Your ultimate guide to plant-based skincare

Mother Nature has done the hard work for us, figuring out how to repair, rejuvenate and thrive in harsh environments. All that’s left for us to do is pack our regimens with her best offerings.

Beauty nerds will appreciate this: plant extracts are nothing new, but what scientists are figuring out is that when plants thrive in more natural environments, they deliver more powerful extracts. Using more parts of the plant, like adding stems and leaves to petal extracts, pays dividends too.

So while the ingredients may sound familiar, they’re actually able to do more. Traditionally, we’ve looked to plants for protection from the elements (hello, antioxidants) and to help skin calm down (oh hi, lavender).

Now plants are a go-to for skin-refining enzymes, natural alternatives to line-smoothers, and exciting new ways to energise exhausted cells.

We’re taking the fortitude, resilience and beauty we see in the natural world, and encouraging our complexions to take on these same characteristics. To follow, a no-fuss guide to the latest plant-powered formulas alongside tried-and-tested favourites we love.

1. Hunt & gather

Formulas made from mindfully farmed, hand-picked ingredients are growing in popularity. One of the A-Beauty leaders in this field is Jurlique, which grows a huge range of botanicals, including lavender, roses and chamomile, on a property in South Australia using biodynamic farming principals.

Among other things, this means ingredients grow in healthy soil with no chemical fertilisers, making the extracts more nutrient-dense and effective when they hit your skin. 

2. Pollution skin maths

Anti-pollution skincare is really just any formula with ingredients that counteract the degenerative damage that occurs when our skin is exposed to the environment and free radicals.

As you might expect, plants have built-in defence systems to avoid this kind of assault, and so are a great source of protection in skincare too. Here’s how to add muscle to your daytime skincare regimen with botanicals: 

Am serum: YSL Pure Shots Light Up Serum, $139 from Tangs

Prime: Grown Alchemist Anti-Pollution Primer, $53 from Tangs

Base: Chantecaille Just Skin Anti-Smog Tinted Moisturiser SPF 15, $130 from Lookfantastic

3. Wash yourself

Packed with earthly delights, these nourishing cleansers work double-duty with healthy ingredients that set up your skin for the next step

1. Youth To The People Superfood Cleanser, $27.52. Cleans and cares for skin with cold-pressed antioxidants extracted from kale, spinach and green tea. 

2. Tatcha One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil, $69. An editor favourite that’s packed with skin regenerating botanicals including green tea, rice and algae.

3. Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Enzyme Cleansing Balm, $49. This balm-to-milk oil has calming papaya enzymes to gently resurface skin and papaya oil to soften.

4. Just add - fruit enzymes

Papaya, pineapple and pomegranate are more than just a party in your mouth. They are also high in acids, giving them serious glow-y skin credentials. When slathered on, they gently break down the keratin proteins in dead cells so they fall away.

This action is so gentle that the enzymes are also often added to granular formulas so skin can benefit from both chemical and manual smoothing. They can also be paired with brightening and anti-inflammatory ingredients to help skin look lit-from-within.

1. Aspect Fruit Enzyme Mask, AU$62

2 KORA Organics Turmeric Brightening & Exfoliating Mask, $68

5. Glow you good thing

One of our favourite ways to faux glow is slathering on this serum-with-benefits from celebrity spray tanner Jules Von Hep. I

n the blend: Hyaluronic acid to boost the moisture in your skin, avocado, coconut and chia seed oil to nourish, and just enough DHA (the ingredient that tans skin) to deliver a daily dose of glow. 

Isle Of Paradise Face Hyglo Self-Tan Serum, $40 on Lookfantastic

6. Calm down, already

When your skin is prone to redness or sensitivity, your regimen needs ingredients that will tackle inflammation and help your barrier recover. Botanicals are especially good at this because plants survive harsh conditions and have nutrients that also promote resilient qualities in skin.

“Chamomile is one of my most-loved skin calmers,” says Sarah Brown, founder of Pai Skincare. “In its purest form — an extract, not essential oil — it’s bursting with matricin and chamazulene, which settle irritation.” Another super-calmer is rosehip oil. “It has magical powers,” says Brown. “It’s packed full of omegas and beta carotene, which makes it a highly regenerative multi-tasker, treating everything from dryness to sun damage.”

Some other Zen masters: hemp seed oil in The Body Shop’s mask is rich in fatty acids, which hydrate and heal inflamed skin.

Garnier’s night cream has jojoba, argan and lavandin essential oils to soothe skin while you sleep, and Ere Perez’s booster serum has the desert fruit quandong to coax caIm skin into being more resilient. 

1. Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum, $40.22

2 PAI Light Work Rosehip Cleansing Oil, $72

7. Ingredient watch - algae

Algae is having a moment. “It’s such an interesting ingredient because it lives on coastal wetlands, which are mud patches created by the tide,” says Brown.

“Its habitat means that it has to protect itself from dehydration and sun exposure — properties it then transposes when applied topically to your skin.”

Benefits include hydration, softening and detoxification.

SUKIN Rehydrating Gel Cream, $16.50

ALSO READ: 5 animal cruelty-free skincare brands you should support

8. Try this - botanical + hi-tech facial

Blending modern tools with clean formulas and ancient techniques like cupping, Onda Beauty’s Signature Facial (available in New York, London and Sydney) is the ultimate plant-powered skin treat. Here’s how it works: skin is double-cleansed, then dead cells are removed with an enzyme scrub and a zingy mask. A vibrating tool then clears pores.

To boost radiance further, skin is treated to 20 minutes of light therapy under the Omnilux machine, a nutrient-rich algae mask infused with high-pressurised oxygen and a firm massage.

There’s also cupping to really make skin glow. Can’t make it to the salon? Visit ondabeauty.com.au for clean, plant formulas.

Vintner’s Daughter Active Treatment Essence, $326

9. Bug life

Our skin’s microbiome is comprised of more than one trillion bacteria, whose day job is to fight infection, ward off damage and boost immunity. In fact, if your face is dry or sensitive, your microbiome is likely compromised.

Fortunately, probiotics can increase the supply of bacteria, while prebiotics can help them thrive. 

10. Line fighters

Retinol is considered the gold standard for line smoothing, but it doesn’t suit everyone. As many discover, it can be irritating for sensitive skin. Enter plant-based bakuchiol, a gentle alternative. “It’s proven to work in the same way as retinol, without the dryness and sun sensitivity,” says Nedahl Stelio, founder of Recreation Beauty, noting that it can also be used by pregnant women.

Another extract with the potential to rival retinol comes from the immortelle flower and can be found in L’Occitane.

L’OCCITANE Immortelle Divine Serum, $180

11. Dark spot solver

The cult formula is packed with extracts of lemon, liquorice, chamomile and sandalwood that get to work calming skin, while glycolic and lactic acids help fade pigmentation.

Ole Henriksen Glow2OH Dark Spot Toner, $44

12. Do this - the investment skin reset

While it can feel as though we’re constantly in need of a recharge, it turns out that’s actually the case for skin when it wrinkles and sags.

Nobel Prize-winning research has shown that when the teeny batteries (mitochondria) that supply cells with the energy to regenerate power down, cells are able to renew faulty parts. But as we age, that no longer happens and they suffer damage.

Sisleÿa scientists took inspiration from this research for their latest formula.

In the brand’s four-week program, ingredients including ginkgo biloba and peony have been shown to detox the cell of damaged parts and boost repair, while protecting healthy ones, all of which smooths lines and dials up radiance.

SISLEŸA L’Intêgral Anti-Âge La Cure, $1,350

13. Enrich your hair - great locks

These days, the best-performing haircare is packed with the kind of plant extracts we’re used to seeing in skincare.

Consider adding a vitamin-packed scrub that detoxes your scalp while sloughing away flakes, lipid-rich masks for stressed hair, everyday wash formulas with oat protein and green tea to boost moisture retention, and styling sprays packed with antioxidants to protect while they refresh second-day hair. 

John Frieda Detox & Repair Masque, $19.90

ALSO READ: Plant-based oils: The products to use for your face, hair & body

This article was first published in The Singapore Women's Weekly.