Well, I've bought some! Haven't used it on my hair yet but it is doing wonders for the eczema outbreak I've just had. I swear I can see a difference after just one day of using it.
Can you get 100% aloe vera gel at the shop? I was under the impression, as afu says, that it's 99.9% because of the preservatives, and if you want it without preservatives you have to get it from a plant regularly. Just curious
Ah, right. I have seen aloe vera juice for consumption, but the AVG I bought at a health food store said it was for external use only. I wasn't sure if there was a difference between the gel and the juice or if it was just the preservatives. Must be the preservatives.
Lady Nehalennia of the Mirrored-Seas in the Order of the Long-Haired Knights
SL / APL / SBL / MBL / WL / HIP / BCL / TB
Well, I've bought some! Haven't used it on my hair yet but it is doing wonders for the eczema outbreak I've just had. I swear I can see a difference after just one day of using it.
Regrowing naturally!
You can get edible versions at stores like GNC and Vitamin Shoppe here in the US. I've bought Aloe Vera Juice there in the past for someone with IBS but they said it tasted bad and wasted it. I never thought to use it in my hair before.
I use food grade aloe vera gel to help hold my curls after I wash to help hold the curl pattern. It doesn't feel crunchy at all unless you use a TON of it, and even then it scrunches out when dry pretty quickly. I am on a water-only routine and this is a relatively recent addition to my hair routine but I find it gives me better curl definition and my hair looks less oily for longer when I use it regularly so I'm planning on making it a permanent part of my routine. I usually only put it in my hair on the day I wash and then just scrunch in water to reactivate the curls the rest of the time.
I also use fresh aloe vera from a plant as a mask on my face several times a day. I found the stuff from the plant works better than the stuff in the bottle for this purpose. I just cut a leaf and keep it on the window sill as I cut ~1" chunks from the end, although I was going through my small aloe plant pretty fast and bought a big aloe leaf from the grocery store a few weeks ago, and will probably last at least a full month or more, which is pretty good for $3.50! I probably will get several more plants of my own in the future. I usually get 2 or 3 uses out of each small piece. A cut aloe leaf will keep quite a long time as the end will dry up and seal itself after every cut if you leave it out. It doesn't keep well in the refrigerator at all though!
I use this to tighten my skin and to help heal scarring. As warm weather rolls around, this is pretty much the only thing I've been using on my face, although if my skin is feeling dry I use a bit of shea butter too (more of an issue when it's colder). Otherwise, I just exfoliate with a washcloth and warm water (a bit of castille soap sometimes to get rid of eye makeup), then apply the fresh aloe vera and let it dry. I've noticed slow but steady improvement in my skin tone in general and in the scarring so I'm going to keep at it. It's much better than any other topical I've used because it's very mildly irritating (good for breaking down scar tissue) and soothing at the same time.
Thought I'd post a link to this thread from the "Mane" forums: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/...ad.php?t=94127
It's about Fruit of the Earth aloe vera gel, and how it has an ingredient, Triethanolamine, known to be toxic--though it is considered safe for use in cosmetics below certain levels.
I wonder if it's that, or some other FOTE ingredients, that have given my skin an unpleasant burning sensation and made my eyes water, when I have put it on my face?
Does anyone know if you can use aloe juice in a similar way to aloe gel, or what exactly the differences are? Ginormous quantities of the juice are available in my local health-food store, whereas I cannot for the life of me find actually 100% pure aloe vera gel (no other ingredients, stabilizers, etc.) commercially.
Lily of the Desert certified organic aloe vera juice and gel is available in preservative-free form, pure and edible. It is reasonably priced and available at Whole Foods and online.
Last edited by GrowingGlory; May 28th, 2012 at 07:14 PM.
Same here. I apply blended aloe vera on my hair (with castor oil). The result was so great. However, there is one problem. White small residue was left on my hair. It seems like a lice and it is annoying.. Can anyone tell me why it did happened? Maybe because I did not filter the mask and I let it stay for too long (about 5 hours or more). But overall, I do really love the result and I want to use aloe vera again but I want to prevent having white residue when I use it again.
I have the kind that contains green dye (Bad ik :\ ) that is used for sunburns on my hair, face, and skin. I checked the ingredients and it isn't full of additives like some are, so it works for me for now. What I use it for in terms of hair is for the broken pieces I have that stick out everywhere on my head, and for moisture (Because I don't always like using oil)
Its pretty good and evenly distributes. You could use it for a lot of things though.
Last edited by - Lizzy -; March 24th, 2017 at 12:14 PM.
Chin~Cbl~Apl~BSL~Mbl~Wl~Hip~Bcl...
Hit Full BSL/High MBL. Entering the MBL abyss.
Last mini-trim: 3/16/17
After reading that Fruit of the Earth aloe vera gel has an ingredient known to be toxic, I decided not to use the gel I bought. I tested it on my wrist, no reaction whatsoever, but I'll be cautious and not use in SMT. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll see if FOTE can be used as leave-in.
Bookmarks