Best Plants for Skin Health

The switch to natural, plant-based skincare can be overwhelming, with so many plant botanicals, extracts, and oils making it can be hard to figure out which ones are best for your skin.  

That’s why we want to share our top 10 plants for skin health and tell you how to get the best out of them in your daily skincare routine. 

1. Olive Oil

Organic extra virgin olive oil is at the foundation of many popular skincare products.

Olive oil is rich in essential fatty acids, vitamin E, nutrients, and phytocompounds, making it a skincare powerhouse. It hydrates deeply, acting as both a humectant and emollient to soften and moisturize the skin. 

The fatty acid profile helps restore the skin barrier, while antioxidants protect skin from oxidative stress.

2. Anchusa Azurea

Anchusa Azurea are wild-grown blue flowers that are clinically proven to block free radical damage by 100%. Used for centuries for medicinal purposes, this flower has the highest level of antioxidants of any wild, edible Mediterranean plant.  

Some even refer to it as a miracle plant, since this flower also contains vitamins C, B, and E, furthering its ability to help support skin health and radiance while adding the protection of antioxidants against external stressors.

3. Bakuchiol

Known as nature’s retinol, this plant delivers the same anti-aging properties as retinol but without any harsh, irritating side effects. 

Bakuchiol works by stimulating collagen production, which naturally declines with age. As we age, we lose about 1% of our collagen each year, but this plant interacts with the skin to help promote collagen synthesis. 

In addition, bakuchiol helps encourage a faster cell turnover rate. Cell regeneration begins to decline as we age, which means our skin doesn’t renew as quickly as it did when we were younger. New, healthy skin appears more youthful and radiant. Bakuchiol works to kickstart cell turnover and increase the rate at which your skin renews. 

Because your skin does most of its healing and restorative work at night, you might want to use night creams and serums that contain Bakuchiol.

4. Hawthorn

Loaded with vitamin C, hawthorn is an excellent skin brightener, helping to fade the look of hyperpigmentation and restore an even skin tone. 

Hawthorn’s skin beneficial properties also include visible skin tightening and lifting. 

5. Lilac Stem Cells

The power of lilac in its purest form, an extraction method called Enfleurage, allows the removal of a highly concentrated amount of lilac stem cells from organically grown plants. Known to contain verbascoside, a compound known to reduce the appearance of dark circles under the eyes, it also helps restore delicate eye skin more susceptible to developing fine lines and wrinkles. 

By helping tighten and restore the skin, lilac stem oil can help transform the skin under your eyes, reducing puffiness, fading dark circles, and smoothing over fine lines and wrinkles. 

6. Spirulina

Spirulina is a powerful skincare ingredient that is often added to health products to provide optimum gut health. This potent plant helps keep the skin barrier healthy by ensuring the skin's pH level is normal. 

Products and environmental stressors can sometimes interfere with your skin barrier’s pH balance. This can weaken the skin barrier and cause it to lose some of its function. In response, your skin may become dry, irritated, and show signs of aging. 

Spirulina helps ensure the microflora living on the skin are healthy and active, and provides the power of phycocyanin, an antioxidant that protects skin.

7. Asparagus

Asparagus contains numerous vitamins, like A, B9, C, E, and K, which help protect skin with antioxidants and keep skin hydrated. 

Packed with emollients, it improves skin’s overall texture when used daily by smoothing over rough patches and correcting areas of dryness.

8. Wild Lamb’s Quarter

Nature’s great equalizing agent, this plant is known to help restablish balance in your skin. If you have combination skin, lamb’s quarter helps absorb excess oil in oily areas and support hydration in dry areas. 

Working with your skin’s sebaceous glands, wild lamb’s quarter helps bring your skin back to homeostasis, ensuring all areas are properly hydrated without being greasy.

9.  Olive Leaf Water

Making use of olive leaves when harvesting olives can promote a fully sustainable extraction process that involves zero waste. An olive tree's highly potent leaves, when infused in water-based products, can create botanical water that nourishes and deeply hydrates. 

Loaded with important phytochemicals, olive leaf extract has been known to reduce irritation and alleviate stressed skin by minimizing the appearance of redness, hydrating dry areas, and helping cleanse the skin of dirt and excess oil. 

This mixture is often found in skincare products working as a cleanser, toner, or essence to gently removes impurities and keep pores tight without stripping skin of its natural moisture or leaving it raw and irritated. 

10. Chicory

Used for health benefits and as an alternative to coffee in New Orleans, Chicory is known for being highly potent and effective in providing skin-loving benefits. Rich in antioxidants, vitamins, peptides, and beta carotene, chicory restores skin elasticity and visibly lifts and conditions the skin.