Lily of the Desert Aloe 80 Skin Soothing Aloe Gel

Today's review is not about a skin care product, but rather about medicinal cabinet inhabitant. Something you can apply on irritated skin, especially after sunburn. I think many people keep aloe vera gel for that purpose. To my dismay a lot of aloe vera gels feature high concentration of alcohol, which paired with irritated skin makes matters much worse. So after some research I've decided to purchase product from Lily of the Desert, their Aloe 80 Skin Soothing Gel.

Packaging/Pricing:

 

This gel comes in two sizes 236ml (8fl.oz) for ~5$ and 473ml (16fl.oz) for ~8$. Product is packed in plastic amber colour bottle, which would keep formulation safe. 

Ingredients:

 

Aloe Vera Gel, Carbomer, Aloesorb, Retinyl Palmitate (Vit A), Ascorbic Acid (Vit C), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vit E), Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Allantoin, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Hydroxide.

Excellent (only beneficial ingredients, proven research)

Good (mostly beneficial, not extensive research or just not quite outstanding properties)

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary, but not a skincare per se) 

Bad (irritants and anything bad that shouldn't be in a skincare, usually fragrance)

Ingredients Discussion:

 

Before digging into this particular list, I would like to stop for a moment to talk about aloe vera. In my opinion benefits of aloe vera are a little bit overrated. It does have some moisture-binding properties due to the presence of polysaccharides. But its strength as anti-inflammatory ingredient is medium at best. It is not the component to overlook, but  you should not heavily rely on it.

This particular product features not only pure aloe vera gel, but also Aloesorb complex (apparently patented by this company), which is mostly isolated polysaccharides from aloe. The combination should increase water-binding properties of this product. Very exciting to see the range of antioxidants added here (which is not common for this type of product). And it is not just one throwaway ingredient, but vitamins A, C, E and allantoin. There are no irritating ingredients, like essential oils or fragrance, in this product, which is excellent (especially for organic brand). 

Verdict: 

Overall I think it is an excellent product. It will certainly help to soothe irritated skin. However regarding the claims to be very moisturizing, it is not quite true, since it is a very light watery gel formula. This particular gel is not a daily moisturiser (I would stick will regular body lotions), but rather an emergency skin soothing product.

5 out of 5.

P.S.: Company is cruelty free.