Back to Basics

Natural remedies for skin and hair care used to mean smearing egg whites on your face, rinsing your hair with vinegar, or exfoliating with a spoonful of sugar mixed with a bit of water. Today, though, all-natural doesn't have to mean "do it yourself": The cosmetics world has wised up to the old ways and developed their own fancy blends of all-natural ingredients. Featuring organic fruits, almond and apricot oils, and even the extracts of anise and bitter orange, the following products work better than anything we could whip up on our own - and some smell good enough to eat. If you find yourself in a pinch, though, the sugar-and-water scrub your grandmother taught you will still serve you well. - Anna Fialho

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-L'Occitane Ruban d'Orange Sunny Shower Gel ($18), Soft Skin Milk ($21), and Soft Skin Scrub ($34). Launching this month, Ruban d'Orange is L'Occitane's newest collection. The scrub boasts sugar granules for gentle exfoliation and sweet almond and apricot oils to smooth and soften skin, and the skin milk (read: lotion) features orange-peel extract combined with shea butter for added moisture benefits. We're definitely crushing on this new line. www.loccitane.com

-Fresh Anise Day Serum, ($85). Fortified with anise fruit extract, this powerful serum works wonders on those pesky expression lines - you know, frown lines, crow's-feet, and the like - while it brightens and plumps the skin. www.fresh.com