Oh-So-Healing Aloe: All About This Amazing Plant

There’s a reason we formulate so many of our better-for-you body care products with aloe vera. This cactus-like plant, also called Aloe barbadensis, is chock-full of powerful natural compounds that have so many healing benefits for skin and hair. Its healing uses have been passed down through cultures and medicine since as early as 1500 BC.

Most of these benefits are found in the clear gel stored in the plant’s thick serrated leaves. This gel stores water (about 99% of it is water) and contains powerful health-promoting compounds like amino acids, lipids, sterols, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Aloe vera contains powerful health-promoting compounds like amino acids, lipids, sterols, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

But there’s more to the aloe plant than this miracle gel. Each of the prickly leaves also contains a yellowish fluid found in the leaves’ inner lining. This fluid, or latex as it’s called, is rich in powerful protective plant substances called anthraquinones and glycosides.

It is these anthraquinones that give the aloe gel its yellowish color and contribute to its powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-viral properties.

Try our vegan, hydrating, essential-oil-infused body washes with aloe vera and other powerful plant-based ingredients.

The Five Benefits of Aloe Vera for Skin and Hair

The potent plant substances in aloe vera contribute to the many benefits you get when using Pharamacopia’s natural body care products. These benefits include:

1. Aloe vera can help reduce redness, irritation, itching—and promote wound healing. Aloe vera is a known healer when you have a sunburn or any burn, which is why it’s common to cut open the leaves and apply the soothing gel directly to the skin. It’s also why our gentle body washes are so soothing to irritated skin.

How it works: aloe vera stops something called thromboxane, which inhibits wound healing. This plus aloe’s anti-inflammatory compounds can reduce inflammation and help improve the wound healing process. Aloe’s fibrous compound called glucomannan (also found in the gel) can stimulate the production of collagen in the skin, also contributing to wound healing.

In boosting wound healing, aloe vera can help reduce the redness and itching that comes with irritated skin.

This is just one reason why our aloe-based Pharmacopia products, like our all-natural shampoos and conditioners, can help soothe an irritated scalp.

Save with our Verbena Shampoo and Conditioner Bundle! Both contain aloe vera, jojoba oil, and more powerful plant-based ingredients.

2. Aloe vera can help the skin to retain moisture, reducing dryness. Aloe vera is rich in substances called mucopolysaccharides like hyaluronic acid. It's these substances that help bind moisture to the skin. Mucopolysaccharides also help the outermost epidermal cells to stick together, which help to soften the skin.

The amino acids in the aloe vera gel also help to soften hardened skin cells. The end result of using aloe vera in bodycare products like our essential oil-infused body lotions: softer, smoother, less irritated skin.

3. Aloe vera may help protect the skin against the sun’s UV rays. Aloe vera is not a sunscreen and is not meant to be used in place of a sunscreen. But it seems to help scavenge or get rid of the free radicals that develop in the skin as a result of exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. It's these free radicals that suppress the body’s natural healing properties.

Scientists have found that after applying aloe vera to the skin, an antioxidant called metallothionein is generated in the skin. It’s this antioxidant that offers some of the skin-protective benefits of aloe. Aloe vera also contains the antioxidant vitamins A and E, as well as beta-carotene.

Try this! If you’re heading out into the sun, pack some of our aloe-rich conditioner in your beach bag. That way, you can apply a small amount to damp hair and the scalp after swimming to help protect the scalp against the sun’s damaging rays.

Our five-star Verbena Body Lotion is rich in natural and organic plant compounds that help soothe the skin. Try it today.

4. Aloe vera may help inhibit bacteria on the skin. Aloe has known antibacterial properties, which is just one reason why it may help keep skin clear.

Aloe contains certain antibacterial compounds namely p-coumaric acid, ascorbic acid, pyrocatechol, and cinnamic acid. It also contains natural salicylic acid, which helps the skin to shed its outermost layer, helping to keep pores clear. Salicylic acid can also help reduce skin redness and swelling.

Aloe vera is rich in natural salicylic acid, which helps the skin to shed its outermost skin cells, keeping skin smooth and clear.

If you’re prone to body breakouts, using a daily body wash with aloe vera like our Citrus Body Wash may help to keep breakouts at bay.

5. Aloe vera may help reduce itching and flaking on the scalp. It’s a combination of all the healing properties of aloe that can benefit a healthy scalp. This is why some research has shown that using aloe on the scalp may help reduce the itching and flaking that accompanies conditions like seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff.

It’s also why our shampoos and conditioners like the ones in our Hyatt Hotels Argan Oil collection are safe and gentle for everyone, even those prone to dryness and itching on the scalp.

So many plants have powerful benefits for the skin and hair. That’s why we look to plants when we formulate our vegan, cruelty-fredy care products. But some ingredients are stand-outs… and aloe is one of these. Using it in our formulations gives our better-for-you Pharmacopia products so many of their healing properties, particularly important during the summer months. And it’s also just one of the reasons why our products get so many five-star reviews!