HOW ALOE VERA HELPS EVERY DOSHA SHINE

Aloe Vera is a cactus-like plant that grows in hot, dry climates. From Morocco to Mexico and many hotspots in-between, this plant is a symbol of endurance and beauty. The plant’s broad, serrated, meaty leaves resemble a lizard’s striped tail, and each year the plant sends up spikes of electric-orange and acid-yellow flowers that attract much-needed pollinators. 

Aloe Vera is a tough desert survivor, and has been valued for centuries by ancient cultures worldwide for the clear, glossy serum contained in its dinosaur-like leaves. The Ayurvedic tradition of India has utilized Aloe Vera as a calming, healing ingredient for millennia, with many traditional recipes like those used as the basis for our products demonstrating the benefits of using Aloe Vera on hair. 

 

Today, science validates the benefits of Aloe Vera gel as useful in many aspects of wellness, including:

• Topical: to improve acne and clear breakouts/pimples
• Topical: to speed burn-healing and reduce burn-related pain
• Topical: to cool sunburn
• Topical: potentially helpful to treat genital herpes, psoriasis, and skin damage from radiation therapy
• Oral: Aloe Vera is now being studied as a method of lowering blood sugar and HbA1c in people with diabetes
• Oral: Also being studied as possible treatment to mitigate obesity and body-fat index in prediabetic and diabetic individuals

Initial studies are now underway exploring the use of Aloe Vera gel, taken internally, as a possible natural treatment for eczema, diabetic foot ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis. 

We note that Aloe Vera products may not be safe for pregnant women and breastfeeding to take internally. Also, those with allergies to onions and garlic may react negatively to oral ingestion of Aloe Vera. Additionally, the latex found in whole-leaf Aloe Vera extracts has been ruled as unsafe for humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. 

 

Aloe Vera in Ayurveda  

 

 

The traditional use of Aloe Vera in Ayruveda reveals an understanding of holistic, whole-person wellness in addition to the obvious physical benefits. 

Many practitioners call Aloe Vera “Kumari,” or “young girl.” This is because Aloe Vera is regarded as a tonic to support youthful feminine vitality. Ayruveda teaches that Aloe Vera is beneficial to all three Doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. 

Historically, Ayruveda has used Aloe Vera topically to clear infection, calm the skin, and, when enjoyed as a natural detox drink, to release constipation. Some current studies suggest that ingesting Aloe Vera gel helps the body produce collagen, which is essential to maintaining the youthful elasticity and plumpness of the skin. 

 

Aloe Vera Gel benefits for skin and hair

 

 

Picture the Aloe Vera plant in its natural environment. The sun is beating down. The air temperature is 100 F degrees or higher. Rainfall is but a distant memory. 

Yet in spite of the scorching setting, the Aloe Vera’s leaves remain plump and mighty as a dragon’s tail, and the plant faithfully sends up its spike of brilliant flowers, attracting the bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, orioles, bats, wasps and flies that feed on their nectar and distribute pollen, keeping the desert vibrantly alive.  

This is all due to the plant’s remarkable ability to retain moisture, thanks to its high concentrations of Vitamin C and E, and Beta carotene. With this in mind, DEVANE Beauty features Aloe Vera gel extract in every one of the products included in our debut Bountifull Collection.  

When used directly on the scalp, Aloe Vera relieves dryness and itch. When applied to the strands, the gel coats and strengthens, closing the follicle and helping to prevent breakage, leaving hair smooth and shiny. When taken as a daily oral tablet, the extract of Aloe Vera gel relieves the inflammation that can arrest healthy hair growth. 

Here are some other ways to enjoy Aloe Vera, using gel extract or juice, as part of your wellness journey: 

• Makeup remover for all skin types. Apply gel to a damp cotton square, and press gently for a second or two to dissolve even long-wearing eye pencil. Follow up with gentle cleanser. Unlike baby oil, Aloe Vera gel does not create milia, the tiny, hard keratin deposits that feel like sugar or sand crystals, often formed around the eye area as the result of using comedogenic skin products.
• Moisturizer for all skin types: Cleanse skin, then apply gel directly for a burst of refreshing hydration Unlike oil-based moisturizers, Aloe Vera gel won’t plug pores and invite pimples.
• Exfoliator for all skin types: Blend Aloe Vera gel with turbinado or raw sugar. Using your fingertips, form a soft paste. Apply to cleansed skin, especially the T-zone Rinse, pat dry. Unlike most exfoliants, this blend will soothe rather than agitate the skin while loosening impurities and polishing the complexion.
• Clarifier for congested, oily skin: Blend the fresh juice of a whole lemon with an equal amount of Aloe Vera gel juice or extract. Use your fingertips to blend, and apply to freshy cleansed skin, especially the nose or T-zone. This botanical refresher may help to reduce the appearance of large pores.
• Soothing treatment for sensitive skin: Combine equal amounts of Aloe Vera extract gel with rose water, and apply to cleansed skin, especially areas which may feel itchy due to allergies.

 

Aloe Vera and its impact on Doshas

 

 

• Anti-inflammatory, especially for Kapha-Pitta Dosha. This powerful Dosha is a dynamic marriage of Earth and Fire elements and may be prone to acne and monthly breakouts. Enzymes present in Aloe Vera gel form an antibacterial coating on the skin which may fend off the specific bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes, as well as Staphlococcus epidermis, which frequently trigger acne.
• Aloe Vera also balances all three Doshas with its clarifying, purifying and astringent properties.
• Restorative mask for depleted skin, especially for Vata Dosha: Vata Dosha tends to be dry and dehydrated. If this sounds like you, blend a spoonful of organic, pesticide-free honey (yes, we associate Vata Dosha, ever-buzzing and darting around, with the industrious honeybee!) with a spoonful of Aloe Vera gel and the contents of one Vitamin E capsule. Blend with your fingertips, then slowly apply the mixture to your cleansed, warm, damp scalp and face. After 20 minutes, wash your face and hair, blot dry.
• Brightener for all skin: Turmeric, a member of the ginger family, plays well with others to soften and fade the appearance of scars and hyperpigmentation (dark spots). Blend a pinch of Turmeric with a spoonful of Aloe Vera gel and an equal amount of fresh lemon juice, blend and apply to cleansed skin. Remove with warm towel after 15 minutes.

 Historians trace the evolution of the Aloe Vera plant to the Arabian Peninsula. Trade routes were well-established in the Red Sea and Mediterranean regions by the 4th century BC, and the succulent plant was well-established in India and Ayurvedic practice by that time. 

What’s most remarkable is that today, we need the soothing, supportive qualities of Aloe Vera more than ever! Our modern world is filled with toxins and environmental stressors of which our ancestors could not have dreamed. 

So, next time you see one of those seemingly indestructible Aloe Vera plants braving the heat, sun and smog beside a busy freeway, or blooming sweetly in a patio pot, remember that this state-of-the art wellness, hair care and skin care ingredient has deep and ancient roots indeed.