Aloe vera gel is a true beauty miracle when it comes to caring for dry or easily burned skin! Here you can learn how to make your own aloe vera gel.
Sunburn, dry skin, or mosquito bite? There's a remedy for these little ills, too! For thousands of years, aloe vera has been considered a medicinal plant, which is also used for the care of our skin. The healing gel is contained in many (often not so cheap) cosmetics, but can also be easily obtained from the plant itself. Here you can learn how to do it!
Make your own aloe vera gel: What you need to know
If you want to make your own aloe vera gel, your aloe vera (true aloe) should be at least three years old and already have twelve leaves.
The leaves of the aloe vera store nutrients and contain, for example, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and enzymes. The thick leaves are composed of three layers: they consist of the outer bark, the inner gel, and the juice.
The gel has many positive properties: it can heal injuries on the plant and has an anti-inflammatory effect on us humans, promotes wound healing, and strengthens the immune system. It can be used especially for sunburn, itchy skin, minor burns, and insect bites.
However, before you get to the gel, you need to remove the outer leaf layer with the yellow juice: The leaf bark and the yellow juice contain aloin, which has a strong laxative effect and can cause symptoms of poisoning in case of overdose.
How to make your own aloe vera gel
You need:
Aloe vera (plant should be at least three years old)
Knife (sharp)
spoon
Glass
Sealable container for storage
Note: Knife, spoon, and container to collect the gel must be sterile.
Instructions:
Using a sharp knife, cut a leaf of aloe vera relatively far down at the base.
Place the leaf in a jar with the cut side down. Leave it upright in the jar for about 90 minutes so that the yellow, poisonous juice runs out.
Then cut two to three inches past the cut surface to remove any remaining aloin residue.
Score the leaf lengthwise and separate it. Use a spoon to carefully scrape out the aloe vera gel.
Put the gel in a sealable jar and store it in the refrigerator.
Refrigerated, the aloe vera gel can be kept for one to two weeks.
How to preserve the aloe vera gel
The aloe vera gel can be easily pureed or crushed in a blender. Fill the pureed gel into an ice cube tray and place it in the freezer. Later, you can thaw the frozen mixture one at a time.
Before pureeing, add either 10 to 20 drops of tocopherol (vitamin E oil) or one gram of vitamin C powder to every 100 grams of aloe vera gel. You then store the pureed gel in the refrigerator. Both tocopherol and vitamin C powder have an antioxidant effect and thus serve as preservatives. This gives the gel a shelf life of up to six weeks.
Are you interested in the effects of other natural products? Here you can learn how to use rosehip oil, jojoba oil, and avocado oil.
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