Botanicals for the 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
Evidence Check
Oat
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.
Evidence Check
Tea tree
Laboratory work and small clinical trials support tea tree oil’s antibacterial and antifungal activity, and a recent meta-analysis found topical tea tree reduced acne severity; reviews and formulation studies also warn of local irritation and stability problems. Current evidence is useful but limited, and safety concerns in topical use are repeatedly raised.
Evidence Check
Rosehip
A randomized, double-blind pregnancy trial found fewer new stretch marks in people who used a cream that included rosehip oil — but the product also contained several other actives, and the benefit was preventive rather than restorative.
Evidence Check
Aloe
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.