When looking into your bathroom cabinets, what do you see? Medicines, lotions, facial cleansers, and moisturizers are just some of the items found in a typical household bathroom.
With the plethora of different products, each with a different use, it can be difficult to sort through it all. What if you didn’t need all of that clutter? A variety of these items can easily be replaced by something many individuals already own: aloe vera.
5 Health Benefits of Aloe Vera
Aloe vera has a versatility many would never expect. It is cheap, as well as easy to find and use. Start reading now to learn about how aloe vera can be used.
1. Treats Burns and Ailments
One of the most common uses for aloe vera is to treat various burns and ailments, which can be anything from a sunburn to a burn received from a stove or kitchen accident.
Aloe vera works well to soothe burns because it has anti-inflammatory properties that not only reduces swelling but also decreases the overall temperature of the skin.
Additionally, aloe vera can increase the moisture in the skin, which helps the skin heal from burns and other injuries in which the skin is ‘broken.’ In turn, there is a significant decrease in pain soon after the aloe vera is applied to the affected area.
2. As Food or Drink
Aloe vera benefits the body not only externally, but internally as well. Aloe vera can be eaten raw as part of a salad, cooked in a stir-fry, or used in a drink.
It is jam-packed with vitamins and minerals including niacin, folic acid, potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin B12, and zinc. As a result of all the vitamins and minerals it contains, aloe can help with ailments such as cramps, a poor immune system, high cholesterol, and inflammation.
Aloe vera can even improve heart health! It’s safe to say when aloe vera is used as a food or drink, it can significantly improve health.
3. For Acne
Acne is painful and can be hard to treat. The good news, however, is when aloe is applied to acne, it can greatly improve the appearance and overall feeling of the skin.
This is something everyone can easily add to their beauty routine to decrease acne. Furthermore, because aloe has anti-inflammatory properties, it can reduce the swelling acne often causes, along with the red appearance.
Its antibacterial properties help prevent the spread of bacteria from acne and reduce the treatment time. To use aloe vera to treat acne, simply slice open the aloe vera leaf to expose the liquid inside and gently rub it across the affected area.
You may also use a store-bought gel, though it may not be as effective as the concentrated liquid itself. The niacin in aloe vera also helps improve the appearance of acne scarring, so it’s flawless skin all around!
4. As Makeup Remover
Many individuals don’t know aloe vera can also be used to remove makeup. Aloe vera is a great alternative to makeup removers with harsh chemicals since it is natural, safe, and even improves the skin’s appearance.
Unlike other makeup removers, aloe doesn’t dry out the skin, and it can actually prevent skin irritations from forming and help clear up the skin over time, as discussed previously.
Similar to treating acne, aloe to remove makeup can either stem straight from the plant or from a store-bought gel.
Simply rub the aloe vera on a cotton swab or piece of cloth and gently scrub at the makeup. It should come right off!
5. Natural Skin Moisturizer
It can be hard to find a good, natural skin moisturizer, especially for individuals with oily skin, as many moisturizers just make the problem worse.
There is also a long list of ingredients in lotions many individuals are allergic to, and it is difficult to look through the ingredients just to realize they can’t use it.
Thankfully, a great replacement for a generic lotion or moisturizer is aloe, which is a great way to moisturize skin without a long list of ingredients.
The skin isn’t left with a greasy residue like many moisturizers can cause, and because aloe contains niacin, it helps reduce sunspots as well as wrinkles.
Via: OrganicFacts | MindBodyGreen
