Honey, Nature's Moisturizer!
Honey Keeps Your Skin Hydrated with Therapeutic Properties
The desire for skin that is soft, supple and maintains it’s elasticity is important to most of us. Honey is high in Vitamin C, B vitamins as well as amino acids which help to nourish the skin.
A Little Honey History
The ancient Egyptians put urns of honey in their burial chambers, and when they were discovered the honey was still edible. Ancient Ayurvedic texts say that a mixture of honey and alcohol is believed to promote hair growth. Should we all try that?
Besides Cleopatra using milk and honey baths, Poppea, the wife of the Roman Emperor Nero, used honey and milk as a lotion to keep her face looking youthful. Hippocrates, called the father of medicine, used honey to protect his lips and heal wounds. The Chinese would help to clear their complexions with a paste made of crushed orange seeds and honey.
Honey For your Skin
Honey provides other skin care uses besides the infamous bath, including care for sunburn, cuts, bruises, moisturizing, hair care treatments and to stave off the bacteria from acne.
A simple facial mask to try is mixing raw honey and an egg yolk. Leave it on your skin for 20 minutes. The sugar and enzymes in the honey gently exfoliate, and it also absorbs impurities from the skin. This is beneficial to all skin types, including those with acne.
The founder of Meadowlake farms is a member of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, and is known for her unique line of honey based formulas in her skin care line. Honey “contains an abundance of Gluconic Acid the most effective Alpha Hydroxy acid in facial skin care as well as a multitude of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals too numerous to mention”, as reported on their site: www.beehiveskintherapies.com.
Meadowlake farms developed their own strict ethical standard to help you and the planet. As active environmentalists they do not use any chemicals, pesticides or antibiotics to manage their bees. They carry a nice range of facial and medicinal plant therapies for the skin.
Honey in Cosmetics
The website www.livingnature.com has many products that contain manuka honey. The most unique item is their conditioning mascara made with manuka honey and vitamin C.
This product is the winner for the Best Natural Mascara in the UK Natural Health Beauty Awards 2008.
For softer lips you can try dabbing on some honey and then some sugar. Massage it into your lips and then rinse it off. Add some Burt’s Bees Honey lip balm and enjoy soft kissable lips!
Honey Healing Story
Dr. Jennifer Eddy is a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Eddy had a patient who was diabetic with an ulcer on his left foot. After months of treatment and four surgeries the doctors wanted to remove his entire foot. “ he preferred death to amputation, and everybody agreed he was going to die if he didn’t get an amputation,” said Eddy.
Dr. Eddy chose to treat the ulcer with honey-soaked gauze which was a treatment used by ancient Sumerian physicians. In two weeks her patient’s ulcer began to heal and a year later he could walk again. Dr. Eddy is one of many doctors who rediscovered honey as a medicine.
In the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Family Practice, there is an article written by Drs. Jennifer Eddy and Mark D Gideonson called, “ Topical Honey for Diabetic Foot Ulcers” and chronicles the progress of the ulcerated foot.
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