Which One Should You Use : Natural Vs Store Bought Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera the wonder plant, has lots of health & beauty benefits. Aloe vera gel is non-comedogenic and hydrating, it can be used by all skin types. It can be used as a hydrating moisturizer for oily acne prone skin too. When used regularly aloe gel fights acne, pimples, black heads, excess sebum production, blemishes to some extent. It can be added into any homemade face and hair mask. Aloe vera gel makes hair soft, promotes hair growth, restores lustre, fights dandruff too.
Indian market is flooded with aloe vera gels from different brands and why not, it is an all rounder product but there are some pros and cons of store bought aloe vera gels because they are not only filled with harmful chemical preservatives but also artificial colors, fragrances which can do more harm than any good thing to your skin and hair. Natural aloe vera gel on the other hand is quite messy and hectic to use for day to day use, not travel friendly at all.
So what should we do right?
In this article we will discuss the various beauty benefits of aloe vera gel and how to select your aloe vera gel product before buying, which one should you buy and which one to ignore.
How To Pick The Right Aloe Vera Gel
You can choose the right aloe vera gel before buying. Just be a little cautious and keep these simple things on mind before buying,
1. Always look at the ingredients list. The most common ingredient you should find is "xanthan Gum" which gives the thick gel like consistency to the aloe vera extract. Other ingredients include "water, alcohol, glycerin, fragrance, colour, propyl paraben, methyl paraben" these are the ingredients that should not be there in your aloe gel. The cause serious skin problems like dryness, allergies, premature aging, disturbing the skin pH and making skin sensitive. Avoid these ingredients as much as possible.
4. Another fooling technique is that most of the labels read 99% pure aloe vera gel. Now this means the aloe vera juice added while making the product was 99% pure. It should never be misunderstood as the packaged product contains 99% aloe vera gel. The real concentration of aloe vera extract in any packaged product is way less than you might even think.
5. Do not get deceived by the attractive colors of aloe vera gels. The real juice from the leaf is colorless. There is no point of using green colors on your skin and hair. Those colors cause more harm than good. Go for the colorless variants.
6. Lastly, never ever pick the cooling variants. You don't need aloe vera gel with cooling ice, mint, cucumber etc. because these gels always contain certain amount of alcohol to provide the cooling sensation. If such a product has only the KEY ingredients listed SKIP THAT without any second thought. It is going to damage your skin in the long run.
How To Store and Use Natural Aloe Vera Leaf Juice
Even if it is quite tough to use aloe vera gel freshly extracted from an aloe vera plant but it it always a better option to opt for. Store bought aloe gels one the other hand are travel friendly and mess free but you can definitely store the natural aloe vera leaf juice in the fridge for upto a month.
1. Cut the leaf from aloe vera plant, let it rest for about 15 minutes, you will notice some yellow discharges. This is actually toxic and it can irritate your skin so make sure you rest the freshly cut leaf to drain out the toxin and only after that you proceed with extracting the pulp.
2. Blend a cup of aloe vera juice with a teaspoon of vitamin E oil, collect it in an air tight container and store it in the fridge. This gel will be good for use up to 20 days.
3. Collect the aloe leaf extract, put it in ice trays and freeze. Take out one aloe vera ice cube every time you want to use it, use these ice cubes for an instant cooling to the sun burnt skin. If you are not comfortable using an ice cube just wait for the ice cube to melt and then use the aloe gel. Freezing actually helps to keep the gel for up to a month.
4. Despite all these precautions natural aloe vera gel might irritate some people. Discontinue if you see any signs of irritations.
Beauty Benefits Of Aloe Vera Gel
Aloe vera has numerous beauty benefits. Here are some
- Aloe vera calms and soothes sun burnt skin. It has great cooling properties.
- Soothes angry active acne and helps fight acne upon when used regularly.
- Acts as a moisturizer for very oily skin and controls sebum production and provides hydration.
- Fights dandruff, promotes healthy scalp.
- Reduces scalp build up, keeps hair fresh for another day.
- Heals flaky, itchy scalp conditions and oily scalp.
- Promotes hair growth, restores hair lustre.