DIY Aloe Vera Gel

Look at the aloe vera gel sold in stores. It isn't 100% pure gel. I find it doesn't help and then am upset because I wasted money. We all like to save anywhere we can, and I love to do things and make things myself, not only to save money, but also to have the option to customize whatever it is I'm making to suit my fancy.

Aloe can be used topically and can be taken orally to help hundreds of issues. It is excellent to treat burns, acne, and wrinkles, it lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, it helps to treat UTI's, rashes, and bug bites, and the list goes on on. It's amazing what it can do. Cleopatra used it as part of her daily beauty routine. As good as it is, however, there are a few things to remember. If you take a sharp knife and cut a few leaves off a plant close to the base of the plant, you will notice a yellowish liquid that will start dripping immediately from the cut end of the leaf. This yellow liquid can irritate your skin. It can also overstimulate your digestive tract if it is ingested.

You should put your cut leaves into a bowl and rinse them well under cold running water to remove that liquid. Rinse several times and then leave in the sink to drain for 10 minutes. Then you should run a knife over the spiny edges to remove them so you don't hurt yourself.

Then take a veggie peeler and gently peel the green skin off as much as possible. With a spoon, scrape out as much of the clear gel as possible into a food processor, trying not to get any green skin in it. This can be messy, but it is totally worth it.

This stuff is best made in small batches and can go bad quickly. To stop that, crush some vitamin C and put it into a processor. Open a few vitamin E capsules and add those. The "C" helps with preservation and the 'E' is awesome for the skin. Pulse everything together and pour it into a glass mason jar with a metal screw-on lid. Be sure to label it before putting it in the fridge. Let it chill. When you use it after a day in the sun, it will be so cooling and soothing. The best part is that you made it, you know where everything came from, and you know it is 100% aloe. Yes, it is a bit messy, but I'd much rather deal with the mess than spend a lot of money on something that costs too much. The DIY gel costs cents and makes sense.

Here is the final product. If anyone has any questions or needs help, just let me know and I will be more than happy to help.