Aloe vera for acne: what small trials found

Aloe vera gel has not been tested alone on acne in any trial read for this guide. The trials that exist used aloe together with something else: a prescription cream in one, and a mixed cream with two other plant ingredients in another. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) sums up the evidence in one sentence: "Two small studies suggest that topical application of aloe gel, in combination with other forms of treatment, may improve acne." Topical means put on the skin. This page is part of Skinli's guide to home remedies for acne.

Skinli gives general education and is not a doctor. For the studies below, Skinli read the published summaries (abstracts) only. No source read for this guide gives an amount, a mix or a time on the skin for aloe on acne, so this page gives none.

What the NCCIH says about aloe and acne

The NCCIH is part of the US National Institutes of Health. Its aloe page was last updated in February 2025. The page says aloe on the skin "is promoted for acne" and for several other skin conditions. "Promoted" describes how aloe is sold. What the research found is the sentence quoted above.

The NCCIH does not name the two studies. Two trials on PubMed fit its description, and they are the first two rows of the table below. The NCCIH page does not confirm that these are the ones it means.

The page also explains that "aloe" covers more than one product. Aloe products can be made from parts of the leaf "including the gel (from the inner leaf), latex (from the leaf's outer layer), and whole crushed leaf (containing the gel and latex)." The acne studies used the gel.

The trials: aloe was always used with something else

Trial	People and length	What was compared	Result
Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2014	60 people with mild to moderate acne, 8 weeks	Tretinoin 0.05 percent cream with a 50 percent aloe gel, against tretinoin with a gel that held no aloe	Lower scores for inflamed spots, clogged spots and total spots in the aloe group, and less redness at the end
Clinical Pharmacology, 2018	60 people in three groups of 20, 30 days	A cream with 20 percent propolis, 3 percent tea tree oil and 10 percent aloe, against a 3 percent erythromycin cream, and against a placebo	The mixed cream "was better than ERC in reducing erythema scars, acne severity index, and total lesion count."
Frontiers in Medicine, 2021	Group sizes are missing from the abstract, 2 months	Aloe gel with ultrasound and a soft mask in a clinic, against a control group	Fewer inflamed spots (papules) in the treated group. "In the control group, there was no obvious improvement over 2 months."

A few study words need a plain meaning. The first two trials were randomized, so people were put in groups by chance. A placebo is a product with no active ingredient. A lesion is a spot. Erythema is redness, and "ERC" is the erythromycin cream, an antibiotic cream. Propolis is a bee product.

The 2014 trial. Every person in this trial used tretinoin, a prescription acne drug. One group added a gel that the researchers made at 50 percent aloe. The trial had no group that used aloe alone, so it cannot show what aloe does without tretinoin. The abstract reports that redness was less severe in the aloe group at the end of the study. It also says: "The highest percentage of adverse cutaneous effect was reported for scaling." In plain words, flaking skin was the side effect people reported most.

The 2018 trial. Aloe was one tenth of the cream. The cream also held propolis and tea tree oil, so the trial cannot show which ingredient caused the result. Tea tree oil has its own studies, covered in tea tree oil for acne.

The 2021 study. Aloe gel was applied in a clinic with ultrasound and a soft mask. The authors say the ultrasound raised how much gel the skin took in. The abstract does not say how many people took part or whether they were put in groups by chance. The result cannot be credited to aloe gel alone.

The AAD lists aloe as a light moisturizer

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) names aloe on its page about facial masks. Under ingredients for oily or acne-prone skin, it lists: "Lightweight moisturizing ingredients, including aloe or hyaluronic acid, which help prevent overdrying from the acne-fighting ingredients without adding extra oil."

In that sentence aloe is the moisturizer. The acne-fighting ingredients do the treating, and the aloe keeps the skin from drying out. The same AAD page says facial masks "can't replace treatment for diseases and conditions such as eczema or acne."

The AAD explains why a moisturizer matters during acne treatment. Of acne medicines such as benzoyl peroxide and retinoids, it says: "These treatments tend to dry and irritate the skin. Using a moisturizer every day can help your skin tolerate these medications." The 2014 trial result agrees with this: the people who added aloe gel to tretinoin ended with less redness. The trial did not test whether a plain moisturizer would have done the same.

The AAD also names aloe for sunburn: "Apply a moisturizer that contains aloe vera or soy to help soothe sunburned skin." No AAD page read for this guide names aloe vera as an acne treatment. For how to choose a moisturizer, see moisturizer for acne-prone skin.

The plant, a home-made gel and a store gel

These three are different products, and the studies treat them differently.

The leaf from a plant. The outer layer of the leaf holds the latex, and the inner leaf holds the gel. A 2005 paper in the journal Contact Dermatitis says: "Today, mostly the Aloe gel from the center of the leaves is processed." A 2007 case report in the same journal says "most manufacturers process Aloe products avoiding its irritant extracts". A person who cuts a leaf at home has no such processing step.

Home-made aloe. The 2007 case report describes a woman aged 72 who "had been using self home-made Aloe vera juice over the legs for relief from pain." She developed a rash. Her skin tests were positive to the aloe leaf and to the aloe jelly she had made. This is one patient, and it shows that a reaction to home-made aloe can happen.

Store gel. No trial read for this guide tested a store-bought aloe gel on acne. A gel sold as a cosmetic also goes on sale without an FDA review. The FDA says: "cosmetic products and ingredients, with the exception of color additives, do not require FDA approval before they go on the market." A product that claims to treat acne is covered by the FDA's drug rules, and aloe is absent from the FDA list of active ingredients for acne drugs sold without a prescription.

Reactions on skin

The NCCIH says: "Topical use of aloe gel is generally well tolerated; however, there have been occasional reports of burning, itching, rash, and eczema."

Allergy to aloe looks uncommon in the one large test found. The 2005 paper tested 702 patients with three aloe preparations, including a concentrated gel, on patches placed on the skin. "None of the subjects showed any reaction to one of the preparations." The authors still warned that this "does not justify unrestrained promotion of Aloe products".

Store gels can hold more than aloe. The AAD says to be careful with products that have plant-based ingredients, "as these products may still have fragrance-related ingredients." It says an ingredient in a skin care product "can trigger a condition called allergic contact dermatitis, which can cause your skin to become red, itchy, and swollen." Contact dermatitis is a rash from something that touched the skin. The AAD also says that even skin care products sold as "natural" or "clean" can cause a skin reaction.

The AAD's test for a new product is to put it on a small spot, such as the underside of the arm, twice a day for seven to 10 days. Skinli's guide on how to patch test a new skincare product explains the steps.

This page is about aloe on the skin. Aloe that is swallowed has separate warnings on the NCCIH page, which says aloe "when taken by mouth may be unsafe during pregnancy and while breastfeeding."

Questions that no source answers

• Aloe used alone on acne. No trial read for this guide had a group that used only aloe.
• Overnight use, and how often. No source gives a time on the skin or a number of days. The trials measured results after 30 days to 2 months.
• What to mix with aloe at home. The mixes in the trials were a prescription drug and a made-up cream. No source tested aloe with honey, lemon or turmeric on acne. The pages on honey for acne and turmeric for acne report what is known about each.
• Acne scars. No study of aloe on acne scars was found. See home remedies for acne scars.

What the AAD, the NHS and the FDA rule support

The treatments that these three bodies name for acne are a short list of drug ingredients.

• The AAD, for a deep and painful pimple: "Choose a product that contains one of these acne-fighting active ingredients: adapalene, azelaic acid, benzoyl peroxide, or salicylic acid."
• The NHS acne page tells readers to "try acne treatments you put on your skin such as salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide". Its self-help list names no plant or home remedy.
• The FDA rule for acne drugs sold without a prescription lists benzoyl peroxide at 2.5 to 10 percent, salicylic acid at 0.5 to 2 percent, sulfur at 3 to 10 percent, and sulfur combined with resorcinol.

Adapalene is a retinoid, a medicine related to vitamin A, and the AAD says acne treatment that contains it is sold online and in stores. The AAD's acne pages name a maker of prescription acne drugs as their supporter.

The NCCIH reports that the AAD's acne guideline found the data on herbal and other complementary therapies too limited to recommend them. On the evidence above, aloe gel is a possible moisturizer to use beside one of the listed treatments, and it has no trial as a treatment by itself.

When to see a doctor

Stop using aloe and wash it off if your skin burns or itches, or if a rash appears. The AAD's advice after a skin reaction to a product is to wash it off as soon as possible and "don't use it again." It adds that a severe reaction may need a dermatologist.

The NHS says to see a GP, which is a family doctor, if "you've tried treating it yourself but it's not getting better", or if "you have lots of spots, or the spots are deep, painful or causing scars". The AAD says to see a dermatologist when acne causes cysts and nodules, which are deep blemishes that can leave scars, or when acne has not cleared with treatment you can buy without a prescription.