Aloe Vera Gel - One Man's Poison is Another Man's Cure

I have beautiful aloe vera plants at home which has grown so well because I take very good care of them. I didn't nurture these plants because of my love for the plants. I nurtured them because of my love for my hair and its growth. I have read and heard about the amazing benefits of the aloe vera plant for the hair and skin. So knowing that my mum had so many pots of dying aloe vera plants that she couldn't be bothered with, I decided to nurture most of them back to good health. 

The thing now is after nurturing my plants to great health, I can't bring myself to actually use them. I don't know if it's just sheer laziness on my part to get the aloe vera gel out of its green shell or my unsuspecting gradual attachment to the plants. Whatever it may be, I just can't bring myself to get some useful 'gel-ness' for my hair.

Allowing my aloe vera plant to continue to blossom, I decided to get two tubes (200ml each) of Holland & Barrett Aloe Vera Gel (99.9% soothing hand filleted organic aloe vera gel content). What the hell, 99.9% in my books means 100%.

FOR MY HAIR

I have very low hair porosity, water takes a very long time to penetrate and products normally just sit on my hair. It takes quite a while for products to sink in. I tried the aloe vera gel in so many ways to see which result will work the best. 

Note: My hair is still in one of the TWA stages (about 6.5 to 7 inch hair length when stretched)

1st way - On my wash day (after shampooing and conditioning), I used the Cantu Shea-butter leave-in cream (never works well with any gel on my hair), followed by the aloe vera gel (like a tablespoon full). It resulted in lots of residues and white junks, so I had to rinse everything off my hair. (EPIC FAIL)

2nd way - On my wash day (after shampooing and conditioning), I used my Aussie Moist Miracle Insurance leave-in spray, followed by aloe vera gel (like a tablespoon full) and then a few drops of oil. It was alright, it sank well into my hair. However by midday, my hair felt very dry. (FAIL)

3rd way - After co-washing, I properly moisturized with my two leave-in (cantu and aussie) and sealed with oil (usually this is all I need for three days) then when the products had properly sunk in, I used the aloe vera gel (like a tablespoon full) on top. The overall feel was great but midday, my hair felt very dry. I had to constantly re-moisturize. (FAIL)

4th way - In between the week, on a 2nd to 3rd day wash n go, I spray my hair with water and used the aloe vera gel (like a tablespoon full). Again, The overall feel was great but by midday my hair felt very dry. I had to constantly re-moisturize. (FAIL)

5th way - GIVE UP. Patience and all ain't one of my many strengths.

I was kind of pissed that it wasn't working for me and I really wanted it to work. Even though I read on the lowporosityhaircare blog that aloe vera gel is a frenemy to my kind of hair, I am also a believer of what works for you might not work for me. But in this case, I have to admit that she was right. However, she gave other great recommendations on how to make make aloe vera gel work for low porosity hair but my hair care regimen is not channeled in that direction. It is a pass for me.

While I was still thinking of what to do with my tubes of aloe vera gel, I was mildly breaking out on my face. So on one random night just before bed, I decided to actually read what was on the tube and apply the gel on my face as a moisturizer. It was so amazing.

FOR MY FACE

It gives my oily face a well-balanced moisture. It helps keep my make-up and face so matte, It is a great primer I must confess. It mixes well with oils, so I use it with my jojoba oil at night. It is very soothing on the face and neck. I used it on insect bites too and it helps soothe them for me. 

I feel like it's a win win for me now. So it didn't work well for my hair but it works great for my face, make-up and skin.