white tea and oxygen-revitalizing matcha tea.

Oily Skin

Oily skin that is prone to acne will respond well to products with anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory extracts of matcha, kombucha or white tea that detox the skin. Or try green tea, which is known to reduce the production of sebum.

Mature Skin 

Mature skin can benefit most from how black tea can plump the look of skin and green tea retains moisture. White tea will also gently plump and reduce the appearance of fine lines. Any of these varieties will suit your skin to a “tea.”