One month it's green tea, the next it's pomegranate. "New" ingredients, the same ones that peoploe have been using on their skin for centuries, are revolutionizing the skin care industry. But venerated as they may be, they may not be the solution to all your skin care woes. It's not that natural ingredients don't work—in fact, plant ingredients can be more effective than the synthetics we've all become used to. It's that they don't all do the same thing. To help choose the right moisturizer for you, we've put together a guide explaining just what these plant-based ingredients do for your skin.

Jojoba Oil: Anti-blemish and Anti-aging

Jojoba oil is a skin softener that behaves almost the same way as the oil your skin produces naturally, balancing oil levels and preventing moisture loss. It’s ideal for mature skin, which generates less moisture with age. If breakouts happen only occasionally, the mild antibacterial properties in jojoba oil can help prevent the few blemishes you do get.

GG Product Picks

Nurture My Body Regenerating Creme ($22.11/1.75 oz. www.nurturemybody.com)

Weleda Men's Facial Moisturizer ($15/1 oz.; www.weleda.com)

Balm Balm Face Balm ($12/30 mL; www.balmbalm.com)

Green Tea: Anti-blemish, Anti-inflammatory, and Anti-aging

Green tea is full of antioxidants—those wonder nutrients that battle the free radicals produced by cells in our bodies when they use oxygen. Free radicals cause damage that can lead to heart disease, diabetes and cancer. A 2001 study published in the Journal of Carcinogenesis found that topically applying green tea limited UVinduced damage to the skin. Green tea is also an anti-inflammatory that can relieve acne, redness and rashes, which are common with sensitive skin.

GG Product Picks

Humphreys Organic Botanicals Oil-Controlling Daily Moisturizer ($7.30/2 oz. www.humphreysusa.com)

Mod Skin Labs Weightless Lotion Oriental Green Tea & Peru Balsam ($46/3.4 oz.; www.modskinlabs.com)

Argan Oil: Deep Moisturizer, Anti-blemish, Anti-inflammatory, and Anti-aging

Extracted from the nuts of Morocco’s argan trees, which grow on the edge of the Sahara, argan oil is high in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. Although its effectiveness has not yet been scientifically proven, Moroccan women use this “liquid gold,” as it is commonly called, to treat a multitude of skin ailments, including acne, dry skin, psoriasis, eczema and wrinkles. Today, the tree faces extinction. To preserve the threatened species, a Moroccan professor and an international aid group established all-women cooperatives to extract the oil, providing an economic incentive for preservation of the tree and a much needed income to rural women.

GG Product Picks

Argan Body Organic Argan Oil ($50/50 mL www.arganbody.com)

Shea Butter: Deep Moisturizer, Anti-inflammatory, and Anti-aging

Another African import, shea butter comes from the karite tree in the tropical regions of West Africa. Full of essential fatty acids, shea butter is a potent moisturizer and provides relief from itching, sunburn, eczema and allergies and can diminish wrinkles. Though shea butter doesn’t clog pores, raw shea butter creams are very thick and too heavy for oilier skin, says Dr. Leslie Baumann, author of The Skin Type Solution. Look for products containing fairly traded shea butter, like the ones below.

GG Product Picks

Alaffia Rooibos & Shea Butter Antioxidant Face Cream ($14/2.3 oz. www.alaffia.com)

Evan Healy Shea Butter Face and Body Cream with Olive Leaf ($26.95/1.9 oz.; www.evanhealy.com)

Pomegranate: Anti-aging

Pomegranate is rich in antioxidants and is the primary ingredient in many moisturizers formulated to slow down signs of aging. Its oil may even diminish existing wrinkles. In 2005, the University of Michigan Medical School found that pomegranate oil repaired skin cells and promoted collagen production, which keeps your skin elastic.

GG Product Picks

Juice Beauty Oil-Free Moisturizer($28/2 oz. www.juicebeauty.com)

Desert Essence Pomegranate Face Serum ($11.99/2 oz. www.desertessence.com)

Pomega5 Revitalizing Treatment for Skin ($30/30 oil capsules www.pomega5.com)

Aloe Vera: Anti-inflammatory

Because of its soothing and restorative properties, aloe vera is ideal for sensitive skin and is common in anti-inflammatory products. Clinical studies have also found that aloe vera effectively reduces symptoms of psoriasis and seborrhea, a common skin condition that causes oily, red and scaly eruptions. Baumann says aloe vera can be as soothing as hydrocortisone creams, which are used to treat itching, rashes and irritation caused by everything from poison ivy to cosmetics.

GG Product Picks

California Baby Calming Botanical Moisturizing Cream($9.99/2 oz. www.californiababy.com)

Lily of the Desert Aloe 80 Organics Aloe Vera Liquid Moisturizer ($10.69/8 oz. www.lilyofthedesert.com)