In 1983, my husband thought I might enjoy representing an upcoming skin care company that had just expanded to San Diego. He thought I had talent that was going to waste. I thought he was crazy. As the mother of a two boys, three and seven I was already busier then I wanted to be. I thought the same thing a few years later when he suggested we meet with some chemists and start our own skin care company!
After a year of searching, meeting with countless chemists we stumbled across the man who discovered aloe through the Seminole Indians and pioneered aloe research. 75 years old and retired, he was spending his time caring for his yard and a garden full of his rare aloe plants.
The day we met with him, he had just finished mowing his lawn. We sat down in his living room, each of us with our own rocking chair! I can be very impatient and when he began his story with the history of his mother and father, I thought “Oh, my gosh, this guy has no one to talk to and now he has us trapped in his living room. Fifteen minutes into his story, I no longer was looking for a way to escape and sat spellbound by this incredible gentleman ’s life and accomplishments. His story lasted more than four hours!
Here’s a very condensed version of that 4 hour story…
In the late 1940’s, our mentor who was working as a chemical engineer, set out on a personal mission to find a treatment for sunburn. In the process he discovered, what turned out to be a very rare tropical Aloe Vera through the Seminole Indians in South Florida.
Subsequent examination of research on Aloe Vera, revealed scientists who had tested aloe had obtained conflicting results. Less then 40% of the scientists achieved results that would indicate the aloe they tested had any healing properties. The reason for these conflicting results was, at that time, there were over 180 species and 1800 varieties of aloe. The only aloe that evidenced powerful healing properties was the specie and variety the Seminole Indians were using.
After two years of trial and error, learning to stabilize the gel from the plant, the first burn ointment containing 55% of the fresh “gel” from this rare Aloe Plant was formulated. Because the ointment was going to be marketed to the medical community, extensive scientific testing of the aloe-ointment was conducted on third degree thermal burns in an FDA licensed laboratory.
This Burn Research proved third degree burns treated with the Aloe-ointment healed in ½ the time it took untreated burns or burns treated with something beside the Aloe-ointment. In addition, the Aloe-ointment treated-burns, healed with little or no scarring. In contrast, the untreated burns healed with gross scarring
The Aloe used in this study is the Aloe identified in clinical studies published in several medical journals including the Industrial Medicine and Surgery, “Annals of Surgery”, and the American Cancer Society, Inc.”.
The Aloe Burn Research, was subsequently submitted to the FDA and they took no exception to anything contained in the report. The Aloe Ointment was later granted a U.S. Government General Services Administration contract for use in the NASA Space Program. The Aloe Ointment was also used to treat radiation burns at the Argonne Nuclear Laboratory, University of Chicago.
Over the years attempts have been made to locate other sources of this same Aloe in places such as Texas, Mexico and all of the immediate tropical and subtropical areas. These aloes were tested and none had the healing properties of the Aloe Plants that originally came from the Seminole Indians.
Development of skin care. In 1956, “Plastic Surgeon of the Year”, Dr. James Barrett Brown M.D. discovered the Aloe ointment cleared up blemishes, rashes and other skin problems. At his request a line of Aloe skin care was developed for women to use on a daily basis.
After years of use by women of all ages, the results were nothing short of miraculous! Women up into their 80’s were reporting flawless skin along with a diminution of lines and wrinkles!
Close examination of the Burn Research revealed the gel from this particular Aloe heals severely burned-skin through the following process:
- Exfoliates dead skin cells.
- Increases circulation in the capillaries.
- Replenishes lost moisture.
- Stimulates the production of collagen fibers.
- Stimulates new skin cell growth.
- Prevents infection.
Burned skin is just severely damaged skin. The same process that heals and restores severely damaged skin, caused by a thermal burn, heals and restores premature aging skin caused by UV exposure and lifestyle.
We left our “soon to be” mentor ’s home without knowing if he would allow us to use his aloe for our product. Two weeks later he called and said he would supply his Aloe! But ONLY if he oversaw the processing of the fresh gel and the production of the final product !
In 1990 we assumed the task of cultivating these rare Aloe plants, we now call “Emerald Aloe”.
Today there are more than 350 species, 3,500 varieties of aloe but there is still only one that has been clinically proven to have the healing properties exhibited in the Thermal Burn Research. You say you’ve tried aloe products and were not impressed? . . . well, now you know why. Not all aloe is created equal.
By 1997 we had come full circle. Our mentor, who began in the Medical Field was later “forced” into the skin care business by Dr. James Barrett Brown. We began with skin care and now find ourselves working with the medical community helping people avoid burns and other skin problems associated with radiation therapy .
We were “forced” into the Medical field through one of our customers, Barbara Pender, who had suffered with radiation burns from breast cancer treatments, and later, when she had to have radiation a second time, discovered her skin had not burned when applying Andra Sina Relief Lotion 3-4 times a day. Our local CBS affiliate interviewed us for the morning news and that was the beginning of the medical facet of our business.
