Aloe Vera Butter
Aloe Vera Butter can be used topically to treat and protect skin, especially if its damaged or sensitive. The following ingredients may be used to produce a typical Aloe Vera Butter, based on an article from RuralSpun.com
Ingredients
- Shea butter: The Vitamin A in shea butter has been shown to improve a number of skin conditions, including skin allergies, itching, blemishes, wrinkles, dermatitis, insect bites, and sunburn. And the natural moisturizers in shea butter are identical to those found in your skin’s own sebaceous glands.
- Vitamin E oil: Vitamin E occurs in eight forms; make sure you are buying a brand that contains tocopherol, which is the only form to meet human requirements, and avoid brans that contain soy. Because of its heavy nature, only small amounts of Vitamin E are needed to achieve benefits, which include protecting the skin against damage from pollution and the sun’s harmful rays, providing anti-inflammatory benefits, and hydrating your skin. Vitamin E oil is also a great antioxidant.
- Jojoba oil: You might worry that this body butter will feel greasy with all these oils going into it, but jojoba oil is one that helps regulate the the amount of sebum that your own skin makes, which makes for a less greasy feel overall. Jojoba is also a well known emollient that soothes skin, and it has been shown to dissolve the sebum that can clog pores and cause acne. Unclogged, healthy pores are better able to maintain skin health.
- Vegetable glycerin: As a humectant, glycerin actually draws moisture into the epidermis of the skin and helps to seal it in at the cellular level. Glycerin is also an emollient, making skin soft and supple to the touch. Vegetable glycerin has been shown to help heal skin damaged from conditions such as psoriasis and can combat the signs of aging.
- Aloe vera gel: The gel from this plant has been used since Egyptian times to heal flaky and dry skin, sunburns, acne, eczema, and more. The plethora of antioxidants, including beta carotene and Vitamin C, help maintain skin’s health and natural hydration. The healing properties of aloe vera have also been shown to help heal stretch marks.
- Rice powder: The addition of rice powder helps maintain a whipped texture to your body butter, but it has other benefits as well. 16th century Geishas used it as a beauty product to give a porcelain finish to their skin. Ancient Indonesians used rice powder to help protect their skin from the sun. In modern times we know that the structure of rice powder is similar to that of ceramide, a natural component in our cell walls that also happens to be one of the main components of the skin’s epidermis. Ceramide helps prevent water loss and increases collagen production, which makes skin more supple.
The rice powder is available at many grocery stores (Bob’s Red Mill is the brand I use), and the other ingredients can be purchased from a store that sells organic foods and health products. But you might also find them at your local grocer. You can also use fresh aloe vera gel from your own plant, like I do!
HOW-TO
Once you collect the ingredients, making the whipped body butter is easy! In a mixing bowl add:
- 4 ounces shea butter
- 1/2 ounce Vitamin E oil
- 1.5 ounces jojoba oil
- 1 ounce vegetable glycerin
- 2 teaspoons aloe vera gel
- 1 tablespoon rice powder
Whip everything well with an electric mixer until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated and fluffy in texture. Place your body butter in a container with a lid (a mason jar works fine) and store out of direct sunlight. Apply the body butter right after you shower, or any time your skin needs some help maintaining moisture.
You can also add about 20 drops of your favorite essential oil to customize a scent, or to provide more therapeutic benefits.
AlternativeMedicine
