What to try next? That is what I thought to myself as I stared at the new red pimples appearing on my forehead. With rigorous creams and face washes I had gotten the large zits under control, but it was those little tiny red clusters (that arise from stress) that I wanted gone. I’m 19 years old, isn’t acne a high school thing? After beating the large pimples and blackheads, I want the redness from my face gone as well.
I know I’ll have some acne wherever I go, because for 1. I like a good can of pop and bag of chips every once a while, and 2. stress from school isn’t going away any time soon. However, I want to be able to say bye-bye to those little pimples for good.
So the question came and went and as I turned from my mirror to my desk I noticed the bottle of aloe vera I had bought after a wicked sunburn from the summer. I didn’t have anything else to lose, why not try aloe vera? I had seen creams and washes with this leafy substance before, I felt like this was going to be the one.
First, because I have an irrational fear of waking up with a hundred pimples if I try any new treatment, I looked up the benefits and the problems with undertaking a skincare routine based solely on aloe vera. The benefits it seemed were even better than I had thought!
According to Windsor Dermatology, aloe vera heals a lot more than just regular burns. It can also aid in preventing wrinkles and increasing skin elasticity, healing cold sores, treating mild acne (i.e. the redness in your face), and hydrates skin!
This got me immediately hooked and I tried it that very night. To keep the pH in my skin balanced I continued to use my same Bioderma purifying cleansing gel (that I highly recommend, as it cleans without irritating the skin) and used 98% Live Clean After Sun Aloe Vera Gel as a moisturizer afterwards.
I decided to use this gel specifically as it’s the closest you can get to the real thing, and let’s be honest, I’m not going through the trouble of buying an actual aloe vera plant and then cutting off pieces when I need it. This gel is certified organic, dermatologist tested, purely vegan, hypoallergenic and is silicone, paraben, and petroleum-free.
I must admit it was a very odd feeling rubbing the gel all over my face. It had an odd stickiness to it, like a facemask that I wouldn’t be able to take off afterwards. The next morning I could still feel it on my face, like I had a slime lining on my face. As odd as it was, I got used to the feeling very quickly as my skin became used to the hydration effects.
After using the gel for two weeks, I’ve found that the redness in my face is almost completely gone! It has definitely healed some of my old acne scars and I definitely feel more hydrated and healthy when I wake up in the morning. Who knows? Maybe it will help with wrinkles in the future as well!
I would highly recommend adding aloe vera into your skincare routine, to strengthen, brighten, and heal your skin!