Back to School: Buying Beauty Based on Geography

"Yeah yeah", you're all thinking, "here she goes again with some bonkers beauty fact." And yes, today, dear readers, I am taking you on a journey through time and space to magical lands where plants grow that end up in your moisturiser. More properly called ethnobotany, the science which studies how plants are used in various cultures, it's had huge impact on the beauty biz in the last number of years.

It can seem sometimes that brands vie with each other for the next new outlandish inclusion, but if you stop and think about it, some of the ingredients make a lot of sense. Take Origins' new Make a Difference cream, for example. It contains Rose of Jericho, a resurrection plant. What's that, though? Wikipedia says it's "any plant with the habit of reviving after seeming to be dead", and that's why its abilities to regenerate itself have been tapped for this new cream.

Likewise, rhodiola - or golden root -  is an adaptogenic herb that's linked to longevity. The term is used by herbalists to refer to  any herb that is thought to increase the body's resistance to stress, trauma, anxiety and fatigue, and as the rhodiola plant can cope with life in freezing, arctic conditions, it's been used for centuries as a remedy in Russia and Scandinavia. Origins use it in their Perfect World products, including their new Youthtopia Age-correcting serum.

Ingredients don't just come from arid, cold climes - plants, fruits and vegetables that thrive in hot, dry locations have also been under beauty-scrutiny. Enter the pomegranate. Cultivated under baking Mediterranean sun, it's able to maintain a juicy inner core, no matter how powerfully the sun beats down. And that's why it's used as an ingredient in Murad's Vitalic Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer.

There's more to this than just scouring the planet for the next new thing, because it's important to remember that plants grow in certain areas for a reason and that can help to inform how they can be used. Pomegranates are antioxidant-packed and provide a measure of natural sunscreen - arguably very important for the people in the regions in which they're found. Rhodiola, which you'll come across in those dark, cold climates with little sun in the winter, is thought to help optimise serotonin and dopamine levels. Goji berries are posited to be such a concentrated and rich source of nutrients because they're native to the Himalayas, where there's limited access to a broad range of foods.

There's more where that came from too: one of the Murad brand's more recent discoveries is the durian fruit, native to south-east Asia, and found in the new Age Reform line. The latest superfruit, it's got anti-inflammatory benefits and is packed full  of essential fatty acids and antioxidants to help prevent cell degeneration. And as Dr Howard Murad bases his entire ageing thesis on something called the Cellular Water Principle, that's important. He's convinced that because ageing is linked to loss of water in the cells, fixing that damage keeps the water in, giving you a younger, a fresher appearance.

And who doesn't want that, eh?