The Aloe Vera plant has been known for its skin softening and soothing and healing capabilities since the dawn of civilisation, but only fairly recently have scientists attempted to verify the many claims that have been made about it. The first recorded evidence of its healing properties was discovered in an ancient Egyptian papyrus dated 3500 BC - a collection of herbal remedies - by George Ebers in 1862.

The Egyptians referred to it as "the Plant of Immortality". Drawings of this plant have even been found inscribed in the tombs of Pharaohs. Cleopatra is reputed to have relied on it to help preserve her legendary beauty. She used the fresh Aloe Vera gel to keep her skin soft and young.

Arab traders were probably responsible for its spread into Persia, India and the Far East and the name Aloe was derived from the Arabic word Alloeh meaning 'shining bitter substance' because of the bitter liquid found in the leaves.

Vera, which means true in Latin, was added later on in order to distinguish the most popular and widely used species of Aloe - Aloe Barbadensis Miller - from the rest.

Aristotle was reputed to have persuaded his student Alexander the Great to seize the island of Socorra for the Aloe Vera that grew there. The plant could survive unplanted for many years and so could be carried as an emergency treatment for wounds suffered by Alexander's troops.

In the first century AD the Greek physician Dioscorides wrote in his Materia Medica that the Aloe Vera extract
could be used to treat burns, wounds, stomach complaints, constipation, hemorrhoids, headaches, all mouth problems, hair loss, insect bites, kidney ailments and skin irritations.

In Africa the Aloe Vera plant was used for stomach aches and to prevent infection from insect bites. The Chinese used Aloe Vera for treating Eczema during the Sung dynasty.

In India during the fourth century BC people believed that the Aloe Vera plant grew in the Garden of Eden. They called it "The Silent Healer" and used it to heal skin conditions and inflammation.

In the early Christian era references to the Aloe Vera plant could be found in all advanced medical texts.

Eventually the Aloe Vera plant was introduced into the Americas. In Mexico the juice was used to treat skin complaints and wounds. In Central and South America people used the juice as an insect repellant. Aloe Vera was sold in the street markets of Latin America as an aphrodisiac.

Jesuit priests were encouraged to take the Aloe Vera plant with them when going to the New World to spread the Bible. Settlers in North America were using Aloe Vera to heal wounds and burns. The indigenous Seminole people believed that the plant had powerful rejuvenating properties and that a "Fountain of Youth" sprang from a pool within a cluster of Aloes.