The Benefits of Aloe Vera
Naturopathic healing has been around for centuries, and is often overlooked due to the overwhelming amount of formulated products that are advertised every day. The truth is, most of the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need can easily be found in nature.
Aloe Vera is one of the most easily-accessible plants and it has tons of different benefits for our skin. But first:
What is Aloe Vera?
Aloe Vera is a cactus-like succulent plant that grows in hot, dry, climates. It is green in colour, but shades can vary. Fun fact: Lots of places consider the aloe vera plant to be an invasive species!
What Part of the Plant is Beneficial?
Aloe Vera is most commonly known for the gel substance found inside of its leaves. Aloe Vera leaves contain aloe vera gel, which is full of nutrients.
Aloe Vera juice (found in Sunkissed After-Sun Treatment Spray) is made by washing the Aloe Vera leaves, extracting the gel, grinding and filtering the gel to thin out the substance and remove any impurities, and then the remains of both the juice and the gel are mixed together to ensure all vitamins remain present.
How is Aloe Vera Used?
Aloe Vera gel is harvested from the leaves. It is safe to use topically raw and pure, but large companies will often add additional ingredients to the gel to lengthen its shelf-life.
The gel can be used as-is on the skin similarly to how you would apply a lotion. It is water-based and oil-free, so is unlikely to clog pores.
Aloe Vera juice and gel both contain identical benefits for the skin. The main difference is that Aloe Vera juice is sometimes ingested to provide health benefits such as improving gut health. My personal preference is to use Aloe Vera juice rather than gel on the skin as it absorbs more quickly.
I think that's enough back story for you... Now for the big question:
What are the Benefits of Using Aloe Vera on my Skin?
Excellent question! Here is a list of wonderful things that Aloe Vera will do for your skin:
- Soothes and heals sunburns and other wounds
- Boost natural collagen production
- Moisturize skin
- Fade hyperpigmentation (dark spots)
- Reduce the appearance of stretch marks
- Fight skin conditions including acne, psoriasis, eczema etc.
- Protect against bacteria, fungi, and other contaminants
- Minimize scarring
Pretty crazy right! Aloe Vera naturally contains:
- Vitamin C
- Prevents sun-damage, carries anti-aging properties, improves the appearance of dark spots, wrinkles, and acne.
- Vitamin E
- Acts as an antioxidant, holds moisture in the skin, reduces inflammation, improves elasticity (preventing wrinkles and scarring).
- Vitamin A
- Improves the appearance of wrinkles and loose skin, reduces hyperpigmentation, helps your skin to recover after sun-damage, fights skin conditions including acne, psoriasis, and eczema.
- Vitamin B12
- Reduces inflammation, prevents dryness.
- Folic Acid
- Provides a barrier between skin and toxins in the air, improves moisture retention, increases collagen production.
- Choline
- Restores elasticity to sun-damaged skin.
Plant-based healing is not the answer to every problem, but if nature can provide this many natural healing properties, having a few plants or natural products on hand can certainly be helpful.
If you are looking to try an Aloe Vera based skin-treatment, our Sunkissed sprays are an excellent place to start.
We hope you have enjoyed this breakdown of the power of Aloe Vera. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on social media @naturelle.online to learn more about natural healing opportunities.