The key to speaking the language of plants and understanding clients’ skin needs can be summed up in understanding herbal energetics. Every cultural tradition of plant medicine has adopted a theory of herbal energetics, and these different cultural approaches mirror each other. The three primary qualities are temperature, moisture, and tone. Every plant will have some aspect of each of these, and they all have a polarity.

Aside from dermatologists, it is not within the scope of practice of a skin care professional to diagnose a skin disorder. It can be easy to label an imbalance as rosacea, eczema, or acne; apply a botanical that is considered good for that label; and call it a day. However, when this is done, professionals miss the opportunity to help a client in a customized, holistic way.