For dry, damaged, red, irritated skin and wounds of all kinds, this is natural aloe vera inner leaf gel macerated in sunflower oil so that all the properties of the aloe passes into the oil. No heat is used. It took me AGES to find an aloe that didn't have citric acid, lactic acid, preservatives etc added to it - despite that they say it is 'pure'. It is not. And it's mostly been heat treated. Note it may contain a teeny amount of rapeseed according to NHR. All oils are cold pressed.

I have recommended aloe vera for many years internally and externally as it is a fabulous healer and anti-inflammatory. This oil is for external use. Prof Plaskett, who trained me well over 25 years ago now, was a specialist in aloe vera, and for good reason. I never forgot how powerful it can be. You can read his monograph on it here, if you like.

How to Use

Aloe is great for all kinds of things that need healing - it can cut the time needed by up to 50%. Think: first aid for wounds, cuts and abrasions of all kinds, sports injuries, ulcers, frostbite, burns including radiation burns and fabulous for sunburn, as well arthritis and some infections. It works because aloe contains natural steroids and enzymes that help tissues calm down and repair.

Techy bit from Prof Plaskett: "It works by stimulating the surviving cells to multiply rapidly to replace damaged cells. The mechanism by which the repair is accelerated is through the stimulation of fibroblasts. These are the cells that produce the protein fibres that form part of granulation tissue, providing strength to the wound repair."

So, you would use this directly onto any area that needs healing. I'd love to offer you a pure-enough aloe and I'll continue looking, but this maceration is a great option. Very gentle, but effective. You get the benefit of both the aloe and sunflower oil.

Sunflower has been used here as the macerating oil because it has the highest concentration of natural Vitamin E of any of the plants oils and is very penetrative - gets right down into the skin layers to help healing.

TIP: This is not as concentrated as pure aloe, of course, but also much less sticky! You could buy a plant and squeeze the aloe out of a leaf and apply it pure. Obviously, it is also great to take aloe vera juice internally. But, here again, most are really not great. Here's one I recommend - the only additive is citric acid and that's from tapioca - so no corn :)