Every year seems to bring a new superfood, a new skincare ingredient or a new wellness trend. Some disappear almost as quickly as they arrive. Others become wildly popular for a season before quietly fading into the background. But every so often, an ingredient does something much rarer. It remains.

Spend enough time paying attention to plants and you begin to find out some interesting things. The same botanicals keep appearing in different parts of everyday life. Olive oil is drizzled over vegetables and stirred into bread dough, yet it also appears in soaps and skincare. Oats become breakfast one morning and a soothing ingredient the next. Honey belongs in tea, but it has long been valued in preparations used on the skin. Rosemary moves easily between the herb garden, the kitchen and the wash basin. At first glance, it seems like coincidence. But the more I learn, the more I think it isn't.

For a long time, herbs have been treated as something added at the end. Something you add as a finishing touch or a small layer of flavor. But the trend is changing. And in many kitchens, the role of herbs is beginning to shift. Herbs are no longer just supporting the dish. They’re becoming the center of it — basically, the stars of the show.