Aloe Vera Skincare By : Cheers Sonya

What is Aloe Vera?
Aloe Vera is a succulent plant that originated in the arid areas of North Africa and the Middle East. It is one of several hundred Aloe plants that are natives to many of the arid regions of the world, except Australia.

The beneficial part of the Aloe Vera plant is the sap, more commonly known as Aloe Vera Gel. This is a clear jelly like substance found in the leaves of the Aloe Vera plant.

Benefits of Aloe Vera
For thousands of years the healing benefits of aloe vera has been known by the people of North Africa and the Middle East. Aloe Vera Gel was used by traditional medicine practitioners to treat sun burn, serious burns, cuts, wounds, infections, dry skin, and many other skin problems. Drinking Aloe Vera Gel also was used to treat all types of mouth, gum and dental problems, improving digestion, and general infections.

Aloe Vera Skincare
Aloe Vera greatly improves the effectiveness of natural Organic Skincare products such as moisturisers and cleansers , as Aloe Vera Gel helps the body heal any minor skin damage for the sun, the ravages of time and our stressful modern life.

Some of the common uses of Aloe Vera in skincare include

• Treating minor burns, rashers, abrasions and other wounds;
• Moisturising and rehydrating dry, cracked and damaged skin;
• Improving the texture and complexion of skin;
• Smoothing of wrinkles and stretch marks;
• Treating acne and other minor skin disorders; and
• As a hair wash to reduce dandruff and other scalp problems

Aloe Vera Products
Over the past 20 years the Aloe Vera market has expanded greatly. Originally only available through health food stores and naturopaths, Aloe Vera products are now available across an array of outlets including pharmacies and supermarkets.

Although this growing awareness of Aloe Vera’s healing properties has greatly increased the number of Aloe Vera products available, not all of these new products are as good as they seem. Some contain such small amounts of Aloe Vera Gel that it has little or no therapeutic value. Others use clever marketing tricks such as using the word Aloe as part of their brand name, despite having no Aloe Vera in the product.

How do you tell a good Aloe Vera product?
This can be difficult, but some things you can do are:
• Read the product label and ingredients section.
• All products must now list ingredients using Latin name. The Latin for Aloe Vera is Aloe Barbadensis.
• If Aloe barbadensis leaf gel, extract or juice is the first or second product on the ingredients list that means that there is a higher percentage of Aloe Vera in the product.
• Avoid products where Aloe Vera is not mentioned until much later in the ingredients list. This means the product has little Aloe Vera in it.
• Look for products that are Certified Organic.

Article Source: http://articlestoreprint.com


Information about the Author: "Sonya Spencer is the owner and operator of Naturally Safe Cosmetics, a leading supplier of Cosmetic Products, primarily made of strictly natural ingredients; they do not have petrochemicals, and contain no or minimal synthetics or chemicals"

Aloe Vera Juice 1 gallon: C Made from pure Aloe Vera, our gel contains 99.5% Aloe Vera. Whole leaf processed for maximum potency. Not from concentrate. Contains no added sugars, starch, or water. Excellent for internal and external use, and in cosmetics. High in aloepolysaccharides, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Aloe vera is covered by the old herbalists in the same article as Aloe ferox and the other closely related Aloes, under the heading 'Aloes.' As the Eclectic Materia Medica, 1922, puts it, 'The dried juice of the leaves of several species of Aloe: (1) Aloe Perryi, Baker; (2) Aloe vera, Linné; (3) Aloe ferox, Miller. (Nat. Ord. Liliaceae). Barbadoes, Africa and the Orient. Common Names: (1) Socotrine Aloes; (2) Curaçoa Aloes; (3) Cape Aloes.' As Grieve puts it, 'There is little to choose medicinally between the Curacoa and Socotrine varieties...' When applied externally, gel or preparations of gel made from the plant powder achieve anti-inflammatory effects through activity against bradykinin, prostaglandin and thromboxane, which are substances involved in causing inflammatory swelling, pain and constriction of small blood vessels. Laboratory experiments have shown that the gel stimulates the growth not only of lymphocytes, which are important blood cells in immunological defence mechanisms, but also of fibroblastic cells in skin and connective tissues, thus aiding in tissue regeneration after wounding. The 1997 Commission E on Phytotherapy and Herbal Substances of the German Federal Institute for Drugs recommends Aloes for 'Constipation. Dosage: Aloe powder, aqueous and aqueous-alcoholic extracts in powdered or liquid form, for oral use. Unless otherwise prescribed: 20 - 30 mg hydroxyanthracene derivatives/day, calculated as anhydrous aloin. The individually correct dosage is the smallest dosage necessary to maintain a soft stool.' Grieve's classic 'A Modern Herbal': 'The drug Aloes is one of the safest and best warm and stimulating purgatives to persons of sedentary habits and phlegmatic constitutions. An ordinary small dose takes from 15 to 18 hours to produce an effect. Its action is exerted mainly on the large intestine, for which reason, also it is useful as a vermifuge. Its use, however, is said to induce Piles.' 'Preparations of Aloes are rarely prescribed alone, they require the addition of carminatives to moderate the tendency to griping. The compound preparations of Aloes in use generally contain such correctives, but powdered Aloes and the extracts of Aloes represent the crude drug.' 'Aloes in one form or another is the commonest domestic medicine and is the basis of most proprietary or so-called 'patent' pills.' 'There is little to choose medicinally between the Curacoa and Socotrine varieties, but the former is somewhat more powerful, 2 grains of Curacoa Aloes being equal to 3 grains of Socotrine Aloes in purgative action. The latter is more expensive, but varies much in quality.' 'Aloes is the pur