Ingredients can be found all throughout Skyrim. Each has four different effects which can be discovered by attempting to brew a potion at an alchemy lab with two or more ingredients sharing at least one effect, or by 'eating' the ingredient, revealing the first effect. There is a perk, Experimenter, under the Alchemy skill tree which allows additional effects to be revealed when ingredients are eaten. If all three ranks of the perk are unlocked, all possible effects of the ingredient are discovered.