The informant heard the following folk medicine remedy for acne from her father.
The concept is that the person with acne is supposed to cut a chunk from an aloe plant and smear it on his or her face: I used to have really bad acne [laughter] so have a lil so when he was younger and so my [her fathers] sisterhis [her fathers] mother would tell them to put aloe vera, like the plant, all over their faces and stuff, cause its sposed to be like, healing for cuts and stuff like that, gand inflammation, soeshmy aunt especially would do that, so, thats . . .
The informant says she has never tried it cause [she doesnt] own an aloe vera plant, but . . . [laughter]
However, she believes that the remedy would work: I think its a good idea, I mean, it seems like it makes sensethings Ive seen on TV and stuff, seems likenatural remedy thing would work, so, yeah.
Acne is caused by the buildup of dirt and oil in the pores, so it seems unlikely that this remedy would work and more likely that it would just further clog the pores with plant gunk. A pimple is not a wound like a cut to be soothed, and although a pimple stinging from having been scratched open might feel better, it probably wouldnt go away any faster. Acne is associated with puberty, which is a liminal stage and might therefore be irritating to the sufferer as a signal that he or she is not quite one thing and not quite another.