Aloe Vera Gel vs Aloe Vera Oil: What Each One Is Actually For
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Aloe vera gel is in almost every Indian bathroom. Aloe vera oil is in very few, and the difference between them is not strength — it is function.
Two different things
Aloe vera gel
The inner leaf, filleted and stabilised. It is mostly water. That is the point of it: it puts water onto the skin, calms heat and redness quickly, and absorbs without leaving anything behind.
Aloe vera oil
Aloe infused into a carrier oil. It is mostly oil. It does not hydrate — no oil does — and it is not a stronger gel. Its job is to sit on top of water and slow the evaporation.
Why gel alone stops working
Gel is water, and water evaporates. Applied on its own in the morning, most of it is gone by midday, and the skin is back to tight.
People read that as the gel being weak and buy a thicker one, which does not help, because the problem is not the gel. There is nothing holding it in.
An oil over the top changes the arithmetic completely. Three to five drops pressed on while the gel is still damp and the hydration lasts hours instead of an hour.
The order
- Cleanse. Do not dry the face completely.
- A water step — rose toner, while the skin is still damp.
- A thin layer of aloe gel, still on damp skin.
- Three to five drops of aloe oil, pressed in with the palms.
Water, gel, oil. Each one goes on within about thirty seconds of the last, while the skin is still damp. Thin to thick, every time.
Which to skip, if you only want one
Oily skin, morning: gel only. The oil is unnecessary under sunscreen and in a Jaipur summer.
Oily skin, night: both. Oily skin is very often dehydrated skin overproducing to compensate, and sealing water in at night is the thing that settles it. Give it two weeks before you judge.
Dry skin: both, twice a day. This is the combination that was built for you.
Sensitive or heat-irritated skin: gel from the fridge, oil at night. Cold aloe on inflamed skin is one of the more immediately satisfying things in skincare.
Other uses
Sunburn — gel, cold, generously, no oil until the heat has gone.
After shaving — gel.
Frizz — a very small amount of gel through damp lengths as a leave-in. Too much and the hair goes crunchy.
Scalp — the oil, massaged in before a wash, for a scalp that is dry rather than flaking.
Under the eyes — gel only, patted gently. Nothing heavy near the eyes.
Buying gel
Most aloe gel sold in India is thickened water with a green dye and a long preservative list. Real aloe gel is close to colourless or faintly straw-coloured, not bright green, and aloe should be the first ingredient rather than the fourth.
Keep it in the fridge. It is both better and more pleasant cold.
Our pure aloe vera gel and aloe vera oil are sold separately, or together with a rose toner in The Aloe Ritual — which is just this article in a box.