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Botanicals for the body

Body

Butters, oils and soothing plants for everything below the chin: dry skin, stretch marks, rough patches, hands and the bath.

8 articles · 8 botanicals

Body · Dry skin

  1. Evidence Check

    • Skin
    • Body

    Oat

    Oat and colloidal oatmeal: the botanical dermatologists actually recommend

    Colloidal oatmeal is one of the few botanicals with randomized trials and mechanistic lab work supporting its use for dry, itchy and eczema-prone skin. The strongest evidence is for formulated topical products containing colloidal oat or its extracts; many studies test finished products or combination formulas rather than isolated oat constituents.

    3 min read

  2. Origins

    • Skin
    • Body

    Calendula

    Calendula: the marigold in your diaper cream, examined

    Calendula officinalis (pot marigold) has long been used on wounds and rashes. Recent laboratory and animal work is extensive; human trials are small and formulation-dependent, so clinical conclusions are tentative.

    4 min read

  3. Myth Busting

    • Body

    Body care

    Body oil vs. lotion: which works better on damp skin

    Oils don’t add water; they mainly block water loss. Moisturizers that work combine water-adding humectants with emollients and an occlusive. Clinical studies repeatedly show emollient-containing lotions or creams help dry or eczematous skin, but direct trials pitting a plain oil against a lotion applied to damp skin are sparse in this set of abstracts.

    4 min read

  4. Index Explainer

    • Body

    Sweet almond

    Sweet almond oil for massage and dry skin

    Sweet almond oil is a light, commonly used carrier oil for massage whose cosmetic claims are modest and supported mainly by small human trials, formulation studies and narrative reviews. The evidence shows modest increases in skin hydration and benefits when almond oil is part of emollient products, but few studies test sweet almond oil on its own for body dryness or stretch marks.

    4 min read

  5. Index Explainer

    • Skin
    • Body

    Shea

    Shea butter: why it works for dry skin

    Shea butter works mainly as an occlusive lipid-rich butter with some minor bioactive components; clinical studies in babies and children and several small trials of mixed creams support its role as an effective emollient, but many trials test blends rather than shea alone.

    4 min read

  6. Evidence Check

    • Skin
    • Body

    Aloe

    Aloe vera: what the evidence says beyond sunburn

    Aloe vera has more controlled human trials than many botanicals, but the strongest, most consistent signals are in wound‑care and post‑surgical healing rather than glamorous skin fixes. Much of the recent work is engineering (dressings, gels, vesicles) or preclinical; the human trials that exist are small and context‑specific.

    5 min read