Aqua Vera (Malibu Aloe Vera Moisturising After Sun Gel)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Malibu Aloe Vera Moisturising After Sun Gel
Date:	16/08/06 (344 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheapish, cools and soothes skin

Disadvantages: Not moisturising, only as cheap as Holland & Barrett's pure Aloe

Since buying a little Aloe Vera plant of my own I’ve been quite curious as to what it can do for my body, since it’s well known as being a great natural healer. Seeing the popular sun care range Malibu had a reasonably priced bottle in my local Woolworth’s and knowing it was supposed to be good for sunburn, with summer approaching I thought I’d give it a go.


MALIBU MOISTURISING AFTER SUN GEL

You won’t miss this in the shop. It’ll be in the sun care section and most likely be the only bright green 200ml pump bottle there. The bottle itself isn’t green, the gel is! It looks slightly freaky but decidedly cool (in the warm/cold way not in the fashion sense). I was glad to see that it was in a pump bottle because it’s quite a hassle applying things like gel or cream from a screw top bottle whilst trying not to waste the product.

Naturally, being the Brit that I am, at the first sign of the sun this year and I was outside roasting my bare skin in as little clothes as possible. Well, I wasn’t as irresponsible as that makes me sound; I applied sun cream but missed application on areas like my back simply because I forgot. I don’t burn too much because I have olive coloured skin but it was enough to go pink and cause a bit of itching and discomfort - so this was my opportunity to use the Aloe Vera.

Apparently this bottle has a locking cap because there are arrows on the pump to say ‘open’ and ‘close’ but (I might be totally dumb?) I can’t figure out how to lock it once it’s been undone. If you can figure out how to lock it that would be a major advantage for taking it abroad because it wouldn’t leak into your luggage.

Pump issues aside, the application of this gel is very easy. Choose the areas that you’d like to apply it to (anywhere which is pink/lobster red) and get pumping! You don’t need a huge amount to cover an area but similarly you need to pump enough out that you’ll feel the cooling effect. Once you’ve pumped it into your hand it is quite a thick green gel with a smooth texture. It’s pleasant to smooth in but in no way resembles the real Aloe Vera. I have used a leaf from my plant before and I also now have a Holland and Barrett 99.9% pure product – real Aloe Vera is clear and slightly chunky, sort of like if you mashed up a bowl of set jelly (if it had no colour) it’s quite thick when you apply it and doesn’t really smell of much. This gel is nothing like the real thing but it glides easily over any affected areas without further discomfort.

I like applying this to my whole body during the summer because it does give a brief cooling sensation as the watery gel evaporates but I would only really recommend this if you’re the only one using the gel (say for a single week away on holiday) as the bottle isn’t *that* big and won’t last that long.


RESULTS

The immediate effect of this gel is that it gives a cooling and soothing sensation to any areas of sunburnt skin. If you aren’t sunburnt and are just using this as a regular moisturiser then it eases any itching you may have had (from dryness) and cools the skin slightly. A major advantage this gel has over any other lotions or potions you may have used in the past is that it absorbs as you are applying it – there is no sticky residue or greasiness as with other creams and oils.

Immediately after, and for a few hours, your skin is left pleasantly soft to the touch – but unlike with rich creams it just feels like your normal skin as there is no layer of grease left. The disadvantage to this is that the softness doesn’t last once you’ve bathed/showered so it’s a product you’d have to continually use for a lasting effect.


AQUA VERA…

Since buying my Holland and Barrett Aloe Vera which is 99.9% pure I got rather curious as to how pure this Malibu Aloe was. Looking on the bottle I see that the first three ingredients are (and in case you didn’t know, ingredients are listed from the one most present first…) Aqua (aka water), Aloe Vera, Alcohol. This might explain why the product does not give a lasting effect on skin because in the long run alcohol is drying to the skin.

I am not very impressed by this considering it cost more than my Holland and Barrett 99.9% pure product (admittedly that was in their half price sale).


PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

Mine cost £2.99 for 200ml from Woolworth’s and at the moment (summer time) this is quite widely available in supermarkets and chemists like Boots and Superdrug. I don’t know what the availability would be like in winter – you would probably be able to find it – but I would recommend buying it in summer anyway because it has an 18 month life span so you’d be able to use it for two summers.


VERDICT

It’s okay if you’ve got not option of getting to a health food store and buying some pure Aloe Vera, but if you can easily get to a Holland and Barrett then you may as well buy their as it’s cheaper and more effective.


carly_pussycat - dooyoo UK ©

Summary: A soothing aftersun which is OK if that's all that's available, but not great