Lychees and Longans

Are lychees and longans the new "it" ingredients for skin care? Last week, when I was in Hong Kong, I slurped this juice blended from lychees and some other fruits at an herbal tea stand hidden underground in the Central MRT station. Dubbed Skin Deep, the elixir promised to control sebum production. Two days ago, in Los Angeles, I sampled a longan beverage from Borba, a Beverly Hills, Calif., start-up that claims its concoction of longan extract, vitamin B12 and green tea extract can reduce redness in the skin up to 61%. The Borba drink tasted like watered-down Gatorade. Even if the clinical research it touted was accurate, I didn't like the flavor very much. The Skin Deep juice from Hong Kong, on the other hand, was very yummy. I didn't care whether it helped my complexion. The only thing that could help my skin in Hong Kong was to stay indoors, where the Hong Kong haze and humidity couldn't wreak havoc on my pores.

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