The little bee is, without a doubt, mankind’s most helpful creature. Without the bee, our crop pollination would be reduced drastically, cutting our ability to feed even 1/10,000 of our population, killing off thousands of species of plants, and we’d definitely be worse off for the lack of beeswax and honey. We owe a lot of the bee and always happy to see them in my garden (here’s a link to help attract bees to yours).
Honey is human’s first antibiotic and antibacterial, first sweetener, and one of the first skin care ingredients.
A simple, but highly effective and beneficial, face mask consists of colloidal oatmeal or oat flour, one egg white, and honey. Start with a 1/4 cup flour, add the egg white, and enough honey to make spreadable. Spread on face (least messy right before a shower), let set for 10-15 minutes, and wash off.
Let’s look at why honey is so amazing –
Chemical composition of bee’s honey (NIH)
Honey is a mixture of carbohydrates, proteins, aminoacids, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other compounds. It contains a number of enzymes, including invertase, glucose oxidase, catalase, and acid phosphorylase. Honey also contains eighteen free amino acids, the most abundant of which is proline.It contains trace amounts of the vitamins B2, B4, B5, B6, B11 and vitamin C. Minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, selenium, chromium and manganeseare also found in honey. The main group of antioxidants in honey are the flavonoids, of which, pinocembrin is unique to honey and bee propolis. Naturally darker honey has greater antioxidant properties.
Acetic, butanoic, formic, citric, succinic, lactic, malic, pyroglutamic, gluconic acids, and a number of aromatic acids are found in honey. Bee’s honey is free of cholesterol.
The article linked is worth a read, if you’re interested. Overall, honey is the perfect skin food (and food-food) for overall healthy skin. Our Honey Bee Handmade Soap contains a generous amount of both honey and beeswax, which is an excellent skin protectant, as well as the organic Alberta oatmeal we put in every soap we make.
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