THINK ANTI-ACNE & ANTI-AGING: ALOE VERA - A GORGEOUS INGREDIENT & PLANT TO ALWAYS KEEP AROUND.

12 Jul

Time for a lighter fluffier blog post. You don’t need to grab a cuppa or a glass of anything for this one 😊

So with the last few weeks having been a whirlwind of pretty raw emotions, my self-discipline kind of took a back seat, and I have admittedly and happily allowed myself many a snack session laden with salty and sugary comfort foods. I’ve also allowed myself plenty of alcoholic beverages, and finally, I’ve opted to lose myself in some books (MUCH LOVE to you Stephen King) and some TV shows (MUCH LOVE to Netflix & Stranger Things).

One of the Stephen King books I read is titled: “Insomnia”. And yes, I have had a couple of bouts of insomnia. As you can probably deduce, I have not gotten as much beauty sleep as I should have. All of this stuff combined, oddly brings me to this post about Aloe Vera. L.O.L.

These recent habits and behaviors have taken a toll on my skin. Unfortunately, not only did I get some extra baggage beneath my eyes, but my skin has been quite sad and grey and parched with some ultra dehydrated areas and more than a few blemishes. Emotions and stress plus a build-up of bad habits totally show themselves right on your face. They just do. You simply cannot hide from it for very long.

And this brings me to Aloe Vera. This gorgeous succulent plant - and fabulous ingredient - can not only help soothe a sunburn, or an actual burn from a negative cooking experience, but it can help you out when your skin is having a skin-cident. Here is an official ingredient profile straight from my Google fingers: “Aloe barbadensis, or aloe vera, is a succulent plant which offers many benefits and is suited for all skin types, especially dry, damaged, broken, sensitive and irritated skin. It offers anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, humectant and soothing qualities for skin”.

Adding aloe vera gel to an anti- acne mask powder blend to give it that perfect beauty boost and consistency.

Here is how I used this fab ingredient to help relieve the current facial flare up:

I grabbed a little ramekin dish and my bottle of Organic Aloe Vera Gel. I then added about a tablespoon of the gel to a couple of teaspoons of powder mask.
The powder contained: Maca Powder, Organic Ground Ginger, Organic Raw Cocoa powder, and Bentonite Clay - this will be a “Maca-Choco-Spice” mask powder that eventually makes it onto the website – so much to do, so little time, haha).
If you happen to have any single one of these ingredients, great, use that along with the aloe gel. If you don’t have any mask powders, or powdery ingredients lying around, not to worry. Using the Aloe Vera Gel by itself is most beneficial and also feels REALLY GOOD. It really is very hydrating and soothing on its own.

Wearing the mask powder I mixed up with the Aloe in above photos :)

OF NOTE: I was officially introduced to the idea of using it as a solo anti-aging ingredient back in California from this lovely woman who looked decades younger than her years. Her claim for her naturally youthful appearance was that it was from removing all of her makeup once she got home every day, and lathering up in the stuff for the night – EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. She liked applying it cold, so she always kept a large bottle of Organic Aloe Vera Gel in her fridge. To this day she looks SOOOOO YOUNG, and I suspect that her nightly Aloe Vera ritual really has been the key.

I trimmed a leaf and opened it up to apply directly to the blemishes after my mask. I also rubbed it (very carefully) around my eyes. The leaves are poky on the edges so just be careful :)

ONE FINAL NOTE: I have this guilt that I haven’t ever purchased an Aloe plant for my house. The one pictured in this post was borrowed from a lovely friend so that I could not only photograph it, but to test a theory I had about using some of the gel direct from the plant, on the annoying break out spots. I also wanted to try it around my extra puffy eyes. I do indeed love the bottles and tubes of gel I always have here in the house, but I really did need to try this. AND I LOVE IT. Here is what I did:

I started with applying it only to the spots and around the eyes, but then I went for the whole face not wanting to waste it. If you try it, just be careful to watch the outside edge of the leaf when you’re going near your eyes. There are these poky areas that you don’t want to scratch yourself with. All in all though, I CANNOT RECOMMEND IT ENOUGH. You should consider trying it if you’re at all intrigued.

Now I shall return the photogenic plant to its rightful home, and I will be purchasing my own plant straight away, because let me tell you - it feels wonderful and I am convinced that applying some straight from the leaf to my face after removing the mask, has helped to dry up the spots, and also to depuff the “baggage”. Try the Aloe. In all of the ways I mention. TRUST ME.

And finally, a bit of shameless self promotion. If you want a product that contains a lot of the good stuff, you can try my Green Goo, which has the Aloe along with some other seriously wonderful ingredients, I am also just really pleased with this product finally making it out of the trial phase and onto the website.

Okay hopefully some of you have found this information useful. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day or night, wherever in the world you might be.

Kindest regards,

Tara xx