This week's review was featured in last week's airless pump bottle Demo, so here's the review of the Nature Republic Aloe Vera 92% Soothing Gel, just in time for summer!
This product is meant to be an all-over gel for soothing and
cooling skin that is hot from either irritation or from exposure to heat. Aloe Vera was something we always had growing
up when I was a kid, and in the event of a burn (or sunburn) my mother would
break off a leaf and rub the cool slimy inside of the leaf on my skin for
instant relief and to promote healing.
Read on for the review of this old-timey remedy in a new and
refined form!
Details:
Full product name: Soothing and Moisture Aloe Vera 92%
Soothing Gel
Purpose: As the name (repeatedly) emphasizes, it's meant to
be a "soothing" gel, good for sunburns, razor burn, etc. I use it as a hydrating step in the summer.
Texture: A perfectly clear thick gel that starts to melt
into water when it contacts the warmth of your skin. You can check out last week's review for more
pictures.
Scent: Fresh and
aloe-y. If you've ever snapped open an
Aloe Vera plant for the gel inside, it smells like a stronger version of
that. I suspect it's enhanced with fragrance
to give it more oomph.
Quantity: HUGE. It's
300ml.
Availability: I got mine off ebay but it's also available
elsewhere online including Amazon, but considering it's a fairly trendy
product, exercise caution and only buy from sellers you trust.
Price: Mine cost me about $13 before shipping, so very
affordable.
Rating: 4/5 I liked it a lot, although I wish it didn't have
alcohol in it.
Repurchase: Yes, although next time I am going to try out
Mizon's Aloe Vera gel.
Full Review:
If you didn't have an Aloe Vera plant hanging around when
you were a kid for those times you managed to scald yourself, it's a desert
plant with some very weird features. It
has thick spiny leaves, with an almost rubbery outside skin, that contain a
fragile center filled with a slimy, watery gel that is easily released by
pressing the leaf. It's used for
everything from topical applications for burns right off the plant itself, to
drinkable digestive supplements, to cosmetics for hair or skin. You can read more about it in the wikipedia
article if you're not in the mood to search.
As I mentioned in last week's review, I keep the main tub of
this gel in my refrigerator, and I transfer a small quantity of it into an
airless pump bottle for easy sink counter storage. Even though it warms to room temperature, it
still feels cooling when applied to the skin, partly because it does contain a
small amount of alcohol in it. Before
you panic, I'd like to point out this gel is 92% straight Aloe Vera and the
concentration of alcohol is very small.
I've got really moody skin, and this did not break me out. You can see a full ingredients list here.
The tub has an inner cap to keep the product clean as you
open it, which is always a nice touch I appreciate in tub products. I hate using products in jars and tubs, which
is why I transfer them to the airless pump bottles for daily use.
As you can see in the image, the gel is perfectly
clear. I also found that the tub came so
full of product that it was difficult to put the cap back on without having it
oozing out everywhere, which was a little annoying.
The packaging also has a charming, fresh, green colour to it
and really reminds me of spring and summer, appropriately enough. This product really shines in the warmer
months, as the cooling sensation (although subtle) is a little off-putting for
winter.
Even though I am from Canada and the weather here is too hot
for me 8 months of the year, I still don't want to put cold stuff on my face
when I'm already freezing. The desert
gets cold at night in the winter, okay?
Don't judge me!
The cool sensation is really lovely for those sticky summer
nights or mornings where you feel like you have to peel yourself out of your
sheets, or when you feel the urge to shower twice because you've already
sweated so much after hopping out of the shower. It's also nice for a quick
hydrating pick-me-up when you feel sweaty or oily to clean your face but you
don't want to do a full-out layering of moisturizers in the middle of the day.
Anyway, according to the Nature Republic website (click here
for EN, or here for KR), this gel has "8 best uses" which I am going
to hazard a guess on, since I don't know Korean.
1. Face mask/treatment.
I have used the gel for a "moisture bomb" mask before going to
bed, where I have thickly coated my face with the Aloe Vera gel to allow my
skin to slowly absorb the moisture without causing my skin to get greasy or
oily.
2. Moisturizer. Now that it's getting warm here (it's already
in the high 80's and it's only the beginning of April), I have cut out a lot of
the products I featured in my post about layering skincare. I use it as a hydrating gel right out of the
shower/after washing my face to prevent moisture loss before I bust out my
actual moisturizers.
3. I am going to
assume they mean to use this post-shaving for skin irritation, because I can't
imagine this texture being useful for shaving.
4. As a hair
gel/styling product. I have heard of
Aloe Vera gel being used as a 'natural' alternative to the harsh and drying
traditional styling gels, although I haven't used it for this purpose as I tend
to just put my hair up when it's hot and be done with it. Also, we regularly get 20+ mph winds here, so
anything fancier than a braid or a bun is just an exercise in futility.
5. Eye pack. I
haven't used this method yet, as I wear glasses and I can't be bothered to lie
down for beauty treatments unless I am going to bed. I do think it would be effective as a remedy
for puffy eyes, however. Just slather
some gel on a cotton swatch and off you go!
6. A quick search
shows that they mean use the gel as a pre-polish nail treatment/skin
moisturizer for post-manicure clean up, not some sort of mad scientist mixing
solution. As strange as this sounds, I
don't get dry hands so unless I'm bringing out the big guns in the form of pure
acetone to banish some stubborn glitter that won't respond to the foil method,
I can't see myself using it this way.
7. Overall body
moisturizer. Yep, works great. I use it on my forearms after I get out of
the shower, because sometimes the skin there gets tight when it dries too
quickly, but if I use a traditional moisturizer it's just too heavy and feels
gross.
8. Soothing angry
skin from sunburn or from product irritation.
I haven't been sunburned in over a decade because I stay the heck out of
the sun, but if I have gotten a little overzealous in massaging my skin with
the Deep Pore Cleansing Oil or tried out a new product that didn't agree with
my skin, I find this is effective to apply to calm down my skin. It's especially useful if you get it straight
out of the tub in the fridge for extra cooling goodness. My skin still burns when I apply it, if my
skin is already irritated, but it settles down very quickly afterward and then
I follow up with my beloved Mizon Snail Recovery Gel to speed up the healing
process.
Final thoughts:
I think it's a nice product to have for the summer, but I
don't feel it's something I can't live without.
Would I purchase it again? Sure,
but I'll try the Mizon brand next because I've had such success with their
products so far, although there was nothing wrong with this one. It lasts forever, though, so I can't see
needing to repurchase it anytime soon.
Leave me a comment with your own summer favourites, or what
you use Aloe Vera gel for if you're a fan!
All the best,
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