EGCG from green tea: an essential anti-cellulite cream active

EGCG green tea extract for cellulite prevention and reduction

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• Why EGCG from green tea is one of the most important cellulite cream actives

• Cellulite creams with EGCG

• What about EGCG serums?

• Not all EGCG-containing creams are the same

• EGCG, caffeine and forskolin

• Check our professional consultancy for a masterclass in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Why EpiGalloCatechin Gallate (EGCG) is one of the most important cellulite cream actives

Green tea is widely researched for its:

• lipolytic

• skin firming

• microcirculation-boosting

• anti-inflammatory

• anti-glycation

• antifibrotic

• and antioxidant…

…action, i.e. green tea directly acts on all seven aspects of cellulite.

The health benefits of green tea are due to its polyphenol content, especially EGCG.

EGCG, or EpiGalloCatechin Gallate, is the most important active molecule in the green tea plant (camellia sinensis), and it is widely researched with literally thousands of studies.

Due to these qualities, EGCG (purified green tea extract) is one of the most important skincare actives today for:

• Anti-aging creams

• Skin healing / cicatrising creams

• Stretch mark creams

• Post-liposuction aftercare creams

• Cellulite creams

Cellulite creams with EGCG

As part of an anti-cellulite formulation containing other similar actives (e.g. centella asiatica / gotu kola, caffeine, forskolin etc), EGCG is an essential, all natural active ingredient in the fight against cellulite.

Always combine your cellulite cream with healthy nutrition and exercise, of course. There is no point applying a cellulite cream to reduce cellulite if you create new cellulite every day by eating unhealthily / not exercising.

And make sure you buy a cream containing a high concentration of high-purity EGCG and other actives, using it daily for several weeks, not just a few days and not from time to time.

What about EGCG serums?

Contrary to silly magazine/web articles, serums are way too diluted and too little in quantity to have any effect on cellulite.

Both high concentration and high quantity of product are needed for cellulite: you cannot possibly reduce cellulite with 5-10 drops (i.e. 0.25-0.5g) of diluted watery serum, when you need 10g per day or more for large areas such as thighs and buttocks).

Furthermore, in contrast to well formulated creams, serums are not absorbed deep into the skin. Due to their nature (i.e. lipophobic) they just sit on top of the epidermis.

So an EGCG serum may be just about OK for face use (not even that, really), but will not do anything when used on the body.

Not all EGCG-containing creams are the same

There are dozens of green tea extracts available, some containing 20-25% EGCG, some containing 40-50% and some containing up to 95%+ pure EGCG.

Obviously creams that contain a 95%+ purity EGCG extract will be vastly more beneficial than creams containing a 20-25% purity EGCG extract.

Furthermore, if a skincare product contains 0.5-3% EGCG, it will be much more beneficial than one containing 0.01-0.1% EGCG, which is the case with many skincare products, even if both creams have EGCG of the same purity.

Of course, there are skincare creams that only contain 0.1% of a 25% purity EGCG extract, just to fool the consumer with some ‘label decoration’, and these are obviously pointless (the vast majority of products on the market).

So whether you buy a green tea cream for anti-aging or cellulite reduction, do your research first, as you would need 100x 0.01% creams to have the same effect as an 1% cream, even it contains and EGCG extract of the same purity.

EGCG, caffeine and forskolin

As a lipolytic, EGCG works really well for topical fat / cellulite / water retention reduction when it is combined with caffeine, whose action it complements. Although this has been known for decades, very few creams combine those two ingredients and even fewer in meaningful concentrations.

Forskolin and EGCG, in turn, are ideal partners to caffeine. So, in an ideal world, all three actives should be included in anti-cellulite creams, for maximum results with lipolysis. Again, very few cellulite creams combine those ingredients and even fewer in meaningful concentrations.

Again, do your research and look for high concentrations of multiple high-purity actives, to ensure you apply on your skin a worthwhile product.

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