Botanicals have long been used in beauty and skin care formulations and products. This is because they are indeed efficacious ingredients when used in proper doses and prepared correctly. There are beauty brands which throw them in on occasion for their own marketing purposes as opposed to their efficacy; but there are many brands who indeed use them correctly, medicinally and pharmacodynamically in order to access their many properties and skin rejuvenating benefits.

Skin care botanicals (for topical use) are easiest to understand when they are characterized categorically. These categories include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and soothing type botanical additives. The properties and benefits of these herbal ingredient categories are dependent upon the plant type source and the conditions in which they were grown, the method in which they were prepared, the type and status of the extract (liquid, powder, syrup, paste, or crystal) and the concentration (whether it is sufficient enough to produce a biologic or therapeutic effect).

•    Antioxidant categories consist of additives such as soy and curcumin
•    Anti-inflammatory types are often derived from green tea and gingko biloba
•    Soothing Agent types are botanicals such as aloe vera, allantoin and prickly pear

Here are some useful botanicals and excellent products that use them (and each of the above categories) for a number of skin indications:

Acne: ARCONA Raspberry Acne Bar
Primary ingredient(s): Witch Hazel, Green tea and Aloe; Primary category: Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Soothing
 
Dark eye circles: Caudalie Premier Cru The Eye Cream
Primary ingredient(s): Grape seed oil (Vitus vinifera); Primary category: Anti-oxidant

Sensitive skin: Pevonia RS2 Care Cream
Primary ingredient(s): Green Tea and Chamomile; Primary category: Anti-inflammatory, Skin Soothing and Antibacterial

Hair loss/thinning: Phyto Phytocyane Revitalizing Serum
Primary ingredient(s): Gingko Biloba; Primary category: Anti-inflammatory