Rooibos tea is a “hot” new ingredient in the natural cosmetic industry. Traditionally used as beverage in South Africa for thousands of years, the name rooibos means “red bush,” a word given by the Dutch Afrikaaners to the plant, because its leaves turn a reddish color upon drying and fermentation. Rooibos tea has been marketed in the United States since the early 1960s. Both fermented rooibos tea and the unfermented version, green rooibos tea, are primarily sold as a health drink. However, they are also used as a raw material in the cosmetic industry. Traditionally, rooibos tea is fermented after harvesting, which gives the unique color and aroma to the tea. Green rooibos is steamed or heated to prevent oxidation and then rolled and dried. Thus, green rooibos has 100 times more antioxidants and 10 times more aspalathin, with anti-allergy properties, than regular fermented rooibos. The rooibos plant has a unique combination of anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-allergic and anti-bacterial properties. Its anti-allergic properties allow people of all ages to use it, from the elderly to newborn babies. Its effects have been shown to successfully treat sensitive, dry and problem skin types, and heal common skin ailments such as acne, allergies, eczema and sunburn. Rooibos tea contains polyphenol antioxidants, including flavonoids and phenolic acids that are potent-free radical scavengers. Rooibos contains nine flavonoids that are responsible for most of its health benefits. Two of these are quercetin and luteolin. C hrysoeriol (luteolin 3'-methyl ether) is another flavonoid found in the tea and is known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-microbial and anti-viral properties. These potent antioxidants have been said to cause cancer cells to "commit suicide" (apoptosis). Rooibos is the only natural source of the unique polyphenol aspalathin, which is known for its anti-allergic properties. Studies indicate the tea can protect against damage to all major components of cellular proteins, fats and DNA, and enhance the activity of certain important carcinogen-detoxifying enzymes in the liver. Rooibos tea may also play a vital role in the battle against skin cancer. In vitro and in vivo animal and human studies suggest green tea polyphenols are photoprotective in nature and can be used as pharmacological agents for the prevention of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) light-induced skin disorders including photo-aging, melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers after more clinical trials in humans. There are several companies from South Africa selling rooibos tea skin care products on the Internet, and its only a matter of times before the big U.S. skincare companies discover its great cosmeceutical potential.
Evodia fruit is the small, reddish fruit of the plant Evodia rutaecarpa. This plant is native to northern China and Korea, although it is cultivated as a 30-ft. tall deciduous ornamental tree in other places around the world. The fruit, which is the part of the plant used in healing, is reddish when it appears in August and darkens to black by November. Evodia fruit has been used since at least the first century A.D. in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Taken internally, Evodia fruit is used to treat symptoms of abdominal distress and is also used as a painkiller. Various healers report the fruit also has anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-viral, astringent and diuretic properties.
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