Raw Honey

I get raw Ivy honey from beekeeper down the road (England), as well as raw honey called Norfolk Honey which made in another county here. I don’t use it often to cleanse my face. I prefer using coconut oil or Simple refreshing gel.

BUT - I love it as mask. I have normal skin, no acne, not oily, sometimes dry or dehydrated. On freshly washed damp skin I’ll apply honey in a nice thick layer and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. Rinse with warm water and put on some Hada Labo Moist or Timeless B5/HA serum. The result is soft, plumped, dewy skin. I don’t have large pores or blackheads, but in my nose the pores are larger with a few tiny brown heads, and I swear the honey shrinks my pores a bit.

It’s a fun, inexpensive thing to do for yourself. Sometimes I’ll mash Avocado and mix honey into it as a mask. It’s delicious.

honey is one of skin's best friends. I've used raw honey for 2 weeks and i'm totally happy with it. My skin feels baby-butt soft, looks radiant and healthy. Honey doesnt strip oil from my face as well and it is a natural humectant so it keeps my skin hydrated and smooth all the time in the harsh winter. Unfortunately i have never had a good experience with honey face mask, it always left my face red with 1 to 2 new pimples, i guess my skin cant tolerate sth in honey for too long. But mix it with a few drops of water and use for face washing and rinse it off after 1-2 minutes? No problem. Best best best in terms of natural skincare.!

Washing my face with raw honey has made a huge difference in my skin!

My skin is oily, acne prone, sensitive and now aging as well. I have tried a huge range of cleansers - cheap, expensive, cream, foaming, etc. over the years. None of them have performed as well as raw honey. You can't use regular honey you get at the grocery store in the squeeze bottle. It needs to be raw (aka unpasteurized) honey so you get the beneficial bacteria. I mix a quarter to a half a teaspoon of honey with water, spread it over my face and use my Clairsonic brush. My skin is both less oily *and* more moisturized at the same time. My acne is reduced and my skin is far more radiant than with any conventional cleanser I've used.

This is also extremely inexpensive - I pay $12 for 2.2lb of raw honey!! Considering how little I use this goes a long, long way. Honey does not go bad unless you mix it with water - so as long as you store it in a cool, dry cupboard there is no reason not to buy in bulk.

The only annoying thing is that honey is very sticky. If you don't rinse it all off your face or it drips down your wrists you will find sticky spots all over throughout the day. Because of this, I tried to switch to a gentle, non-foaming cleanser but the results just weren't the same so I've gone back.

I have not tried using manuka honey which has stronger anti-bacterial properties so I'm not sure how it compares to regular raw honey. It's a lot more costly but I may give this a try soon, anyway.

Pros
-balances your skin
-fights acne
-gives your complexion radiance
-natural, non-toxic
-very, very inexpensive

Cons
-sticky, requires a lot of rinsing
-not great for traveling

UPDATE: A pro I forgot to mention (because it's not beauty-related) is that supporting beekeepers is very good for the environment. Honeybees have been dying in huge numbers in recent years due to the use of neonics (a type of insecticide) so purchasing honey from local beekeepers can help them keep their hives going!!

My entire life, I have had dry skin. I just thought that's they way I was born, and to deal with it. An esthetician friend told me "honey washing" would be an excellent way to moisturize my dry skin. To be honest, I changed much of my skincare routine after that conversation, so I can't give all the credit entirely to the honey, but I do believe it is the most effective part of my routine. I say this since I had tried countless methods/brands of moisturizing over the years and nothing ever had the effect of correcting my dry skin.

I have been "honey washing" my face in the morning for a little over 8 months. I do this every morning. Make sure you are using raw, unprocessed honey. Do not use the cute little bear squeeze bottle. Must be raw/unprocessed. I use Wee Bee Honey since my ShopRite carries it. Otherwise go to a farmer's market, Vitamin Shoppe or GNC.

I put my hair up in a headband and take anywhere from 1-2 teaspoons to a tablespoon (it's cheap - who cares how much you use) and massage it all over my face. I do warm it a bit in my fingers first to make it easier to spread during the cold months. I personally do not add water. I then let it sit there while I make coffee, make breakfast, read email, etc. Some days it sits for 10 minutes, and some days longer. I then splash water on my face to remove, and follow up with a wet washcloth to make sure all honey is removed from the hairline.

I now say that I have normal skin. Not dry. I am so happy I learned about honey.

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So I mentioned that I had changed much of my skin care routine at the same time as starting the honey washing - this is mainly a complete changeover to all my moisturizers being from Shea Terra Organics. I am NOT affiliated with Shea Terra at all, I just LOVE the products I use.

I used to just use the Shea Terra (ST) Argan Oil followed with Olay Complete moisturizer, morning & night. Now I use the ST Argan oil, ST Kigelia gel and ST Marula moisture face creme, in this order, in the morning. In the evening, I use Shea Terra Rose Hips oil, ST Kigelia gel and ST Marula moisture face creme.

AUGUST 8 2017 UPDATE: I no longer use the ST Argan oil in the morning. I switched to ST Egyptian Carrol Seed Oil about 4 months ago. Their carrot seed oil is so much more moisturizing than the argan and I love the change.

I have combination oily acne prone skin. Ive been using alot of drying things on my face to combat the oil and acne, whilst that worked i ended up with severe eczema all over my face. I decided to use honey to cleanse my face morning and night. First couple days my skin looked healthy and glowy, it even dried up a few pimples, but best of all my eczema patches disappeared. I continued to use raw honey as a cleanser until i noticed all my pores were clogged and i was developing really painful red spots all over my forehead and cheeks. I stopped using raw honey as a cleanser and used only cetaphil cleanser and moisturizer on my skin. The pimples that the honey caused went away almost immediately. So 2 weeks went by i really did like how the honey made my skin so soft and how it took away the eczema patches and calmed my skin. I decided to use it as a mask after i cleansed my face , left it on for an hour. I washed it off my face felt nice and smooth then i went to sleep. Woke up to new painful pimples, lovely now i will never use honey on my face again. Such a shame because it did feel great on my skin.

I DID HONEY MASKS FOR ABOUT A MONTH,IT DID MAKE MY FACE LOOK LIFTED I DONT KNOW WHY,MY SKIN FELT GREAT WAS SMOOTHER,MADE MY DRY SKIN KIND OF DISAPPEAR,BUT IT REALLY CAN DRY YOUR SKIN OUT,IT SEEMED TO CREATE A DEEP WRINKLE ON MY CHEEK AND IT HAS STILL NOT WENT AWAY.MY SKIN PEELED AFTER I STOPPED USING IT,I RECOMMEND FOR OILY SKIN,DO NOT GET ON YOUR FINGERNAILS IT GAVE ME RIDGES AND THEY HAVE BEEN THERE FOR YEARS RUINED MY NAILS.

raw honey is amazing. i've been using it as a cleanser for a month. i never use my facial wash again. only honey in the morning and at evening.
i massage it around my face and then leave it for 30mins , after that i wash it off with warm water.

my skin feel smoother and no more new acne. and its really work for acne scar and dark spot. i had new acne scar and its disappeared in about 3 days? totally disappeared. i havent seen any significant progress for my old acne scar. i think it takes a while.. :)

well, raw honey is my new facial wash! <3 i want to try manuka honey, which i heard it works much much better.. but they dont have it in my country..

I am super impressed with honey for skin care! My skin can get extremely dehydrated and dull looking and I've been really loving natural skin care. I use honey to clean my face in the morning, and it leaves my skin perfectly balanced!! Soft, almost poreless, and glowing. I still use the OCM at night, because honey does not remove makeup... but I love waking up in the morning now because I feel like I'm treating my skin so well when I put honey on it. It makes the getting up and getting ready feel less stressful because I know I'll love my skin afterwards.

I use raw organic honey (locally farmed) to wash my face every morning. The raw organic is grainy and creamy. On the first few uses, you may feel a little flushed but it goes away pretty quickly. I keep a jar in the shower and this is my go to wash. I find that my breakouts have decreased, my skin is balanced and overall much healthier. I suffered from cystic acne on my chin and jawline for nearly twenty years and since I started this I've gone from having four or five cysts a week to one every few months. Give it a chance and try it. It works!

In Ginger Garrett's book 'Beauty From the Bible', honey and olive oil are mentioned as two of the ingredients that work wonders for the skin. Yes, indeed!

I follow Garrett's technique of applying honey with moist fingertips, on the face. It soothes the face. Honey is also a humectant and antiseptic (assuming one uses raw, unprocessed).
Her book also has a recipe for a skin creme, with only beeswax, honey and olive oil in equal parts. This creme too, is awesome! Apparently, the ingredient mix is close to that in the 'Egyptian Magic' cream that costs several times over.

I have also found out that Manuka honey is working great for my skin and hair. A honey-egg yolk mask on the hair, makes it incredibly shiny and silky. I also noticed silkier/softer results when I used raw Manuka honey instead of raw generic honey.

Honey (diluted with distilled water and triphala churna) also works miracles for the eyes.
A honey eye wash will clean out any impurities or bacteria and cure dry eyes. I often use honey eye wash, with a drop of honey in a teaspoon of distilled water and some triphala.

Better to use honey than skin products containing chemicals like propylene glycol etc for retaining moisture! Love love love the scent of honey.