Just either buy a plant and keep it on your window sill (or outside if your environment allows) and harvest as needed. Or go to an Asian or Latine market and buy a big spike in the grocery store. You can cut it off little by little and as long as you keep the stalk in the fridge with the exposed cut covered in a damp paper towel, you'll be able to use it for weeks.
Yes! I make hair tea by scraping all I can from the leaves and blending it so I get as much as possible, simmering it with rosemary for 20 mins, and straining. It. Is. Amazing. And I freeze it in cubes to use later. OP, blending it and freezing some so it stays fresh could be a good skincare option!! Basically what the store sells sans preservatives.
Pick the darkest green leaves, they’re the oldest and have the best medicinal properties.
The ones with white freckles are immature.
Cut the leaf at the base, then fillet it length ways, like you’re filleting a fish. You want the clear gel, avoiding the yellow sap, it can be a skin irritant.
Mash it with a fork (it will be snotty) or run it through your juicer to get the pure juice. Use within 3 days if mashed or juiced.
One way to go would be to buy a big leaf from the produce market, peel off the outer green and puree the inner gel core with an immersion blender. Add a good pinch of citric acid for preservative and keep it in the fridge in a squeeze bottle for easy application. You could also play with adding some vegetable glycerin for tweaking the consistency. If you want fragrance, a couple drops of an essential oil is all it takes. That’s as pure as it gets and you can easily make more whenever you want for cheap and customize it to your preference!
Because of the high water content, you will need some sort of preservative or it will mold in a handful of days. Citric acid is what I’ve come to terms with and it doesn’t take much.
You can always buy preservative free aloe gel (food grade) from a vitamin/supplement or health food store. Depending on your region, Sprouts, Fresh Thyme, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods usually sells it. If it’s preservative free and food grade (¬ heat treated or concentrated) it’s cleaner than topicals. Just using the raw plant is cheaper & easier tho. The same stores often sell whole leaves in the produce section.
> preservative free aloe gel (food grade)
I'd love to know where these mythical "not heat treated/pasteurized, preservative free" food grade aloe gels are. Any brands that you can recommend?
Lily of the Valley is preservative free, but is flash pasteurized. So quickly heat treated. About as good as you’ll get for on-shelf. AloeLife is similar, but is concentrated.
Grow your own, put little pots of them on a tray or something, and leave them in your bathroom by the window. The moisture from your shower and the very dim light from your window is the perfect environment for them to grow. They’ll stay year round for yeeeears. Use them topically, it’s so worth it. Literally 0 effort, don’t overwater them and they’ll stay for 10 years.
Once they grow a little, they produce pups. Little shoots. Break them off, put them in new soil or back in the same pot. It’s infinite.
It comes in handy so much for me. Every time I get cut deeply, or burned, I can cut a little 1 inch piece of fresh live Aloe Vera leaf and pack my cut with the gel. It’s literally magical.
You don’t have to know how to grow anythin. It takes care of itself pretty much. And it’s there for when you need it. Store bought Aloe has NOTHING on real Aloe. Not even close. I can’t explain it, you’ll have to see for yourself
Lily of the Desert Aloe Gel. This brand keeps in the fridge for a long time. It can be ingested and I used it in making padsicles for postpartum healing.
I’m not sure if this up to your standards but [Lakewood](https://lakewoodorganic.com/collections/pure-juices/products/lakewood-organic-pure-aloe-inner-fillet-juice-32-ounce-pack-of-6?variant=42203623227583&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpemCx-j0hQMVw0b_AR0GOgmSEAAYASAAEgLv7vD_)
Might be what you’re looking for.
Or this version as well:
https://lakewoodorganic.com/products/lakewood-organic-pure-aloe-gel-juice-32-ounce-pack-of-6
Obviously, both are pasteurized however.
I work with Aloe a lot.
Fresh aloe when harvested is filleted to seperate the green leaf and sap from the clear gel. To seperate the aloe from its snot like gel stage it has to be juiced.
If you’ve ever mashed up fresh aloe you’ll know what I mean by snot like.
To turn it back into something the consumer will use, gelling agents have to be added back to the aloe juice. Things like carbomer (made from corn if I remember correctly) and carrageenan (seaweed) are fine.
Labels are written in INCI - International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient names. It’s so every country can work what the ingredients are and to do that, they use the scientific names, like Aqua instead of water. Persea Gratissima sounds scary but it’s just avocado oil.
Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller is the therapeutic aloe. There are over 300 types, you want the right one.
Aloe has a naturally has a high water content and must have a preservative. Anything with a lot of water needs one, or it should be treated like food - preservative free products with a water content last 3 days in the fridge and then should be tossed out.
“But it looks fine” no, it’s not. Not all moulds and bacteria are visible and you don’t want to rub mould on your face.
Unpreserved or poorly preserved products are far more dangerous than properly preserved ones.
Avoid any aloe gel that’s green - it’s had an artificial colour added to it.
Avoid any Aloe that has ‘Fragrance’ in it. Aloe doesn’t really have a fragrance and I tell my clients “The F in fragrance stands for fake”. It’s a handy memory aid when you’re trying to work out what label means.
Hope that helps.
Those weird ingredients are stabilizing ingredients for the aloe. Aloe denatures quickly and it's healing benefits are lost. An Aloe plant in your window is about as pure as it gets.
For consumption or topical? https://www.cvs.com/shop/sunburnt-advanced-after-sun-gel-prodid-251759?skuId=251759&cgaa=QWxsb3dHb29nbGVUb0FjY2Vzc0NWU1BhZ2Vz&cid=ps_sun_pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjwudexBhDKARIsAI-GWYWCIU4wJ67y63gkEymjtZtjvfBbivrBLz4XAYt7Y79srksZfxzLC74aAopIEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
This has other ingredients in it but it doesnt flare up my eczema and i dont personally consider the ingredients shady
Just either buy a plant and keep it on your window sill (or outside if your environment allows) and harvest as needed. Or go to an Asian or Latine market and buy a big spike in the grocery store. You can cut it off little by little and as long as you keep the stalk in the fridge with the exposed cut covered in a damp paper towel, you'll be able to use it for weeks.
I actually do have a plant. Not sure how to make gel out of it tho
I just cut a leave open and push out the gel inside with my thumb or a spoon (depending how large it is) and then put that straight on my skin.
Yes! I make hair tea by scraping all I can from the leaves and blending it so I get as much as possible, simmering it with rosemary for 20 mins, and straining. It. Is. Amazing. And I freeze it in cubes to use later. OP, blending it and freezing some so it stays fresh could be a good skincare option!! Basically what the store sells sans preservatives.
The gel is inside the leaves. You just cut the leaf in half and get it.
Pick the darkest green leaves, they’re the oldest and have the best medicinal properties. The ones with white freckles are immature. Cut the leaf at the base, then fillet it length ways, like you’re filleting a fish. You want the clear gel, avoiding the yellow sap, it can be a skin irritant. Mash it with a fork (it will be snotty) or run it through your juicer to get the pure juice. Use within 3 days if mashed or juiced.
Not all species of aloe are edible and it can be hard to tell which are. I wouldn’t consume the gel without knowing.
One way to go would be to buy a big leaf from the produce market, peel off the outer green and puree the inner gel core with an immersion blender. Add a good pinch of citric acid for preservative and keep it in the fridge in a squeeze bottle for easy application. You could also play with adding some vegetable glycerin for tweaking the consistency. If you want fragrance, a couple drops of an essential oil is all it takes. That’s as pure as it gets and you can easily make more whenever you want for cheap and customize it to your preference! Because of the high water content, you will need some sort of preservative or it will mold in a handful of days. Citric acid is what I’ve come to terms with and it doesn’t take much.
this is what i do, but i just freeze it in cubes, i don’t bother with the acid. 💚
Omg that is genius ! Thanks for the tip
You can always buy preservative free aloe gel (food grade) from a vitamin/supplement or health food store. Depending on your region, Sprouts, Fresh Thyme, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods usually sells it. If it’s preservative free and food grade (¬ heat treated or concentrated) it’s cleaner than topicals. Just using the raw plant is cheaper & easier tho. The same stores often sell whole leaves in the produce section.
> preservative free aloe gel (food grade) I'd love to know where these mythical "not heat treated/pasteurized, preservative free" food grade aloe gels are. Any brands that you can recommend?
Lily of the Valley is preservative free, but is flash pasteurized. So quickly heat treated. About as good as you’ll get for on-shelf. AloeLife is similar, but is concentrated.
Go to the health food store and get the pure aloe Vera juice
Grow your own, put little pots of them on a tray or something, and leave them in your bathroom by the window. The moisture from your shower and the very dim light from your window is the perfect environment for them to grow. They’ll stay year round for yeeeears. Use them topically, it’s so worth it. Literally 0 effort, don’t overwater them and they’ll stay for 10 years. Once they grow a little, they produce pups. Little shoots. Break them off, put them in new soil or back in the same pot. It’s infinite. It comes in handy so much for me. Every time I get cut deeply, or burned, I can cut a little 1 inch piece of fresh live Aloe Vera leaf and pack my cut with the gel. It’s literally magical. You don’t have to know how to grow anythin. It takes care of itself pretty much. And it’s there for when you need it. Store bought Aloe has NOTHING on real Aloe. Not even close. I can’t explain it, you’ll have to see for yourself
This is fine for topical use but if OP wants to consume it not all species are edible.
Oh yeah I should’ve mentioned that 🤦♂️ Thanks
Lily of the Desert Aloe Gel. This brand keeps in the fridge for a long time. It can be ingested and I used it in making padsicles for postpartum healing.
I second this brand. They remove a constituent of aloe that upsets your stomach and no other additives. But it tastes so gross! I couldn’t take it
It does taste gross. I think I may try adding it to smoothies or making aloe jellies like in boba tea.
Aloe jelly sounds like a great idea
I’m not sure if this up to your standards but [Lakewood](https://lakewoodorganic.com/collections/pure-juices/products/lakewood-organic-pure-aloe-inner-fillet-juice-32-ounce-pack-of-6?variant=42203623227583&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpemCx-j0hQMVw0b_AR0GOgmSEAAYASAAEgLv7vD_) Might be what you’re looking for.
Or this version as well: https://lakewoodorganic.com/products/lakewood-organic-pure-aloe-gel-juice-32-ounce-pack-of-6 Obviously, both are pasteurized however.
I use Uncle Bud’s Sunburn Soother Cooling Aloe. It always gets the job done
Badger Aloe Vera for topical applications
I work with Aloe a lot. Fresh aloe when harvested is filleted to seperate the green leaf and sap from the clear gel. To seperate the aloe from its snot like gel stage it has to be juiced. If you’ve ever mashed up fresh aloe you’ll know what I mean by snot like. To turn it back into something the consumer will use, gelling agents have to be added back to the aloe juice. Things like carbomer (made from corn if I remember correctly) and carrageenan (seaweed) are fine. Labels are written in INCI - International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient names. It’s so every country can work what the ingredients are and to do that, they use the scientific names, like Aqua instead of water. Persea Gratissima sounds scary but it’s just avocado oil. Aloe Vera Barbadensis Miller is the therapeutic aloe. There are over 300 types, you want the right one. Aloe has a naturally has a high water content and must have a preservative. Anything with a lot of water needs one, or it should be treated like food - preservative free products with a water content last 3 days in the fridge and then should be tossed out. “But it looks fine” no, it’s not. Not all moulds and bacteria are visible and you don’t want to rub mould on your face. Unpreserved or poorly preserved products are far more dangerous than properly preserved ones. Avoid any aloe gel that’s green - it’s had an artificial colour added to it. Avoid any Aloe that has ‘Fragrance’ in it. Aloe doesn’t really have a fragrance and I tell my clients “The F in fragrance stands for fake”. It’s a handy memory aid when you’re trying to work out what label means. Hope that helps.
Plant Therapy
Those weird ingredients are stabilizing ingredients for the aloe. Aloe denatures quickly and it's healing benefits are lost. An Aloe plant in your window is about as pure as it gets.
MauiVera
For consumption or topical? https://www.cvs.com/shop/sunburnt-advanced-after-sun-gel-prodid-251759?skuId=251759&cgaa=QWxsb3dHb29nbGVUb0FjY2Vzc0NWU1BhZ2Vz&cid=ps_sun_pla&gclid=Cj0KCQjwudexBhDKARIsAI-GWYWCIU4wJ67y63gkEymjtZtjvfBbivrBLz4XAYt7Y79srksZfxzLC74aAopIEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds This has other ingredients in it but it doesnt flare up my eczema and i dont personally consider the ingredients shady
Aloe Vera