Mermaid Beauty: Aloe Gel

A couple years back, I pilfered one of my mum's aloe vera plants. I'd seen somewhere that they promote good sleep because of the amount of oxygen they kick out, or something of the like. Since taking on the aloe, it has spawned many a baby plant to the point where I have gone from keeping it in one pot to at least three. With bare minimum gardening too. Imagine how much more I would have if I actually looked after it and watered it more than when it goes brown!

I still keep one plant in our bedroom, to help with the sleep thing. But the mama plant, Mama Aloe*, lives downstairs in the kitchen and looks a little like this:

One floppy Aloe Mama.

I decided it was high time to do something with her. Maybe lighten the load.

As I have mentioned before, I am a pale kid. I get sun burnt inside. Next to an open window, of course, but still indoors. If we get anything remotely close to a summer this year, I am sure to go a little pink. I use sun screen, but even factor fifty doesn't do the trick a lot of the time. So having some aloe gel would be great to help soothe the skin. As it stands, it looks like summer is going to be soggier than it has a right to be. But never mind, aloe gel has plenty of uses. It can be used on minor wounds and bug bites in addition to sun burn. It can also be used a base product in other homemade cosmetics. I do like a good versatile material!

But of course, I needed to test to see if it was a viable option - see how easy or difficult it was to make, what additional materials were needed, etc. I turned to wikiHow because it was the first link when googling "diy aloe gel". Turns out, this is ridiculously simple to make. There are honestly vegetables more difficult to prepare than this. (I'm looking at you, swedes.)

Small but mighty stuff.

HOW DO YOU MAKE ALOE GEL?

1. Wash hands and implements. This prevents the aloe gel from getting contaminated.
2. Sterilise the jar you'll be keeping it, for the same reasons.
3. Select a nice, juicy leaf or leaves. The lower down and bigger, the better. These tend to be the more mature leaves and don't damage the plant overly when taken. Slice it off.
4. Leave them to drain upright in a bowl. Over the next ten minutes they will leak out a yellow resin which contains latex. Leaving that in could create an irritant for the skin. I left mine an extra ten minutes but found all of the resin had come out in the first ten. (It was mostly an excuse to go back and play more piano.)
5. Peel off the flat side of the leaf with a vegetable peeler. Only do the one side, so you have a nice little canoe of aloe gel. Discard the bits of leaf you peel off.
6. Scoop out the good stuff! I put mine directly into the jar, but there is an optional step which can be taken so it can just as easily be put in a bowl for the time being.
7. The optional step is mixing it in a blender with a natural preservative like powdered vitamin C. I didn't have any of that to hand, so I missed this out. But if you wanted to make bulk batches of aloe gel then it is advised as this product is perishable. Without preservatives it will only last a couple weeks in a fridge. With them, they will last much longer. Over harvesting can be damaging to your aloe plant, so it is just as easy to make on an "as need basis".
8. Decant your gel into the sterilised jar. Boom, done and ready to use.

Weirdly satisfying.

I only made one leaf's worth as I was testing the method out. If I find this to be a useful product I may consider getting a natural preservative in to make in bulk, but I do worry that it would be bad for Mama Aloe. Considering how quick and easy it all was, I will probably just make it as and when. Even the ten minute wait on the resin is not the worst, as it did give me a nice little window to go play the piano or do a quick job like hang the laundry which is what I probably should have done!

Now that I have made the gel, I am going to have some fun testing it in other products!

WHAT CAN I MAKE WITH ALOE GEL?

Moisturising Lotion: Combine with melted coconut oil, 2:1 aloe to coconut, to make a nice moisturising lotion.

Face Mask: There is a whole list of aloe based face masks to try here at Sio Beauty. I am home alone this weekend, it may be the perfect time to pamper myself!

Make-up Remover: I don't wear make up very often but when I do, I have to rely on showering the next day to get rid of it because I refuse to buy some over-priced, plastic clad remover. And the cotton pads to go with it. So I often look like Alice Cooper the day after wearing make up. Having a gentle, aloe based remover sounds perfect! And because I wear make so little, it would not be hard going on Mama Aloe.

There are plenty more things I could be making. I like the idea of these three to get me started. So keep an eye out in the coming months for when I give these a go!

What aloe based products do you use? What aloe based products do you think I should try? Anything that I should give a go? Lemme know, below!

*Yes I named my plant. I am a millennial, I name everything.

Listening to: Get Some Happy!