Tonic Gel
The HYLA Tonic Gel is made entirely of aloe vera. For centuries, aloe vera has been cultivated for agricultural and medicinal uses. Over the last few years, aloe vera, sometimes described as the “wonder plant,” has been subject of many scientific studies looking into its therapeutic properties. Researchers at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, published a study in the journal Molecules.
The team set out to determine whether the methanol extract of aloe vera leaf skins and flowers might have beneficial effects on human health. The scientists focused on the extract’s possible antioxidant and antimycoplasmic activities. Mycoplasma is a type of bacteria that lack a cell wall; they are unaffected by many common antibiotics.
Antimycoplasmic substances destroy these bacteria. The study shows that both aloe vera flower and leaf extracts have antioxidant properties, especially the leaf skin extract. The leaf skin extract also exhibited antimycoplasmic properties. The authors concluded that “Aloe vera extracts from leaf skin and flowers can be considered as good natural antioxidant sources.”
Scientists at Kyung Hee University Global Campus, South Korea, wanted to determine whether baby aloe shoot extract and adult aloe shoot extract might have a protective effect on UVB-induced skin photo aging; in other words, whether they could protect the skin from the aging effects of sunlight. Baby aloe shoot extract (BAE) comes from 1-month old shoots while adult aloe shoot extract (AE) comes from 4-month old shoots.
In an article published in Phytotherapy Research, the authors concluded: “Our results suggest that BAE may potentially protect the skin from UVB-induced damage more than AE.” A study carried out at the University of Naples, Italy, tested five different topical creams to see how effective they might be in protecting the skin of breast cancer patients receiving radiation therapy. One of these creams contained aloe.
They divided 100 patients into five groups of 20; each was prescribed a different topical treatment. They applied the creams twice a day, starting 15 days before radiation therapy treatment, and carried on for 1 month afterward. During the 6-week period, the participants underwent weekly skin assessments. In the journal Radiation Oncology, the scientists reported that the preventive use of topical hydrating creams reduced the incidence of skin side effects in breast cancer patients treated with radiation therapy.
