Honey – It’s Great For Skin
When the bees do their thing, our skin– and our taste buds, rejoice! Chocked full of anti-oxidants, raw Honey is great for creating more youthful looking skin. You’ll feel the difference almost immediately as the rich, moisturizing, tasty goo leaves your skin soothed and glowing. With all kinds of local honey available at farmer’s markets and in the natural section of grocers, you can indulge your senses with different types of honey while still buying local.
Here in Portland we have several honey producers who promote their honey from different regions, including the high desert east of the Cascade Mountains and the Willamette Valley a few miles from our offices.
Honey and Skin – a Delicious Match
Bees collect pollen and nectar, which contains carbohydrates, from flowers, trees and bushes that grow around their hive.The type of flowers the bees harvested came from influences the color and flavor of the resulting honey. Our yard at home is covered with bees in early summer when our lilacs, daphne, and poppies take over. And then the thyme, oregano, and rosemary emerge and the bees keep coming back. I often wonder what honey from our backyard would taste like. But I haven’t wondered enough to do anything about it!
As the bees return to their hive, the first step is to partially digested the nectar into more simple sugar, then store it in the honeycomb where it eventually loses moisture and condenses into thick, sweet honey.
Can’t you just imagine lovely-scented honey gently warmed and spread on your skin? It makes a wonderful, moisturizing mask when added with other ingredients for a fresh, in-the-moment spa treatment. Oh yes, I almost forgot the juicy goodness of honey — It is rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Honey also contains powerful antioxidants, and boy do we love those. As a humectant, honey binds moisture to the skin.
Four Must-Have Recipes for Honey Lovers
The following honey recipes for your home or spa are designed to be mixed and used immediately, as honey will only suspend ingredients for a short period of time. If you’re looking for honey skin and body care products with a longer shelf life, we sell several products on our website.
Honey Exfoliating Masque
Super easy, super simple. Mix 1 tbsp honey with 1 tsp poppy seeds. Then gently exfoliate in upward circular motion. You can rinse off or leave on as masque for up to 20 minutes, rinse thoroughly. Pat dry and you’re ready for your next cameo appearance.
Honey Masque for Dry Skin
For those of us who spend a lot of time outdoors (or don’t drink enough water), this is a perfect treat for our dry skin. I use this on my face but also on my feet. Mix together 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp olive oil and 1 egg yolk. Mix together thoroughly, gently apply in upward circular motion, leave on as masque for up to 20 minutes, rinse thoroughly. Pat dry and revel in your smooth, soft and hydrated skin.
Honey Facial
Indulge yourself with this fabulous way to use honey. Gently warm your honey in a double boiler, then take 1 tbsp and set aside. Open your facial pores with a warm, steamy wet towel. Then apply the warm honey and leave on for up to 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly, Pat dry and relax knowing you’ve done your good deed for the day.
Honey Body Scrub
This is practically sinful. I love a good body scrub in the winter and in the summer, too, when dry, flaky skin gets too much to handle. This simple recipe uses some of our go-to ingredients. Combine 1 tbsp honey, 2 tsp olive oil and 2 tbsp fine salt in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly and then use your hands and fingers to gently exfoliate from the heart to your outer limbs.
Our USDA Certified Organic Honey is delicious in these Honey Recipes for Your Home Spa. If you’d like to add honey products to your beauty line, you might like our Honey Body Polish, Wild Oats and Honey Masque, Wild Oat and Honey Facial Cleanser, and Milk & Honey Lotion.
Do you have a favorite honey home-spa recipe? We’d love to learn what makes you buzz.
