Many of us grew up using fresh aloe as a DIY home remedy for skin that has had a little too much sun or to get quick relief for minor burns.
What most of us didn’t know then is that aloe vera benefits go deeper than just sunburn care.
Used for everything from dandruff to stretch marks, aloe vera is one of the biggest heroes of natural skincare. At Three Ships Beauty, we made it our mission to unpack the benefits of aloe vera so we could better understand how to use it effectively in our skincare.
Together, we’ll talk about how aloe vera is sourced, what it can do for your skin, and how you can easily add it to your skincare routine with simple, fuss-free products that really work.
What Is Aloe?
The aloe vera plant is a cactus-like succulent that grows in hot, dry climates. It’s found everywhere, from the southwestern United States to parts of Mexico and South America. The aloe plants used for Three Ships Beauty products are sourced from Guatemala.
Aloe is made up mostly of water, but there are over 200 active compounds inside that help with everything from wound healing to hydration. The plant-based phenols, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and sugar are beneficial to your skin in many ways.
Although aloe is powerful, it’s extremely gentle, making it a solution for sensitive skin types.
How We Get Aloe From Plant to Product
Ever wonder how those vital nutrients and plant enzymes get from the garden into your favorite skincare products?
At Three Ships Beauty, we’ll always tell you how the plant-harvesting process goes.
Our Guatemalan aloe vera plants are sustainably sourced and responsibly grown. We use aloe vera powder in our products, which mixes better and helps preserve the plant’s vitamin and mineral profile.
Our aloe vera leaves are hand filleted, pasteurized, and prepared prior to being included in our products.
If you’ve ever tried to grow your own aloe vera plant and realized you don’t have a green thumb, that’s okay. Our products allow you to get all the benefits of aloe vera with zero plant-care responsibility.
What Are the Benefits of Aloe Vera?
Popular in products like lotions and even face masks, aloe vera is a favorite ingredient in skin care. Its uses range from supporting the healing process to promote healthful aging.
Here are eight benefits you can expect from using aloe vera on your skin.
1. Antioxidant Protection
Your skin is constantly battling free radicals. Free radicals are unbalanced molecules that attack your skin cells and cause damage. The damage can range from less skin elasticity to the appearance of dark spots and fine lines.
Aloe vera is packed with vitamin A and C, powerful antioxidants that support your skin cell health. Using aloe vera is sort of like giving your skin a sword and shield to protect it against harsh damage.
2. Anti-Inflammatory Properties
An essential compound inside aloe vera, aloin, makes this plant effective in helping treat first and second-degree burns and, of course, a sunburn. Aloe vera gel is the go-to solution for at-home after sun care, but you can get these skin-soothing benefits even if you don’t use aloe gel.
Aloe is effective for helping soothe the sting of an allergic reaction or overall sensitive skin. Because it has soothing properties that help it reduce irritation, it’s considered effective for all skin types.
3. Promotes Healthy Aging
Ponce de Leon may have discovered the Fountain of Youth, but he’d have gotten much better anti-wrinkle results with aloe vera. The compounds in aloe vera help support youthful-looking skin.
With age, collagen production declines, leaving your skin hollow and susceptible to premature fine lines and wrinkles.
Aloe vera helps support your skin health and appearance for smooth and supple skin.
4. Moisture
Aloe vera acts as a humectant. Humectants attract water from the air and pull the moisture deep inside the lower layers of your skin so that the skin stays hydrated.
Additionally, dry skin benefits from aloe vera application because of mucopolysaccharides, a compound inside aloe that helps bind moisture inside the skin, hydrating the epidermis.
5. Improving Skin Texture
Although it isn’t technically considered an emollient (an ingredient that conditions the skin to make it softer), aloe has emollient-like properties because of its cohesiveness or its ability to stick to other surfaces.
By helping bind together rough, dry skin patches, it can produce softer, smoother skin better than most dry skin creams.
6. Dark Spots
We’ll admit it; we spent a little too much time in the sun when we were younger. As we age,sunspots remind us why sunscreen is so important. Both aloin and aloesin, compounds in aloe vera, work to help reduce the appearance of dark spots on the skin.
These compounds help break apart melanin cells responsible for producing dark areas on the skin, allowing them to gradually fade.
7. Blemishes
Aloe contains natural salicylic acid, one of the best blemish treatments available. By digging deep into pores, salicylic acid can dissolve into sebum, helping break it up and prevent blemishes.
Aloe vera also has anti-fungal properties that help prevent the overgrowth of bacteria on the skin and help promote a healthy pH balance on the stratum corneum, the perfect way to keep pimples off your radiant skin.
The antibacterial properties of aloe vera are also helpful in managing redness and irritation that often accompany blemishes and breakouts.
8. Skin Conditions
Flare-ups of certain skin conditions or concerns can mean days of itchy, red, irritated skin. Skin conditions like these can make using your regular skincare products feel like a challenge. If this sounds familiar, aloe vera can help.
Aloe helps clear and cleanse the skin, and its soothing properties help tone down irritation. Pretty soon, irritated skin becomes balanced, happy skin.
It’s easy to get started with aloe vera, and at Three Ships Beauty, you won’t find a complicated, 12-step process to get the essential ingredients you need where you need them.
How Can I Use Aloe Vera?
Whether you’re an all-natural product guru or just getting your feet wet, we make it easy to understand skincare. Our aloe vera products are easy to integrate into any skincare routine.
- Purify Aloe + Amino Acid Cleanser. Cleanse your skin with our alcohol-free, gentle cleanser that removes dirt without stripping your skin of its natural moisture. Look Closer: Our cleanser contains amino acids that help replenish your skin’s natural moisture barrier.
- Calm Lavender Hydrosol Toner. Even sensitive skin needs a good, pore-cleansing toner to help tighten and improve skin tone and texture. Our toner penetrates deeply, moisturizes with aloe, and helps keep skin clarified. Look Closer: This toner also contains witch hazel, a dermatologist favorite for calming sensitive skin.
These two aloe-based products can deliver the powerful benefits of aloe vera easily and affordably, making both your skin and bank account happy.
Effective, natural skincare without confusion? That’s us.
Helpful Hints
Even though aloe vera is incredibly fabulous for your skin, you must use products with the correct concentration. Aloe is naturally exfoliating due to its salicylic acid content. While this is great for removing dead skin cells, a side effect of using an amount of aloe that isn’t good for your skin can be excessive dryness.
That’s why we formulate our products with enough aloe to benefit your skin without risking moisture loss or irritation.
Aloe Like You’ve Never Known It Before
The same aloe you grew up with, but make it a skincare product. You got it. At Three Ships Beauty, we study the efficacy and importance of every ingredient we place in our products. You’ll never have to wonder why an ingredient exists in our product lineup because we’ll let you know; that’s our transparency promise.
Give your skin the hydration, protection, and support it deserves. Soothing aloe is a staple ingredient in some of our favorite products that help keep your skin as radiant as your personality.
Sources:
Using Aloe Vera has multiple benefits | BCM.edu
Aloe Vera: Not Just for Sunburns | Penn Medicine
