Exploring Yerba Mate Benefits for Skin

As with the other products in our Puristry line, we chose to focus on one powerful, effective ingredient to make this luxurious eye cream perform at its highest potential. That magical ingredient is a plant that lives in the holly family: yerba mate. Yerba mate benefits go far for your health and skin. We’re diving deep into what makes this little plant so powerful, and discussing why we chose to center our Puristry Yerba Mate Eye Cream around this star ingredient. We’re also providing you a step-by-step process to brewing your own cup of yerba mate tea at home.

Yerba Mate Benefits for Skin

Too many times have we woken up in the morning, looked in the mirror and found that we look like we didn’t get a wink of sleep. Dark under eyes and puffiness are often caused by lack of circulation under the eyes. The naturally occurring caffeine found in yerba mate gives our Yerba Mate Eye Cream a boost to help stimulate circulation, which can reduce appearance of darkness and puffiness under the eyes. We all know that caffeine is a necessity for morning perkiness, and it’s also perfect for a much needed eye pick-me-up. An added bonus is the antioxidant content of yerba mate, which helps to reduce and prevent the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improve firmness and elasticity, and add moisture to the delicate under eye area. Read more about why antioxidants are so essential to skin care.

There are many reasons why you need an eye cream. Did you know that the pore size of under eye skin is much smaller than the pore size of the rest of the skin on your face? That being said, we formulate our eye cream with a much smaller molecule size than our typical moisturizers, making it able to absorb into the skin of the under eye area. Regular moisturizers have larger molecules, so they won’t be absorbed as easily if applied to the under eye area.

The History of Enjoying Yerba Mate Benefits

Yerba mate has a rich history across many South American countries, and has been spread across the globe. Did you know:

• Yerba mate has been used and consumed for centuries, dating back to before North America was even discovered by modern explorers.

• Although it’s commonly referred to as a tea leaf, yerba mate is actually an infusion created from the leaves and twigs of the Ilex paraguariensis plant.

• In the 17th century, yerba mate was commonly traded, resulting in widespread consumption across South America.

• It was referred to as “the green liquid gold of South America.”

• The plant is grown in Paraguay, Argentina, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile.

• The custom for drinking yerba mate in South America is to serve it ‘loose leaf’ in a gourd. Then it is sipped through a metal straw called a bombilla that filters the loose leaves from the tea. Often times a wooden cup is used instead of a gourd.

• Drinking yerba mate with friends is considered to be a social activity, and is even said to strengthen bonds when shared between two people.

• Often times the gourds or wooden cups are passed down through generations, like an heirloom. If you purchase a new cup, it has to be “cured” before you drink your mate out of it.

• Native people in South America used it to aid in inflammation and rheumatism.

Health Benefits of Yerba Mate

You can enjoy the health benefits of yerba mate either by drinking yerba mate tea or applying a Yerba Mate Eye Cream. Yerba mate benefits your internal health when consumed, as well as when applied topically. Here are a few of the dozens of vitamins and nutrients found in yerba mate:

Vitamin A: Encourages healthy skin cell production and stimulates cells that make skin more firm.

Vitamin B1: Powerful antioxidant that aids in protecting the body from signs of aging like wrinkles, age spots, and other age-related conditions that regularly affect the organ systems.

Vitamin C: Boosts collagen production, and helps to diminish skin damage caused by sun exposure.

Polyphenols: Promotes cellular regeneration, and contains antioxidant properties.

Chlorophyll: Helps protect skin from the sun (not to replace sunscreen of course) and aid in clearing of blemishes and skin healing.

Fatty Acids: Can help reduce signs of aging and regulate oil production.

Saponins: The saponins in yerba mate help moderate appetite, thus aiding in weight loss while boosting your immune system.

Theobromine and Theophylline: Offer diuretic, stimulant, and relaxant effects.

Vitamin B2: Helps to prevent many common conditions like migraines, cataracts, acne, dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and eczema. Plays an important role in the repair of tissue, the healing of wounds, and other injuries that would normally take a long time to fully recover.

How to Enjoy Yerba Mate Tea Benefits

Interested in making your own cup of yerba mate to harness some of its wondrous benefits? Here’s how to prepare yerba mate tea at home, and enjoy its rich nutrient content.

1. For a true, traditional cup of yerba mate, you’ll need to start with a gourd or wooden cup, as well as a metal drinking straw called a Bombilla. We recommend using these traditional drinking vessels because they add an earthy flavor that enhances the taste of yerba mate. You can find a gourd or wooden cup online, or at your local specialty foods store. But if you’d rather try it without the special cup, just skip forward to step 4.

2. Before being used, your mate cup needs to be cured. One way to do this is to add the yerba mate, add the water, and then let the cup sit for a day. This can be repeated for a few days with a fresh batch of mate each day. Some even put their cup in the sun to intensify the curing process. The idea behind this step is to help the cup enhance the mate flavor every time you use it.

3. Once your cup is cured, you are ready to prepare your first yerba mate beverage.

4. Add the yerba mate to the bottom of the cup, filling about half way.

5. Place your hand over the top of the cup to cover it, then gently shake the dry mate. This will separate the leaves from any natural sediment, as the leaves shift to the top of the cup and prevent clogging of your Bombilla.

6. Add just enough water to moisten the mate. After about thirty seconds insert your Bombilla. Then add hot water to fill the rest of the cup.

7. Time to drink your cup of yerba mate -- it’s even better if you share with a friend! Here are some tips on how to use a bombilla.

If you don’t have the supplies for the brewing method above, you can also prepare the mate in a french press, purchase it in tea bags, or use a loose-leaf tea strainer. Leave the mate to steep for about 3 minutes. To get a stronger flavor, steep for five minutes. Our recommended method? Apply Puristry Yerba Mate Eye Cream while the tea steeps, then sip while you brighten and moisturize your under eyes.