JenniferWhile all these days of sunshine are just the ticket for making my garden grow, they do leave my skin parched and gasping. Fortunately, I can rely on the hydrating power of aloe vera to refresh, revitalise and rehydrate my thirsty skin, activity that has been harnessed for more than three millennia.
All that hydration is the result of some very clever adaptations aloe has developed over millions of years to cope with the stresses of its native environment. Aloe vera (properly called Aloe barbadensis) and all of the 300 plus other species of aloe come from Africa and the islands off its coast. The ability to store and retain nutrients and moisture is vital for surviving in arid environments. Aloes are able to close their stomata (tiny openings on the epidermis of the leaf) to ensure that as much water as possible is retained within the plant and not lost through evaporation. This capacity to conserve water allows aloe to survive long periods of dry weather and even drought conditions.
Another clever adaptation to hang on to water is the way aloes (and lots of other plants) hold their leaves. Aloe leaves are arranged at specific, predictable distances in a spiral around the stem. This mathematical arrangement is known as the Fibonacci sequence and appears repeatedly in the plant kingdom. Each leaf provides shade for a different neighbour as the sun moves through the sky over the course of a day. This way, less of each leaf is exposed to the water-sapping sun and the whole plant conserves more water. Not an adaptation we can harness to benefit your skin, but a fascinating example of just how complex plants are.
Aloe leaves are a half-oval shape: the upper side of the leaf is flat, while the underside is convex. At the leaf’s centre is a translucent gel surrounded by a sticky layer, then a sap layer, and finally the tough, grey-green outer skin or rind. When that skin is pierced, the gel and sticky layers flood to the surface and almost instantly create a barrier, ensuring that a minimum of precious liquid is lost. Research has shown that applying aloe vera to superficial skin wounds can help accelerate healing.
The large amount of moisture in aloe’s leaves is responsible for its reputation for cooling. To maximize the amount of liquid in the leaves, the aloe in Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare is picked early in the morning. A single leaf can yield up to 500g (one pound) of gel.
On hot summer days, bottles of milk jostle for space in my refrigerator with Botanical Aftersun Gel, Instant Boost Skin Tonic and even our new special edition Foot Spritzer as I take advantage of aloe’s benefits. After all, where else would one store cool drinks for the skin?