The cactus

Yesterday after coming home ready to have a bath, I was presented with a big surprise. In our usual soap holder was a cactus leaf! Now, in my years of experience with my mother little oddities like this shouldn’t surprise me but a cactus leaf? Now after her confirmation to my guess, I was supposed to use this as soap!

 

Needless to say after using the cut jelly edge on my skin, it didn’t feel so bad. Had to use more than one but I believe it worked because it did leave me with a clean, fresh feeling.

Now as usual, I researched and apparently cactus plants have many useful properties other than as soap. As it relates to the skin it can used for acne, psoriasis, eczema, rashes and insect bites. They are great antifungal  and if you’re going to blend them and ingest, they are great cleansers and effective in lowering blood pressure.

 

Yet, I don’t really get why I’m that surprised because as a child my Grandmother introduced it to me as a substitute for shampoo. All I had to do was neatly cut off the light green skin, cut up the clear parts and rub it all over my scalp and hair. It has a very soapy property and leaves both hair and scalp from dirt.

Now guys, are you familiar with the cactus or prickly cactus in some countries? How do you use it?