Hair experiment results!

[DarkChocolate]

I used aloe vera on my hair 5 days a week and wore it up everyday in a bun. I bought an aloe vera leaf at the store, cut a piece off then broke it open and applied the aloe to my scalp and length. I would just let it stay in my hair. It feels wet after the aloe is applied and can feel like hairspray but it eventually soaks into the hair. I wash my hair two days a week and just let it dry and be without anything in it. I read that aloe vera acts like keratin and is know to make hair grow. I am going to continue this hair care routine. I also wash my hair with castille soap too.

My hair 3/20/16

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=22582&d=1461158310


My hair 4/18/16 after a month of aloe vera and wearing hair up.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=22583&d=1461158347

[Horrorpops]

Wow!! Your hair looks thicker somehow, how has the aloe and bunning affected the health of your hair? It sounds like a super moisturising, protective regime! :o

It would be awesome to have two pictures of similar size/distance because it looks like your hair has grown a lot but it could partially be the difference in zoom between the photos (I am notoriously bad for judging length etc haha).

[DarkChocolate]

Wow!! Your hair looks thicker somehow, how has the aloe and bunning affected the health of your hair? It sounds like a super moisturising, protective regime! :o

It would be awesome to have two pictures of similar size/distance because it looks like your hair has grown a lot but it could partially be the difference in zoom between the photos (I am notoriously bad for judging length etc haha).

Both aloe and bunning have gotten rid of my split ends. I have not had any this past month, Aloe is super moisturizing. My ponytail circumference was 2" last month and is now 2.5". It is possibly because I did not shed as much. I am going to keep the aloe and bunning experiment going. Good hair pictures are hard to get.

[Horrorpops]

Both aloe and bunning have gotten rid of my split ends. I have not had any this past month, Aloe is super moisturizing. My ponytail circumference was 2" last month and is now 2.5". It is possibly because I did not shed as much. I am going to keep the aloe and bunning experiment going. Good hair pictures are hard to get.

Wow that sounds wonderful I'm glad it's having such a good effect on your hair! :o it definitely sounds like a regime to keep going with.

As for the hair pictures: does your phone or camera have a self timer? Being able to set mine on a table etc and have it take photos made it so much easier for me to get more consistent pictures. I just take them with my phone, which isn't new or fancy, but thought it was a cool to to share seeing as you said good hair pictures are hard to get :)

[Chocowalnut]

I would like to try this. It seems to have made a difference, and the SMT w/ aloe vera is good, so this is probably, too.

[ChloeDharma]

Do you apply the aloe to your scalp as well as the length?

Also about the leaves, do you use one leaf each time? It's probably a silly question as that would pretty much kill a plant and be expensive if buying individual leaves. I'm curious about using the gel fresh from a leaf but don't know how long a leaf will last once a section has been cut, does it heal over quickly?

[Anya15]

I use aloe gel on my hair post wash and I love it :) It is very moisturizing!

[Curly276mom]

How did you put the aloe on? Wet hair? Dry hair? How much did you need? Did you rinse it out or leave it on? Thanks!

[Arctic]

I love aloe vera, but if person gets 1/2 inch more bulk to their ponytail in one month, it simply cannot be from new growth. It is either from buildup (aloe coating hair strands) or somehow roughing up the cuticles (aloe is commonly used when making dreadlocks, I've read) or combination of these.

Not that having increased thickness from strand coating products is bad perse, especially if it's not the prolematic kind of build up (yet?). I have noticed it myself too that there two kinds of buildup, positive (more volume, more thickness, better manageability, and other desirable qualities) and negative (sticky, rought, dry feeling, tangly, velcroy, etc.). I just wanted to point this out in case people think that rubbing aloe in the scalp for month would cause their scalps sprout 1/2 an inch more hair to their pony circs.

As for aloe acting as a keratin, I highly doubt that too. Sure aloe plant probably does have some protein (some amino acids), but I would guess not very much like it is with many plants. Only keratin can act as keratin, proteins are highly specialized. Aloe vera - or anything else, can't heal ends that are split either. If you see suddenly less splits and you haven't had a trim, then at most aloe is coating your ends and gluing the splits temporarily together. After your next clarifying your splits are there again. I think aloe's benefits are mostly in the moisturizing realm.

This being said, I really do love aloe vera gel, and use it regularly myself too. The store bought type (which have their own added ingredients that can also buildup on hair). Lately I have only used it in SMTs.

[Anya15]

Aloe won't increase pony circ so quickly of course (took me 3 years to recover from a major shed)
I just use it on the length and ends, not scalp - for the moisture. :)

[lapushka]

I have only used AV gel on my hair as a "regular" gel and it had too flimsy a hold for me, other than that it's not that bad, especially for SMTs and such (sometimes my mix curdled other times not, but that wasn't the gel I don't think). Long time ago that I did SMTs on my hair. Looong time ago!

[Agnieszka]

I love aloe vera, but if person gets 1/2 inch more bulk to their ponytail in one month, it simply cannot be from new growth. It is either from buildup (aloe coating hair strands) or somehow roughing up the cuticles (aloe is commonly used when making dreadlocks, I've read) or combination of these.

Not that having increased thickness from strand coating products is bad perse, especially if it's not the prolematic kind of build up (yet?). I have noticed it myself too that there two kinds of buildup, positive (more volume, more thickness, better manageability, and other desirable qualities) and negative (sticky, rought, dry feeling, tangly, velcroy, etc.). I just wanted to point this out in case people think that rubbing aloe in the scalp for month would cause their scalps sprout 1/2 an inch more hair to their pony circs.

As for aloe acting as a keratin, I highly doubt that too. Sure aloe plant probably does have some protein (some amino acids), but I would guess not very much like it is with many plants. Only keratin can act as keratin, proteins are highly specialized. Aloe vera - or anything else, can't heal ends that are split either. If you see suddenly less splits and you haven't had a trim, then at most aloe is coating your ends and gluing the splits temporarily together. After your next clarifying your splits are there again. I think aloe's benefits are mostly in the moisturizing realm.

This being said, I really do love aloe vera gel, and use it regularly myself too. The store bought type (which have their own added ingredients that can also buildup on hair). Lately I have only used it in SMTs.

I wish there was a "like" button on LHC so I could "like" your post :-)

[omega]

...or somehow roughing up the cuticles (aloe is commonly used when making dreadlocks, I've read) or combination of these.

Had no idea! Thanks for the info :)