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In an ideal world, your body wouldn’t undergo any trauma, big or small. The reality? Every day you face a range of mishaps that trigger aches and pains, bumps and bruises. Skin often takes the brunt, sometimes bearing scars that linger long after pain has subsided.

Luckily, just as Mother Nature intended, your body works to repair itself—and a little well-chosen help goes a long way. “Natural ingredients work effectively when applied to the right conditions,” says herbalist Candice Nelms, owner of The Alchemist Collection, a natural medicine skin care line. “There is a known understanding about nature: For every poison that grows, there grows a remedy next to it.”

Not unlike the mind, skin can get stressed out—and those stressors are both internal and external, according to Mark Gray, a dermatologist, pathologist and founder of Ao Skincare. Like Nelms, Gray points out the skin’s ability to seek and find balance. “It’s good to focus on ingredients that help the skin become and remain optimally healthy and adaptive,” he says.

Whether protecting from the elements such as wind and sun, alleviating itch from bug bites or burns, or healing scrapes and cuts, natural ingredients can help your body step up to the challenge.