Aloe vera. It’s a sunburn healer, a hot “healthy” beverage, and...a skincare savior? Maybe, but we weren’t convinced. After all, that green stuff that we slathered on after major sunburns as kids didn’t exactly leave us feeling like supermodels.

That’s why we did some research to find out what the real deal is with aloe vera.

Here, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about aloe vera and using it for your skin today.

The Basics

Aloe vera comes from the meat of the aloe plant and it has been used for centuries for its health benefits. In fact, ancient Chinese and Egyptians used it to treat burns and reduce fever - and legend goes that Alexander the Great even used it to treat his wounded soldiers.

Why?

It turns out that aloe vera is packed with healthy skin nutrients that can help you maintain clear, hydrated skin. In particular, aloe vera is rich in:

• Polysaccharides: These give aloe its hydrating, anti-inflammatory properties and make it an excellent product to protect the skin’s natural barrier.
• Phytosterols: These are anti-inflammatory and they can help calm itchiness and irritation. They also give protection to prevent trans-epidermal water loss (aka they help your skin keep  its moisture over time).
• Vitamins and minerals: These include vitamins A, B, C, D, and E - all of which have tons of benefits for the skin - along with minerals like magnesium, potassium, and zinc.
• Glycosides: These promote cellular regeneration and have antihistamine properties.

Aloe Vera in Skincare

All of these potent ingredients translate to big-time skincare benefits.

Great at Helping Skin Maintain Moisture

The polysaccharides and phytosterols in aloe vera make it a great ingredient to maintain moisture. At the same time, antioxidants in the plant make it effective at fighting free radicals and preventing damage to the skin. This, of course, will help maintain skin moisture and health over time.

Soothing for Sunburns or Irritation

When you burn yourself - whether it’s a sunburn or a burn from the stove or the curling iron - you’re increasing heat, irritation, water evaporation, and tightness in the skin. Plus you’re compromising your natural barrier.

Applying aloe directly to these burns can help reverse this damage, repairing your barrier and replenishing skin with much-needed vitamins and moisturizing nutrients. This can, according to one study, reduce the healing time of even second or third degree burns to 9 days!

Great For Healing Cuts or Acne Marks

Generally speaking, if you have a cut or a healing acne mark, you’re also dealing with irritation and skin dryness. Fresh aloe can add moisture and nutrients to those cells, which can ultimately decrease discomfort, make the mark less noticeable, and cut down healing time.

Calming Against Inflammation

There have been a few studies that show that aloe vera has anti-inflammatory benefits, both when consumed and when applied topically.

These anti-inflammatory effects make it an effective ingredient against larger inflammatory skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, and even inflammatory forms of acne.

How About Risks?

Aloe vera is not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That means that the companies using it don’t have to test for safety and effectiveness, and you could find a lot of products with overall poor quality - or even with toxins!

Do your homework, and avoid things like:

• Filtered aloe vera: Filtering is unnecessary, and it may indicate cheap processes or that the aloe in the product is stripped of some of its natural goodies.
• Pasteurized aloe vera: This is aloe that’s been heated to a high temperature, which means it won’t have all of the natural compounds.
• Misleading labels: Turns out that a product with only 15% concentration of aloe can label itself as “100% aloe vera” juice. If you’re looking for something super pure, read the fine print and make sure you’re really getting what you’re looking for.
• Tablets or powdered aloe vera: This aloe vera has been really processed, so it may be less beneficial overall.

Also, be careful if you want to buy a whole leaf yourself! Aloe latex - a yellow juice found just under the rind - can actually be really harmful over time.

Where to Find It

You can find organic aloe vera in nearly every Eight Saints product - except for our Down to Earth mud face wash and our High Society face oil (it wouldn’t make much sense in those!).

That said, it can be found in highest concentrations in our Daydreamer moisturizer, our Cloud Whip day cream, and our Bright Side AHA face wash. In fact, it’s the first ingredient in Daydreamer - available in even higher concentrations than water - along with other great moisturizing ingredients like hyaluronic acid, organic shea butter, and jojoba oil.

Happy hydrating!