Amazing Fresh Aloe Vera – Benefits for skin and hair

Aloe Vera (Aloe barbadensis) is an extremely nourishing plant for the skin and hair. It is easy to grow in a pot or directly on the ground.

Here’s a photo of my pot of Aloe Vera. You can see how wild it grows without much care.

And if you don’t have any green thumbs, you can purchase it at organic shops or at the markets. They usually cost anywhere from RM8 to RM15 per leaf.

Aloe vera is a succulent plant which offers many benefits and is suited for all skin types, especially dry, damaged, broken, sensitive and irritated skin. It offers anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, humectant and soothing, anti-itch qualities for skin.

In Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese herbal medicine and British herbal medicine, Aloe is often used to effectively heal chronic skin problems, such as psoriasis, acne and eczema.

Benefits of Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is great for sunburn. The cooling gel helps sooth sunburn skin after a day out in the sun. Because of its nutritional qualities and antioxidant properties, the skin heals quicker.

Aloe Vera helps with acne. Aloe vera gel contains two hormones: Auxin and Gibberellins which helps with wound healing and reduces skin inflammation. Giberellin in aloe vera acts as a growth hormone stimulating the growth of new cells which helps the skin regenerate quickly.

It helps fight aging naturally. Aloe leaves contain a plethora of antioxidants including, beta carotene, vitamin C and E which helps reduce fine lines, wrinkles and keeps skin moisturized.

Aloe Vera helps lock in moisture. Aloe vera moisturizes skin without leaving that greasy oily feeling. This miracle plant contains over 75 different nutrients that are amazing for your skin including vitamins, minerals, enzymes, sugars, anthraquinones or phenolic compounds, lignin, saponins, sterols, amino acids and salicylic acid.

How to extract the Aloe Vera Pulp

Processing Aloe Vera on your own is very easy. Just harvest the plant, choosing the larger more mature leafs which produces the most pulp.

Be careful of the tiny spikes at the sides of the leaf. They were put there to protect the plant against the likes of you.

Slice off the spikes with a knife and cut the Aloe Vera right down the middle to expose the pulp. With a spoon, gently spoon the pulp out.

Place pulp in blender and blend. The pulp will bubble up during the blending process. This is normal.

Now you have fresh aloe vera gel base for your skin care recipes.

Easy Aloe Vera Skincare Recipes

Aloe Vera can be used directly on its own. However, it has a very strong green pulpy smell which some may find off putting. This can be easily remedied with a few drops of essential oils.

We like to use Craftiviti Therapeutic Grade Peppermint Essential Oil. It adds a cooling effect on the skin and is a wonderful oil to brighten skin, help with acne and dark circles, and act as an excellent skin toner.

Here are other recipes that you can try once you have made your fresh aloe vera base:

Aloe Vera Scrub

1. Mix your aloe vera pulp with sugar or pink himalayan salt. The exact measurements are totally up to you. You can mix until the scrub is at the consistency that you like.
2. For 100ml pulp, you can add in half a cup of sugar. Test the texture and add more if you wish.
3. Then, add in 5-8 drops of lavender essential oil. Lavender is very calming on the skin.
4. Store in fridge.

Aloe Vera for Dry Skin

1. Mix your aloe vera pulp with rich tamanu oil for deep skin nourishment. For 100ml aloe vera pulp, add in 2 tablespoon of oil.
2. You can also add in one teaspoon of honey for added moisturizing benefits.
3. Blend well.
4. To mask the green herbal scent, add in 5-8 drops of Ylang Ylang essential oil or Geranium essential oil.
5. Store in fridge.

Aloe Vera After Sun Treatment

1. Blend Aloe Vera pulp with cucumber.
2. Add in 2 drops of Lavender Essential Oil and 2 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil.
3. Keep cool in fridge.
4. Leave on skin overnight, concentrating on the sun burned parts of skin such as the shoulders and face.

Aloe Vera for Hair Fall

1. Blend aloe vera pulp with 2 tablespoons Neem Oil. Neem oil is an amazing oil for hair. It helps nourish hair, maintain scalp health and strength the follicles of hair. It helps condition dry, malnourished hair. It is also traditionally used to treat head lice.
2. To mask the herbal aloe smell, add in 5-8 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil to 100ml of pulp. Rosemary Essential Oil is a wonderful oil for hair growth.
3. Rub this mixture into hair, towel wrap hair and leave in for 15 minutes.
4. Shampoo hair as normal.
5. Store mixture in fridge.
6. This recipe lasts for only 3 to 4 days so make a small batch and keep in the fridge. To prolong the shelf life, add a preservative such as optiphen plus or liquid germall plus.

Aloe Vera Storage

Because this is a natural recipe without any added preservatives, it is best to always make fresh pulp in small batches of 100ml or less.

Keep as much water away from your recipe as possible as water will reduce the shelflife of the recipe.

If you wish to dilute the pulp, you can use rosewater or lavender water instead.

For more soap making materials and DIY skincare ingredients, please visit our website www.craftiviti.com or visit our outlet at Petaling Jaya.