What is aloe vera and where does it come from?
There are over 300 different species of aloe vera but only a handful are used in natural remedies and skincare. It's often called the desert lily or the first aid plant because of its medicinal benefits throughout history. Native to Africa, it's grown in sunny, dry climates and is ripe when the inside contains that well-known gel.
Which aloe vera derivatives will you find in natural skincare products?
Aloe vera is derived and used in several forms including aloe vera powder, extract, gel or juice which are all made from its leaves. The gel can be pasteurised, the leaves crushed to make a powder or macerated in jojoba or sunflower oil to create an oil.
You can apply the fresh gel directly on to your skin but it does oxidise fairly quickly so you may wish to opt for buying a tried and tested formulation by a reputable natural brand.
What will aloe vera do for your skin?
Aloe vera has a high water content so its juice is useful as an alternative to water in cream and gel skincare formulations. Instead of simply being a filler ingredient, using aloe instead of water benefits your skin too because of the high amount of nutrients found naturally within its green leaves.
Because it is grown in extremely hot and dry terrains, aloe vera helps the skin to retain moisture as well as calming hot or dehydrated skin. It's also a fantastic anti-ageing ingredient because of its vitamin A content which diminishes dark spots and encourages cell turnover. There's also aloin, a natural de-pigmenting compound and vitamins B, C and E help to stave off oxidative stress, improve radiance and smooth the skins texture.
What skin types is aloe vera suitable for?
Because of its variety of uses aloe vera is suitable for all skin types but particularly hot, sun burnt or sun damaged skin. As with all ingredients and products, we recommend patch testing before use.
What type of skincare products will you find aloe vera in?
You'll find aloe vera in plenty of our organic moisturisers both as a soothing ingredient and as a substitute for water. It's also a great addition to bodycare products that aim to help target sensitive or sun damaged skin as well as gel based products like eye cream, hand sanitisers and shower gels.
What is the INCI name for Aloe Vera?
Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Aloe Perryi
Shop natural skincare products with aloe vera
Sources
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Winter, Ruth. A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, 7th Edition. Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale.
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Milady Skincare and Cosmetic Ingredients Dictionary 4th Edition; M. Varinia Michalun, Joseph C. Dinardo
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https://www.healthline.com/health/home-remedies-for-pigmentation#homeremedies
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An Atlas of Natural Beauty: Botanical ingredients for retaining and enhancing beauty L'Officine Universelle Buly
Whilst we hope the pages are informative it’s important to remember we’re organic beauty enthusiasts not scientists so the information is detailed here to the best of our knowledge or research we have conducted from third parties. Whilst we are continually updating our content based on new research, it may not always be up to date and as such it is the readers’ responsibility to conduct their own research in order to independently verify the information and make an informed decision on their beauty regime/lifestyle. Any opinion expressed on the efficacy of a product is based on tests performed by our team. As everyone has different skin types and concerns, please be advised that what works for them might not work for you but we try to give as much subjective information as possible which we hope you will find useful. If in any doubt, please consult a medical professional.