So.. I am a tad sunburned

[Judgement]

Back from vacation and it turns out I am pretty red. I just finished slathering aloe vera gel all over myself and promptly started to itch 3x worse than before. I read the ingredients and noticed it listed sd alcohol 40... wtf

I don't usually burn and I'm not sure what sd alcohol 40 is.. but I'm still pretty sure putting alcohol on burned skin is a terrible idea. Why the hell is there alcohol in aloe vera gel??? Wouldn't that defeat the entire purpose of trying to moisturize it with aloe vera?

 

[mjrpes3]

lucky for you...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/health/research/06melanoma.html?hp

 

[xanis]

Oatmeal bath.

 

[busydude]

Its probably for use as an anti-bacterial agent.

 

[Glitchny]

Probably for disinfecting as already stated. The best lotion I've used for sunburn was Aloe + Lidocaine

 

[guyver01]

SD alcohol-40 usually refers to isopropyl alcohol

 

[alkemyst]

What Team you on? Vampire or Werewolf?

 

[BUTCH1]

SD alcohol-40 usually refers to isopropyl alcohol

The "D" means "denatured", it's a form of ethanol that's treated so if you try to drink it you will be very,very sick. It's used to dissolve active ingredients (lido-cane, camphor) into the gel, once applied it out-gasses itself quickly.

 

[Leros]

Sorry you got a sunburn. You just need a good pat on the back.

 

[Mike Gayner]

It's nothing to do with anti-bacterial. The reason they do it is because it rapidly evaporates and feels awesome as it cools your skin.

 

[Howard]

The "D" means "denatured", it's a form of ethanol that's treated so if you try to drink it you will be very,very sick. It's used to dissolve active ingredients (lido-cane, camphor) into the gel, once applied it evaporates quickly.

hm

 

[destrekor]

It's nothing to do with anti-bacterial. The reason they do it is because it rapidly evaporates and feels awesome as it cools your skin.

yep.

It doesn't really dehydrate the skin, so it's not exactly counter-productive like the OP imagines.

I imagine the alcohol serves three purposes:
- it is used in the manufacturing process to dissolve all the chemicals and to hold them in a uniform mixture
- it helps deliver the chemicals in a high-concentrate, as it will evaporate and leave behind only the key ingredients. This also helps make sure it is uniformly distributed across the skin.
- it offers that feeling of cooling relief, which is often incorrectly attributed to the aloe vera itself.