Why Aloe Vera May Disappear From Your Skin-Care Products, According to Experts
Even before discovering an obsession with skin-care products, you were probably familiar with aloe vera. Bottles of the stuff are so ubiquitous in the world of after-sun care that it's hard to imagine a summer without aloe. Even in an all-grown-up beauty routine, aloe has a major presence as a gentle skin soother. But the all-natural ingredient has just been included on a list that calls into question whether "natural" is synonymous with "safe" for your skin when it comes to aloe vera.
"The pulp of the aloe plant is water-rich, soothing, and hydrating to the skin," Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, tells Allure. "It is commonly used for sunburns and [soothing] common irritation because of these properties." But, according to cosmetic chemists, the plant's soothing properties may be more fiction than fact.
"Aloe vera has long been regarded as a nice ingredient for healing and moisturization by folklore," Ginger King, cosmetic chemist, tells Allure. "However, it's now on Prop 65 in California. That means, to sell your product in the state of California, you must indicate on the label [that the product] contains an ingredient on Prop 65."
Proposition 65, officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, is intended to protect people from chemicals known to cause cancer. Currently, the FDA prohibits or restricts just 11 substances in cosmetic products (though there's currently a bill in Congress that's trying to expand the list), meaning all sorts of chemicals and bad-for-your-skin ingredients can technically make it into your beauty products.
Under Prop 65, the state of California must stay on top of ingredients linked to cancer, and companies are required to label any ingredients on the list on product packaging. But even if you don't live in California, it can help you become more skin savvy by flagging ingredients that have been linked to side effects and health issues.
So, what is a totally natural ingredient like aloe vera doing on the list? Aloe comes in different forms both naturally and in products (decolorized aloe, aloe latex, aloe water, the sap-like gel that comes straight from the leaf). Prop 65 only calls out "non-decolorized, whole-leaf extract," which is "the liquid portion of the aloe vera leaf (e.g., what remains after removal of fibrous material, such as lignified plant fibers), and is a natural constituent of the aloe barbadensis Miller plant," according to the American Herbal Product Association.
Aloe vera has long been regarded as a nice ingredient for healing and moisturization by folklore.
Here's why: Non-decolorized, whole-leaf aloe extract contains a chemical called aloin, which has been shown to cause cancer in rats. There's one major caveat here, though: The study found aloin causes cancer only when ingested. So unless you're eating your moisturizer, the inclusion of aloe on the list isn't really relevant to beauty products.
"California makes no distinction to the purity of the aloe, whether or not it has been decolorized or purified in any way," James Hammer, cosmetic chemist, tells Allure. "The decolorized, purified aloe that is used in beauty products does not contain the aloin material, so it is very safe for use. Not everything that we apply to the skin is suitable for ingestion," he adds.
Still, according to the experts, even aloe applied topically is raising some eyebrows. "Many people believe that it has been proven that aloe can heal skin. But there is actually little scientific evidence that it is effective," Perry Romanowski, cosmetic chemist and cofounder of The Beauty Brains, tells Allure. He says claims like aloe's "anti-inflammatory properties, wound-healing ability, and reduction of radiation damage have all been unproven," but that's not entirely true. While minimal, there has been some research done that says otherwise.
Once an ingredient has a bad reputation, the entire family of products gets affected.
There's also a difference between the aloe found in beauty products (a very small, purified amount, according to Hammer) and the kind that comes straight from the leaf if you break or cut one of the spiny stems. "It may cause stinging or irritation," says King. "Instead, use diluted aloe juice (10 percent) if you want to do it that way."
What does all of this mean for your beloved aloe-infused beauty products? According to King, aloe's inclusion on the Prop 65 list could have a major impact on the way the ingredient is used in cosmetics — even if the way aloe is listed is misleading. "Once an ingredient has a bad reputation, the entire family of products gets affected," she says. "What this will mean is marketers shy away from using aloe altogether."
To be totally clear, there is no evidence that aloe applied to the skin can causes cancer. "This demonstrates the weakness in the Prop 65 list," explains Romanowski. "The study that landed aloe on the list was one related to ingesting aloe by rats. This is not applicable to topically applied aloe vera."
The bottom line? Prop 65 will likely have an effect on the way aloe is used in the beauty world, but that doesn't mean you have to ditch all your aloe-laced moisturizers, says Zeichner. The product found in your moisturizers is different from the aloe flagged by the warning. "Aloe vera is a safe ingredient to use in skin products," echos Romanowski. "But this is a great reminder that just because an ingredient is natural, does not mean that it is automatically safe and effective."
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