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Honey

goodie
Also-called-like-this: Mel

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We all know honey as the sweet, gooey stuff that is lovely to sweeten a good cup of tea and we have good news about putting honey all over our skin. It is just as lovely on the skin as it is in the tea. 

The great review article about honey in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology writes that it is arguably the oldest skincare ingredient and evidence from around 4500 BC mentions honey in some eye cream recipes. Chemically speaking, it is a bee-derived, supersaturated sugar solution.  About 95% of honey dry weight is sugar and the other 5% consists of a great number of other minor components including proteins, amino acids, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals

This unique and complex chemical composition gives honey a bunch of nice skin care properties: it is very moisturizing, has soothing and antioxidant abilities as well as significant antibacterial and antifungal magic powers. There is also a lot of empirical evidence with emerging scientific backup that honey dressing promotes the healing of wounds and burns.

One tricky thing about honey though, is that it can have lots of different floral sources and different types of honey have a somewhat different composition and thus somewhat different properties. For example, the darker the honey the richer it is in antioxidant phenolic compounds.  Two special types of honey are acacia and manuka. The former is unique and popular because of its higher than usual fructose content that makes it more water-soluble and easier to stabilize in cosmetic formulas. The latter comes from the Leptospermum Scoparium tree native to New Zeland and its special thing is its extra strong antibacterial power due to a unique component called methylglyoxal.  

Overall, honey is a real skin-goodie in pretty much every shape and form, and it is a nice one to spot on the ingredient list. 

Show me some proof

  • Bogdanov, Stefan. "Honey composition." The honey book (2009).
  • Burlando, Bruno, and Laura Cornara. "Honey in dermatology and skin care: a review." Journal of cosmetic dermatology 12.4 (2013): 306-313.
  • Efem, S. E. E. "Clinical observations on the wound healing properties of honey." British journal of Surgery 75.7 (1988): 679-681.
  • Jull, Andrew B., Anthony Rodgers, and Natalie Walker. "Honey as a topical treatment for wounds." Cochrane Database Syst Rev 4 (2008).

Products with Honey

Artifact Egyptian Honey Rose Masque Ayele & Co. Matcha-Honey Cleanser BEEQ Kubla - Face Mask Blissful Organic Skincare Balancing Cleansing Lotion Burt's Bees Conditioning Lip Scrub Camille Rose Honey Hydrate Catherine Hinds Classics TX - Dry/Dehydrated - Exfoliant Comvita Medi-Honey Anti-Bacterial Wound Gel Dudu-Osun Black Soap Fresh Crème Ancienne Ultimate Nourishing Honey Mask Garden City Essentials Honey & Clay Nourishing Facial Treatment Grahams Natural Alternatives Natural Shampoo Helena Rubinstein Hydra Collagenist Day Cream Dry Skin I'm From Honey Mask I'm From Honey Mask I'm From Honey Mask Laurel Honey Berry Mask Leahlani Meli Glow Illuminating Nectar Mask Leahlani Mermaid Mask Legendairy Milk Nipdip Nipple Cream Lush Fairly Traded Honey Shampoo Lush Gorgeous Moisturizer Lush Honey I Washed The Kids Shower Gel MARY LOUISE COSMETICS Turmeric & Honey Face Mask Marla Rene Black Honey Cleanser Marla Rene Turmeric Honey Cleanser May Lindstrom The Honey Mud Cleansing Silk Me Time Botanicals Berry Bright Polishing & Brightening Enzyme Mask Metsä/Skogen Spruce Sprout Sauna Honey Myoho pure by Priyanka Lemon And Honey Face Wash Nala Intensive Hydrating Shampoo Dry And Damage Hair Neal's Yard Remedies Honey & Orange Facial Scrub Oak Essentials Restorative Mask Om Organics Charcoal + Matcha Detoxifying Masque Repechage Honey And Almond Scrub Silver Honey Rapid Wound Repair Sjo Skin Happy Honey Mask Taos Bee Raw Honey Cleanser & Mask Tata Harper Clarifying Mask Tata Harper Raw Honey Crystal Mask Tbg natural skincare Sea Face Mask Tropical Naturals Dudu Osun Black Soap YoBee Restorative Scalpmask Z Skin Acne Day Lotion Z Skin Mid-Day Shine Control ila-spa Face Scrub for Glowing Radiance living libations Royal Rose Honey Mask the bath box Salted Honey Facial Cleanser Accufix Cosmetics Salicylic Acid Shampoo AliKay Honey And Sage Deep Conditioner