Sensitive skin is a difficult thing to deal with for everyone. Regardless of the weather or products, sometimes your skin just doesn’t gel. Occasionally, sensitive skin can lead to rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin conditions. Sure, you can grab a sensitive skin only cream, moisturizer, or serum that can bring you closer to your specific skin care goals. But other times, new products or quick fixes can cause additional redness and irritation—making it feel impossible to fix irritations. Well, impossible until you meet mugwort.

What is mugwort?

So, what is mugwort, and how does it help sensitive skin? Derived from plants native to Asia and Northern Europe, mugwort comes from Artemisia genus (also home of wormwood). The incredible skincare ingredient might be relatively new in America, but it has been used for centuries in Korea, and other parts of Asia, for medicinal and wellness purposes. As an anti-inflammatory ingredient, it’s most known for its healing and soothing benefits.

What are the benefits of mugwort?

In addition to helping reduce the inflammation in your skin, what else can mugwort do? As it turns out, mugwort has a plethora of skin benefits.

It can help provide calming and antibacterial benefits to the skin that can reduce fungi and other irritation on the skin. Translation: If your face is irritated from sun damage, pollution, or testing a skincare product that didn’t sit well with you, then mugwort can add some much needed relief. This is done by blocking and protecting the skin from free radical damage appearing in the sun, pollution, and stress.

It can even help with dry skin, especially dry winter skin, as it improves the atopic dermatitis—the surface layer of the skin. And because it’s an antibacterial and inflammatory, it helps significantly with acne-prone and oily skin.

And what about side effects?

Mugwort’s soothing benefits make it a top-choice ingredient for those who have rosacea, eczema, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and even acne. Doctors even recommend it for all skin types, but it will have the most hydrating and soothing results on sensitive skin. But, like all ingredients and products, you should always proceed with caution when adding something new to your routine.

Do a small patch test first to check for any sensitivities. To execute: Apply a small amount of product to the inside of your wrist (where your skin is softest) for 3-5 days. If you don’t see any redness or other form of irritation, it should be safe to use it on your complexion.

Here’s 9 winter skin care tips to follow as well as some information on how plum oil and nutmeg can help your skin.