Using Botanicals to Enhance Your Natural Beauty

For many years now, consumers have peddled that the best way to look after your skin and hair is to purchase the most popular brands containing chemicals that are unpronounceable yet, magically, the exact thing you need to look your best. And, with many of us being moms with busy lifestyles and not much time to dedicate to research, it’s easier to accept these claims and follow the status quo when purchasing such items.

With the clean, sustainable, eco market widening and more of a focus on natural products, however, there has been a veritable boom in the botanical world. Also partly inspired by the gardening trend that has exploded amongst women, we’re becoming more aware as consumers of the different ways that the things we grow and extract from nature can benefit us, either by direct application, immersion, or consumption.

Many of us would instead find products these days that enhance, rather than alter, our natural beauty and that can aid our physical and mental wellbeing while caring for the earth. Below, we’ve gathered information together to help you identify the best products and natural resources for your skin and hair and explain how plants, herbs, and spices that you can find at home can benefit both you and the world!

Botanicals for Your Natural Beauty

Herbs and Spices

Often, some of the best ingredients out there to naturally improve and enhance your visage are sitting pretty in your yard or your windowsill herb collection. Whether you choose to use the just-picked versions directly on your skin or extracts and oils of these items, they have many benefits that you will identify for yourself over time.

Herbs and spices that have proven effective, as well as popular, in self-care include the following:

• Chamomile – reduces the appearance of dark spots, leaving skin radiant(1)
• Cinnamon – helps prevent bacteria on the skin, reducing acne
• Thyme – is used in hair products, improves blood flow to the scalp, and stimulates growth
• Turmeric – calms skin irritation/flushes due to anti-inflammatory and healing properties(2)
• Calendula – in a face or body mask, it can repair dry skin and help fungal skin infections
• Rose petals – help to lock in moisture and soothe skin
• Basil – antioxidants, and nutrients help clear skin and aid hair growth(3)
• Witch hazel – astringent properties help reduce scar appearance, redness, and speed healing
• Mint – helps to cleanse and tighten skin while limiting oil production
• Lavender – aids eczema and other skin conditions while reducing inflammation
• Aloe vera – an anti-inflammatory that helps skin remain hydrated and calm
• Rosehip – improves the overall texture of the skin
• Grapeseed – provides antioxidants that lead to the production of collagen and elastin in the skin
• Black cumin – heightens skin radiance and tightens through antioxidants
• Sea buckthorn – a source of vitamin C, which aids healing
• Jojoba – helps to enhance skin barrier repair
• Green tea – fights free radicals and has anti-inflammatory properties

For those with sensitive skin, rather than apply the above botanicals directly onto your skin, it’s best to test a patch first, as well as research the best form of application.

Read: Healthy Skin Tips

Best Luxury Brands

The increase in popularity of botanicals has infused the high-end toiletry and beauty brands, who have tapped into the various uses these natural resources have. Tata Harper is one such company, boasting credentials as an organic and luxury skincare brand that provides a variety of products containing a whole host of raw ingredients to celebrate natural beauty. Tata Harper is an example of luxury self-care essentials that can benefit both you and the world!

Other notable brands include ESPA, whose Yuzu and Ginger Cleansing Sorbet both smells great and enriches the skin; iNLight and their super-food mask, which is both detoxifying and repairs skin; Natura Blissé, whose turmeric-infused, citrus-scented cream aids the skin’s natural defenses; and Lunar Nectar’s Moon Boost, which contains aloe vera, bamboo, red clover, and horsetail to boost your eyelash and eyebrow health.

Read: Do’s and Don’t Acne Care

Sustainable and Natural

One feature of botanicals that makes them so desirable is the fact that they haven’t been synthesized in a lab; they come from nature and have been extracted via eco-friendly methods (well, most of the time – do your research!). This means that the buzz surrounding them is caused by the fact that they are sustainable and natural ingredients that we feel, as a collective, we can trust.

In an age when we’re all being forced to confront our consumption of resources and the way we personally contribute to climate damage, the sustainability factor has never been more important. It makes sense, then, that many brands – big and small – are working to produce items that are friendly to our skin and hair, as well as to the earth itself!

Whether you’re looking for the perfect anti-ageing cream, a cure for dry, eczema-prone skin, or anti-oxidants that reduce acne and inflammation, there’s a botanical out there for you. You can either create your bath oil, face spray, or hair/skin mask or rely on brands whose products have been both tried and tested, adding a little luxury to your life!

Skincare professionals are all abuzz for botanicals!