Question: Which is the better antioxidant - Vitamin C or green tea?
Answer:
Vitamin C and green tea are both antioxidants for the skin that fight free radicals to prevent the signs of aging.
How effective they will be for your skin will depend on how your skin reacts to the actives and how they are formulated in specific products.
The differences between Vitamin C and green tea are pointed out below:
- Vitamin C has more scientific evidence to back up its skin benefit claims than green tea.
- Most green tea serums don’t have enough active ingredient to benefit the skin. Vitamin C treatments, on the other hand, are available with different concentrations of vitamin C in the product.
- Vitamin C can be irritating for some people, causing redness and stinging. Green tea is pretty well-tolerated by most people.
- Do-it-yourself green tea products are not effective. The green tea isn’t in the right form so your skin won’t even be able to absorb it. DIY C serums are effective but may be unstable and oxidize.
- Products with green tea are less expensive than Vitamin C serums.
On the whole, even though they are both antioxidants, vitamin C seems to have the upper hand. Vitamin C is more high-risk (irritation and cost-wise), high-reward thank green tea.
Last updated: September 27, 2012
FAQ: How do I know if my vitamin C serum has gone bad?
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