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Aloe oil has numerous benefits for skin and hair, and can be used in a number of ways. Learn how to make aloe oil, why you would want to, and how to use it.
What is aloe oil?
When I saw aloe oil for the first time, I was confused by the term because I didn’t know how oil could be obtained from the Aloe vera plant. I wasn’t sure if it was made by pressing the plant, like olive oil, or distilled out, like essential oils. In the end, it isn’t either of those.
Aloe oil is obtained through a macerating process. You basically infuse aloe vera in a carrier oil for several weeks. Depending on your final goal for your aloe oil, you can use different carrier oils, but in the recipe below you will see I used coconut oil. I love the benefits from the coconut oil paired with the aloe vera; it’s a great, all-purpose combination. That’s probably why most aloe oil for sale commercially uses coconut oil as a base. If you have a reaction to coconut oil, though, or it causes you to break out, feel free to switch it out for a different oil. That’s a great added benefit of making aloe oil yourself. (Sunflower oil is an inexpensive non-comedogenic oil that you could use instead!)
Watch how to make aloe oil
Properties of the Aloe Vera plant
Aloe vera is a very therapeutic plant, making it useful in so many ways. When we infuse the aloe vera plant into the oil, we can take advantage of some of its beneficial properties in a new way!
- Anti-Inflammatory – Aloe can help reduce inflammation which is the body’s reaction to infections, irritation, and other injuries.
- Anti-Irritant -Aloe vera can help reduce many types of skin irritation.
- Antioxidant– Aloe vera may protect your skin from free radical damage.
- Anti-Bacterial – Aloe can inhibit the growth of certain types of bacteria (especially when made with an antibacterial oil like coconut oil). It has even been shown to prevent plaque buildup when used as a mouth rinse.
- Anti-Viral – Aloe has been shown to have antiviral properties, making it useful for cold sores and shingles, or other viral caused skin conditions.
- Anti-Fungal– Aloe oil may be effective for athlete’s foot, ringworm, and other fungal or yeast infections.
- Moisturizer – Aloe gel can help hydrate the skin, but may feel drying to some people because it doesn’t have a lipid component to help the skin retain that moisture. Aloe oil, on the other hand, has the beneficial properties of aloe along with the fats of the oil to help the skin retain hydration.
- Cicatrizant– Aloe has been shown to help cuts and scrapes recover faster.
- Sun Protection – Both coconut oil and aloe help protect your skin from harmful UV rays. (They each block about 20% of the sun’s rays. While that isn’t a lot of protection, it does make it a good addition to homemade sunscreens and moisturizers.)
Aloe vera nutritional profile
Most people use aloe oil topically, but if you infuse organic aloe leaves into a food safe carrier oil, you can also take it internally. I actually really like the slightly tangy flavor that the aloe gives your oil. Aloe oil could make a great addition to salads, giving you some of it’s beneficial nutrients. Keep in mind that the anthraquinones in the latex of the aloe plant (in the yellow liquid that drips from the leaves) cause it to have a laxative effect, so ease your way into using it, and don’t go overboard!
- Amino Acids – Aloe vera gel, the inner portion of the leaf, has over 20 amino acids in it.
- Mineral- Aloe is rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and other beneficial minerals.
- Vitamins – Aloe contains Vitamin A, C, E, Folic Acid, Vitamin B1, B2, and B6 and more. These help contribute to its antioxidant properties, and also help with cell growth and protection.
- Salicylic acid in the aloe gel helps reduce acne and other skin inflammation.
- Bradykinase and anthraquinones found in the plant both help reduce inflammation.
Uses for Aloe Oil
With it’s numerous beneficial properties, aloe vera is a great oil to have on hand.
Aloe oil for skin
Aloe oil for soothing burns
Aloe vera is probably most often associated with after-sun products because lot of people use aloe vera gel after being out in the sun to help soothe sunburns. Not only is it soothing, but there is some evidence that aloe vera can help speed up burn healing. (I’m not just talking about sunburns here.) Adding aloe vera oil to homemade lotions is a convenient way to add some of its soothing, healing properties to your lotions.
Aloe for eczema and psoriasis
If you struggle with one or both of these conditions try aloe oil for relief. It can help add nutrients to the skin and clear up spots and rashes on your skin over time! Just apply once or twice daily on the areas that are flaring up.
Aloe oil as a facial oil
Aloe oil isn’t just for summer; it can really helpful in the cold winter months when your skin gets really dry, and is especially good for those with oily, acne prone skin.
Aloe for insect bites
Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, aloe oil may help relieve the itch and swelling from bug bites like bees, wasps, mosquitoes, and other bugs.
Aloe for Healing Cuts
Aloe vera isn’t just for burns! Aloe vera may help wound healing by speeding up reepithelialization of the skin. (The mechanisms by which it works aren’t known.)
You can apply aloe gel to healing wounds to help speed up the healing process. While I wouldn’t apply it directly to open wounds, it would be great for scrapes and bruises, or cuts that have already begun to heal, to help them heal faster. Aloe oil would probably help in the same ways, and would be a great addition to any homemade skin healing preparations.
Aloe oil may even help reduce the appearance of scarring by strengthening the collagen structure within the scar tissue. When my husband was recovering from a major burn accident on his fishing boat, aloe gel was one of the main products we were told to use on his scars. That, rosehip oil, stretching, and massages, were all supposed to help soften the scarring and to help him keep mobility in his arms and hands.
Aloe for Pain Relief
Many people swear by using aloe vera for relieving pain and inflammation caused by arthritis, but it may also help with other inflammatory pain. Massage onto sore areas to help alleviate the pain. To make it even more effective combine aloe oil with a peppermint or eucalyptus essential oil for a nice cooling effect. This works much in the same way as my homemade anti-stress and headache relief lotion.
Aloe for Aging skin
Not only is aloe oil a good addition to facial creams to keep your skin looking young, but taken internally, aloe vera has been shown to significantly reduce the appearance of facial wrinkles.
Aloe for fighting acne
Aloe’s antibacterial properties can help prevent acne in the first place, but it’s anti-inflammatory properties can also help reduce the swelling and redness caused by acne.
Aloe oil for hair
Aloe for dry scalp, hair growth, and hair loss prevention
The antiviral properties of aloe help prevent and reduce dandruff, while the proteolytic enzymes in aloe help remove dead skin cells on the scalp. This frees up the follicles for more efficient growth and helps stimulate dormant follicles. Aloe can also help clean excess oils from the hair and scalp, removing sebum which could be blocking hair follicles. This helps hair look better and grow more efficiently.
Aloe for hair health
Aloe can help moisturize and nourish hair in a way that can make it healthier and give it a better texture. This can help prevent splitting and breakage of your hair, improving its appearance over time.
How to Make Aloe Oil
There are many tutorials on the internet that make aloe oil by macerating fresh aloe leaves without dehydrating the leaves first. Because aloe vera has such a high water percentage, this makes a potential breeding ground for bacteria.
Other recipes call for mixing aloe vera gel, be it fresh gel from the plant, or commercial gels, with oil. This leads to several problems. First of all, the water component and oil component won’t stay mixed without some sort of emulsifier. Plus, once you have added a water component to your oil, you now have to worry about adding some sort of preservative to your mixture. (Some commercial gels may have an emulsifier, and they should all have preservatives, to help combat some of these problems, but it still isn’t an ideal way to make “aloe oil.”)
I didn’t think this was going to be a good idea, but after seeing so many people say to make an “aloe oil” by mixing aloe vera gel with oil, I decided to try it. I, as suspected, ended up with a non-mixing “mixture” of gel and oil. It definitely didn’t make aloe oil, just a messy, unsuccessful attempt at making a lotion of sorts without an emulsifier. (Oh, and don’t even think of taking that sort of “aloe oil” internally!)
I personally think that the ideal way to make aloe oil is to infuse the dry leaves in a carrier oil of your choice. It makes a safer, more natural, and very aromatic aloe oil that is perfect for using in your other homemade products.
Materials
- aloe vera leaves
- coconut oil or other carrier oil
Instructions
- Rinse aloe vera leaves well, and cut of the serrated edges on either side, leaving as much of the leaf intact as possible.
- Slide your knife down the leaves from the base of the leaf to the point, exposing the aloe gel inside.
- Cut the leaf into pieces that will fit into your dehydrator. You can also dry this on the lowest heat convection setting of your oven, but it will take longer.
- Dry the aloe leaf pieces until completely dry and brittle. At first they will appear dry, but will still be flexible. Continue to dry until brittle to ensure no moisture is left over that could cause bacterial growth in your oil.
- Once fully dry, fill a glass jar with dried aloe vera leaves. Completely cover the pieces with the coconut oil (or other carrier oil of choice). Leave in a sunny spot for several weeks.
- After several weeks in a warm spot, your oil should have a nice, clean aloe scent. It will also have taken up some of the color of the aloe leaves.
- Strain the leaf pieces out of your oil. I place a strainer over a funnel, and pour the oil through the strainer into a storage bottle.
- You are now ready to use your aloe oil!
Notes
How to use aloe oil
For skin
Aloe oil can be applied directly onto your skin, or you can add it to other lotions or moisturizers.
My favorite way to use it is to add it as one of the ingredients in my homemade moisturizers. For example, you could substitute aloe oil for one of the other oils in my recipe for a homemade moisturizer for oily, acne prone skin. If you have acne prone skin, try macerating the aloe leaves into a non-comedogenic oil like sunflower oil instead of coconut oil. (Coconut oil causes breakouts in some people.)
For a great after sun lotion, use aloe oil as the main component of a homemade lotion. You could even use aloe gel as part of the water component to really concentrate aloe’s benefits in your cream.
For hair
Add a few drops of aloe oil to your conditioner or use aloe oil as one of the components of your own homemade hair conditioner. If you prefer to use it separately, massage the aloe oil into your scalp along with your conditioner. Let it stand for a few minutes and then rinse like you normally would.
How do you use aloe oil? I’m always looking for great new ideas. 🙂
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Paleo, Vegan Nice Cream)
I live on the Olympic peninsula. Fall has come thus no Sunny warm spot for the mixture to sit. Anything I can do? I’d love to make this before winter hits. Thank you!
Hi Koda,
Yes!
The heat just helps move the process along quicker, so it’s not really needed.
You really have 2 options. You can either just leave it for more days infusing (in the cold) or you can make it more quickly by gently heating it over the stove or in the oven or a slow cooker.
Whatever you choose, keep the heat very low so as not to cook it. Some people choose a slow cooker for several hours or overnight. Others choose a stovetop and cook for a shorter period and then strain out the plant material.
Hi Tracy! I’ve been reading a lot of your posts lately and I love how informative and detailed they are. I often make my own simple beauty products (toners, deodorant, laundry soap, etc.), but I’m going to make even more complex products now that I’m more confident and armed with the right information.
I don’t have a dehydrator, my oven is not a convection/fan oven, and the lowest temperature it goes is 200ºF. Can I dehydrate my aloe leaves in my oven? If so, is there a specific place in the oven you would recommend (lowest rack, highest rack, middle)?
Is it necessary to strain the leaves out of the oil? Does leaving them in increase the risk of bacteria growth, mold, etc.?
I also saw in the comments that you said the gel part of the leaf seems to dissolve into almost nothing, implying that the gel isn’t really being put to use and the outer part of the leaf is really what’s infusing in the oil. If that’s the case, can I remove the gel, save it for other things, and just dehydrate the outer part and use that in the oil?
Thank you!
Hi Jodie,
I’m sorry I overlooked your comment when you first made it!
For dehydrating, yes, I use my oven for it a lot! I actually use all racks and then use the very lowest heat setting. I also set the fan, but if you don’t have a fan in your oven that’s OK. You can occasionally open the oven to let out any water vapor that may rise, but it’s not essential. My lowest temperature is 50ºC (120ªF), so it’s lower than yours. You may want to keep a closer eye on yours and open to vent more often than me- checking to make sure you aren’t cooking rather than dehydrating.
While not essential, I find it easier to use the oil if you strain the leaves out. You don’t want any leaves above the oil level at least to decrease the risk of microbial growth.
I don’t have a good answer about the what part of the gel is going into the oil.
I think the comment you were referring to was in response to a commercially bought aloe powder, which is normally meant to be dissolved with water to make an aloe juice of sorts. I don’t know, exactly, how those are made and if they are just dehydrated and pulverized aloe gel or not.
I like to think that the gel part of the aloe is imparting some benefit to the oil, but, again, I can’t be positive it is.
In any case, if you remove some of it, some of it will be on the outer part, so I suppose you’d still be getting some benefit from it?
I was tempted to do just the opposite- and try to make oil with only the gel part to see what would happen. The problem is, dehydrating aloe gel leaves you with just about nothing.
I dehydrate in My Gas Oven a lot … to Keep it from “Steam Cooking” whatever your dehydrating. I use a wooden spoon to prop the door open Slightly, (Spoon end in the oven handle sticking out the top pinched between the door and the oven ). This helps lower the temp even more then the Dial setting and release additional moisture,
Hi Mark,
That’s a great tip!
Yes, the ovens here seem to go a lot lower in temp than other ovens, I think. Mine has a low temp. of 50ºC, but I hear that a lot of people have ovens that have a much higher low temperature.
My low temp. seems to be a great temperature for dehydrating, but some other ovens get a bit too high and steam things as you said. I’ve considered opening the door in mine, but I think it ends up cooling too much because it isn’t that hot, to begin with.
useful information, thanks
You’re welcome!
Hi, I’m hesitant to leave the oil out in the sun as light seems to degrade most oils. I would put it in a dehydrator with low temps under 118 degrees to not kill any beneficial enzymes. How longed you think it would take in the dehydrator under that situation?
Hi Leila,
That’s fine. A lot of people also use a slow cooker.
It’s really hard to give a specific amount of time as we can’t really tell for sure how much has infused into the oils.
After several hours to a day, you’d probably at least have infused in a lot of its benefits, scent, color, etc.
I guess you’d have to experiment with it and see how it works.
Hi Tracy!
Can we dehydrate aloe vera under the sun?
Thanks for the article!
Can we dehydrate aloe leaves under sun because I don’t have a dehydrator.
Yes, that’s fine!
Just make sure it’s fully dried before placing in the oil or you may end up with a moldy product. 😉
Hi..
I follow this ancient Ayurvedic Aloe Vera hair oil recipe. It works 100%…an ancient secret for long thick beautiful Indian hair.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tZIpB-maNEI
This video demonstrates mixing equal amounts of aloe Vera gel and unrefined pure coconut oil and cooking on a very slow flame till all the moisture evaporates and the gel disappears leaving golden oil.Strain and store in a glass jar.Apply this hair oil a night before taking head bath for gorgeous hair.
Hi V,
I haven’t watched the video, but…
I think that as long as you cook for long enough to evaporate all moisture, as you say, that could be another good way to make it.
The only problem I see is that it may be more difficult to know when that takes place, so it may not keep as well.
I’ve made aloe oil two ways now – the way that you describe (dehydrating the aloe leaf in my dehydrator and then packing into a jar of coconut oil) and also by blending puréed gel from aloe leaves with coconut oil and then ‘cooking’ in coconut oil in a pan on the stove top; in the second method, you have to keep stirring until the aloe turns brown and sort of shrivels (the water content evaporates) and you start to see the clear oil separated from the oil and the aloe material clumps together. You then strain the aloe material from the oil using a fine strainer and all you are left with is a golden tinted oil with a strong aloe scent. The aloe oil made using the second method seems stronger and more potent….try it, but it does take a while. I used equal parts blended gel and oil.
Hi Jacqui,
That’s so interesting! And it makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for the tip!
I’m slowly making my way through all of my posts from the very beginning and re-making them, adding new tips, etc.
I’ll definitely keep this in mind for trying next time and will update the post with my findings. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your findings. It really helps other people too!
Can I use extra virgin olive oil to try the second method
Hi Ash,
Yes, of course!
EVOO will contribute its own scent and color, so the result will be slightly different, of course, but it should still make a wonderful oil!
I have read numerous articles saying aloe loses nutrients as soon as it is in contact with oxygen… have you tested your aloe oil to see if it still has any nutritional value?
I would love to try this if it does!
Hi Missy,
I’m not really sure how one would test something like that. I’ve also seen it said that most of aloe’s good properties are water and not fat soluble, but aloe oil is really a very common ingredient sold at cosmetic suppliers.
What I will say is that at the very least, the aloe imparts a wonderful fragrance and color to the oil. I really love it.
It’s hard to say how therapeutic the aloe effects are, but I still enjoy using this oil.