When it comes to boosting your appearance, it’s not always necessary to shell out a lot of cash on expensive cosmetic products. Often, these products have chemical ingredients that can in fact do more harm than good. Exposing your skin to them repeatedly can cause irritation and other unpleasant side effects.
Understandably, you want to look your best out in the world. When you look good, you feel good about yourself. However, you shouldn’t sacrifice a lot of money and comfort in the pursuit of beauty. Don’t waste your money on products that may actually do you harm.
Many natural products are surprisingly effective as cosmetics and toiletries, even if most people don’t buy them for such purposes. Honey is one such item. It offers a range of benefits for your face and skin, all while costing much less than chemical-based products. You can easily improve your looks with something you probably already have in your kitchen
There’s even evidence to suggest that honey is effective at alleviating the symptoms of seasonal allergies. Some people are even lucky enough to develop a permanent immunity to their allergens by consuming raw, local honey on a daily basis. It can boost your comfort along with your looks!
Not used to the idea of using honey in this way? Read on to learn all about its many potential benefits.
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Caring for Your Face & Skin with Honey
Honey is more than just a sweetener. It contains plenty of nutrients, as well as moisturizing properties and similar characteristics, all of which make it a very useful item for improving the look and health of your face.
That’s the most important point to realize. Many beauty products merely serve to make you look good. Honey actually supports your skin’s overall health, though. The following are some of the best ways to use honey as part of your overall beauty regimen.
Cleansing Pores
Raw honey contains enzymes that clean out your pores. To create your own honey-based pore cleanser, mix a tablespoon of raw honey with two tablespoons of coconut oil. Mix the ingredients together until the consistency is easily spreadable.
Make sure your skin is clean and dry, then massage the blend into your face, taking care to avoid your eyes. Leave it for about five minutes, then rinse away with lukewarm water. Over time, this will clean out your pores very effectively, reducing the odds of acne outbreaks and similar conditions.
Moisturizing
Honey is what’s known as a humectant. That means it is especially effective at keeping moisture on your skin. In fact, it actually draws moisture from the air towards it, optimizing the effects.
To use it in this capacity, all you have to do is spread a single teaspoon of raw honey over your face and let it sit for 15 minutes, rinsing it away with lukewarm water later. As with the remedy above, make sure your skin is clean and dry for the best effects, and be careful not to get any honey in or around your eyes. While it won’t cause any harm, you can imagine how uncomfortable it would be if your eyes came into contact with honey.
Fighting the Effects of Aging
Free radicals develop in the body when oxygen atoms break down into single electrons, instead of pairs. These electrons want to be in pairs (so to speak), and they move throughout the body looking for electrons in other cells. Unfortunately, this often causes a chain reaction which results in cell damage. There are numerous potential consequences of these chain reactions, but increased signs of aging is a major one.
That’s where antioxidants come in. They serve to stop the chain reaction in its tracks. That’s why physicians often recommend eating more foods with high levels of antioxidants. Doing so guards against a wide range of maladies.
That said, you don’t need to merely restrict yourself to getting antioxidants from food sources. Applying honey to your face as a moisturizer also serves to let healthy antioxidants into your skin. By using it on a regular basis, you can limit the development of signs of aging.
Plumping Lips
Although it’s not exactly a health issue, many people understandably want their lips to look more noticeable and attractive. Fortunately, they don’t need to invest a lot of money paying for fancy treatments to get these kinds of effects.
All you have to do is dip a cotton ball into some raw honey and apply it to your lips every night before you go to bed. Leave it on overnight, and rinse away any residue leftover in the morning. The honey penetrates the thinner layer of the lip and causes it to swell slightly. This has the effect of making your lips appear fuller and healthier.
Reducing the Appearance of Scars
Honey contains compounds and nutrients which have natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Thus, it’s common for natural health specialists to recommend using it in the treatment of scars. These properties promote faster tissue healing, while certain moisturizing ingredients in honey ensure that the skin which grows back over the scar is as healthy as possible.
For this remedy, mix a teaspoon of raw honey with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Once the two ingredients are blended together, massage the mixture into the area with your fingertips for a minute or two. Use circular motions, and be gentle, as you don’t want to harm already scarred skin.
After massaging your skin, place a hot washcloth on top of the mixture and leave it there until it’s cool. Of course, make sure the washcloth isn’t so hot that it causes pain or damage.
To take advantage of honey’s natural healing properties, repeat this process daily. It will speed up the healing process. On top of that, there’s evidence to suggest that honey naturally lightens the skin, further reducing the appearance of scars.
Soaking in a Bath
Luxuriating in a warm bath while also boosting the overall health of your skin? Sounds like something most people would enjoy, right?
It’s easy to do with raw honey. Add two tablespoons of raw honey to a cup of hot water and let it sit until dissolved. Add the entire mixture to a warm bath. The antioxidants will protect your skin from free radical damage, keeping it healthy, youthful, and hydrated. You can take this kind of bath every day, or on occasions when you feel like it. Either way, you’ll still get the essential benefits.
Exfoliating
With honey, you can create your own low-cost exfoliation scrub that also serves to moisturize your skin.
Exfoliating is the process of removing the top layer of dead skin cells to make room for the healthier, more vibrant layers of skin underneath that layer. To exfoliate your skin with honey, mix one part baking soda with two parts honey until you have a fairly consistent solution. Scrub any areas of your skin you wish to exfoliate.
The baking soda will actually have the exfoliating effects, but the honey contributes by soothing the skin, amplifying the overall results.
Treating Sunburns
Honey has anti-inflammatory properties that make it especially useful at treating skin that’s been sunburnt. To get the most out of this kind of treatment, consider adding aloe vera, which also reduces inflammation.
Just mix one part raw honey together with two parts aloe vera gel until they’re blended together fairly uniformly. Apply the mixture to any areas of sunburn. Because sunburnt skin has often been dried out, honey is particularly useful. It retains moisture, promoting overall hydration and faster healing.
You may even want to keep this mixture on hand any time you plan on being out in the sun for a long time. While you should always take care to protect yourself with sunscreen when you’re going to be spending long hours outdoors (even on cloudy days, since the sun’s UV rays can penetrate through cloud cover), if you do end up with a burn, you want to be able to treat it as soon as possible in order to limit the damage. The blend of honey and aloe vera will keep your skin healthy without exposing it to chemicals that may cause other kinds of damage.
How Honey Helps with Allergies?
While you may accept that honey can be effective in beauty treatments, it’s understandable if you need a little more of an explanation regarding its role in preventing allergies.
The principle of using honey as an allergy treatment is related to the overall concept of immunotherapy, a medically-accepted approach to allergy prevention. Essentially, immunotherapy involves exposing a person to small doses of whatever it is they happen to be allergic to. Over time, they increase the dosage. Many people develop a tolerance, or immunity to their allergen this way.
That’s very important to realize. While there is no shortage of products available to people looking to reduce their overall allergy symptoms, most of those only offer temporary relief. Because they don’t address the root of the problem, they don’t actually prevent future allergic reactions. They merely boost your comfort during allergy season.
That’s why many natural health experts recommend consuming local, raw honey on a daily basis. In many instances, the honey contains small amounts of the kind of pollen most people with seasonal allergies are allergic to. Bees transfer some of the pollen to the honey, but not so much that it’s likely to trigger a reaction.
It’s important to make sure you purchase raw honey from a local farmer if you’re planning to use it in the treatment of allergies. Raw honey contains enzymes that are essential to boosting its effects.
That said, you should be aware that a small number of people do end up having allergic reactions to honey itself. That’s why it’s important to start with small amounts, increasing to larger doses as you continue to experiment with this treatment method.
If you notice any redness, swelling, or other signs of hives, stop taking honey on a regular basis. It’s also worth noting that children under the age of 12 months should refrain from consuming honey. It contains a toxin that could potentially cause botulism. It’s not worth the risk.
Again, by taking local, raw honey on a daily basis, many people develop a strong immunity to their allergens. However, not everyone gets the same effects. Much of this is due to factors that are beyond their control, like the pollen content in the honey.
Luckily, that doesn’t mean you can’t still benefit. Adding honey to tea is especially beneficial when you’re suffering from a sore throat. The honey will reduce inflammation, boosting your overall comfort as a result.
None of this is to suggest that honey is a cure-all for serious conditions. If you suffer from extreme allergies that interfere with your day-to-day life, honey may be able to help, but it’s still necessary to see a physician if the problem is serious.
Getting the Most Out of Honey
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that honey is just something you add to food or beverages to make them taste sweeter. Sure, that may be its most common use, but it can do so much more than that. Honey is full of nutrients that make it a useful part of any beauty routine.
Again, it’s particularly ideal because it doesn’t contain the harsh chemicals often found in other beauty products. Thus, it has clear positive effects, without the potentially negative impacts of more expensive items.
For virtually all of these remedies, it’s best if you purchase raw honey. The label on the bottle will let you know if it’s raw. Raw honey contains higher concentrations of active enzymes and nutrients, providing for more substantial effects. If you’re buying your honey from a farmer instead of a grocery store, ask if it’s raw.
Whether you’re trying to clear up your pores, protect your skin from free radicals, or reduce your seasonal allergies, honey can and will help.