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A woman blended an entire homegrown aloe vera plant—skin, flesh, and all—into a smooth paste and slathered it on her face. Within an hour, her skin turned red, swollen, and unbearably itchy. The problem was aloin, a harsh compound lurking in the aloe’s skin that she didn’t know needed to be removed.
Another woman pressed lemon slices onto her face and went out the next morning without rinsing. By afternoon, dark, patchy pigmentation emerged where the lemon juice met sunlight. The culprit? Photosensitive compounds in citrus peels had triggered a condition called phytophotodermatitis.
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