Why This Powerful Green Tea-Infused Line Is Unlike Anything You’ve Seen In Skin-Care

While you might know it best as a refreshing bev, green tea is a wonder ingredient for skin. Not only does it have serious credibility for its antioxidant properties—which allow it to protect from external aggressors and protect in one fell swoop—it’s also a hydrating agent, which allows it to improve the moisture barrier of stressed-out skin and keep it looking healthy and happy.

But not all green tea is created equal. The extraction process can impact those impressive benefits, as can the type of green tea used. That’s why K-beauty brand Innisfree is at the top of its game. They’ve infused the entire Intensive Hydrating Green Tea Seed collection with the most powerful form of the ingredient (which, by the way, they’ve been cultivating and infusing in their skin-care products for more than 20 years). I can attest that you can actually feel the difference. More on that below but read on to learn what makes this specialized form of green tea so powerful—and incredible for skin.

It’s A Perfect Pairing For Healthy Looking Skin

Applied to skin, Innisfree’s Beauty Green Tea is a nutrient powerhouse, rich in antioxidants as well as amino acids that help hydrate. To max out those benefits, start with their Intensive Hydrating Serum with Green Tea Seed, a lightweight serum further bolstered with humectant hyaluronic acid, which adds extra hydrating abilities. (FYI: One bottle of the serum is sold every 15 seconds*...if that’s not proof of a winner, we’re not sure what is.)

Seal it with the Intensive Hydrating Cream with Green Tea Seed, a lightweight moisturizer that features a blend of green tea extract and seed oil. The two work together to replenish skin with a one-two punch of hydration—both immediately and over time—to help with dryness, fortify the skin’s moisture barrier, and visibly improve skin’s texture.

They Feel Like a Dream

The key to getting the best results from a skincare product? Sticking with it. And nothing makes that easier than actually enjoying the application. Unlike greasy, often bracingly smelly serums, I found Innisfree’s Intensive Hydrating Serum with Green Tea Seed to be almost water-like in its consistency—a huge plus for me, a person with naturally oily skin. I also loved the light, fresh scent.

The same went for the Intensive Hydrating Cream with Green Tea Seed, which felt more like a gel-cream in its texture and was surprisingly quick to absorb. I don’t typically use a dedicated moisturizer in the warmer months (a hydrating serum usually does the trick) but this was super-sheer—and even upon the first application, my skin drank it up.

The Green Tea Is Unlike Any Other

Green tea contains multitudes—in other words, there are thousands of different varieties, from the genmaicha at your local coffeeshop to others brimming with antioxidants. To make sure they found the best possible green tea for a beauty product, the team at Innisfree studied over 3,000 types to find the variety that was potent and efficacious when applied topically to skin.

Not only that, but Innisfree’s specific green tea is also grown in USDA-organic fields on Jeju Island, which is known for its lush, fertile soil, thanks to its origins as a volcanic island. Because of that, the leaves of this particular green tea are packed with amino acids, offer unmatched antioxidant protection, and can help deeply hydrate skin when processed correctly. Speaking of which...

The Extraction Process Is Essential

Good extraction methods can help preserve both the purity and potency of the ingredients that land in your skincare products—which in turn translate to the best possible results. That’s why, once the tea leaves are picked (by hand!), they undergo a comprehensive extraction process, also known as a “double squeeze method.”

It starts with a quick, 30-second steam (which helps them retain nutrients); after that, they’re pressed and then squeezed twice, eking out hydrating agents as well as antioxidants. Finally, the extract is both stabilized and purified. That ensures that the green tea extract is as fresh as possible—not to mention potent—by the time you massage it into your skin.

The Price Point Is Beyond Reasonable

While the green tea within Innisfree’s products seems like magic, it also sounds expensive. You may be shocked to know that’s not the case. In fact, the brand strives to be available to everyone, whatever their budget. With that in mind, you can snag their Intensive Hydrating Serum with Green Tea Seed for $28 and the Intensive Hydrating Cream with Green Tea Seed for $24, both at Sephora. It’s proof of the brand’s commitment to accessibility, so that anyone who wants it can reap the (many) benefits of green tea for skin. After all, everyone deserves healthy, hydrated glow—and with this duo, it’s possible.

*Based on total sales quantity in 17 countries including the U.S. from Jan.1 to Dec.31, 2021