5 Ways to Use Honey for Your Skin

Inflammation

What is inflammation? It isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Inflammation is how your body tries to protect itself. It’s your body’s way of protecting itself.

Think back on the last time you stubbed your toe or got a tiny paper cut. Your skin puffs up and it turns pink. What you’re seeing is fluid rushing to that location to try to heal the tissue. Or Have you ever tried a new workout and then the next day everything is sore and hurts? You have muscles you didn’t even realize you had. You probably noticed that your body felt kind of tight, swollen, achy, and sore. Well, that is inflammation. It’s a good thing. It’s healing your tissues. 

Bodily inflammation is weight in fluids that you may have been carrying around for years simply because you’re eating foods that are inflammatory for YOU.

Chronic inflammation is what happens when we’re repeatedly exposed to something that our body sees as foreign, even though we might not see it as foreign. An example that you might even think about is chronic stress which can cause systemic inflammation and our skin is a reflection of what’s going on in the inside.

Honey

So, let’s talk about honey. You might love the taste of honey, but did you know that there are many benefits it has for the skin! Here are five different ways you can use it on your face.

1. Use it as a Cleanser

The first way you can use honey for your skin is to clean with it. This might seem counterproductive, but the properties of raw honey can actually really help to cleanse your skin and keep those pores clear. Just make sure you are using Manuka or raw locally sourced and not the sugar-laden and chemically processed honey you find in grocery stores. Since honey is very thick, it is hard to cleanse with it by itself. Mix the honey with a healthy oil like coconut oil until you can spread it on your face, then massage it and rinse off.

2. Prevent Infections

One of raw honey’s natural health benefits is that it works as an antibacterial. If you are either prone to skin infections or you already have an infection starting, you can treat it with a little bit of raw honey. An easy way to use honey as an antibacterial is to make honey compresses with some honey on a damp cloth, dabbing it on your skin, letting it sit there, then rinsing it off.

3. Treat Oily Skin

If you suffer from oily skin, you can use raw honey to help prevent breakouts. It is best that you make yourself a little mask that uses honey and some other natural ingredients.

Brightening turmeric, honey, and lemon mask 

Turmeric and lemon are amazing for skin-brightening: Turmeric (and its active ingredient, curcumin) has antioxidant properties that can help protect the skin from free-radical damage, while lemon has a fair share of vitamin C—perfect for fading dark spots. 

To make this mask, combine 1 tbsp. of raw or Manuka honey, 1 tsp. of ground turmeric, and ½ tsp. of lemon juice. Slather on and leave for 10 minutes or until the mask starts to harden, then wash off with warm water. 

Exfoliate Your Skin

4. Exfoliate Your Skin

As you know, exfoliating your skin helps to cleanse it while also removing dead skin cells. There are many products you can use, both store-bought and homemade. Honey is an excellent choice for making your own exfoliator, by combining raw honey with some baking soda and a little bit of jojoba oil or coconut oil. Scrub gently on your face and rinse with cool or tepid water.

5. Get Rid of Acne

Do you have a lot of acne? This might not only be caused by extra oils on your skin, but from bacteria that is clogging your pores. Use acne to treat pimples and other acne on your face by putting some raw honey directly on the areas. Let it sit about 10 minutes, then rinse off.