Are you ready?
It's honey!
 |
| Like this! |
Were you shocked? Okay maybe not, but whatever. I was surprised at my discovery, alright?
Using honey to wash your face is an idea that is pretty established around the blogosphere - just search it on Pinterest if you don't believe me. After my many other attempts, I decided to give it a try...and I'm so glad I did!
Why use honey?
Honey has both antibacterial and healing properties. It also cleans the skin without stripping it of its natural oils. It's slightly drying, which is great for pimples and all their annoying friends you are trying to kick off your face, but it's also incredibly moisturizing! Double standard? Maybe, but I'm not complaining! It's supposed to be what worked for Cleopatra, after all. Honey tightens the pores and has tons of enzymes that not only help scrub your face but are also anti-aging. It also loves every skin type - dry, oily, young, old, acne... It's basically amazing. No big deal guys.
What kind of honey?
While there are many kinds of honey out there - pick something that says "raw," "unpasteurized," etc. You don't want a pasteurized/processed version. I get mine in bulk from my local health food store, or the farmer's market. It depends what's cheaper. Raw honey will sometimes be a little cloudy and might have little crunchy bits of honeycomb, pollen, and propolis (good stuff!) in it. The only ingredient will be pure/raw honey.
How to wash your face with honey:
1. Tie your hair back and get it out of your face. Honey will make your hair really sticky.
2. Remove your eye make up if you are wearing any. (Look for a blog post on that soon :)
3. Wash your face with a wash cloth and warm water - as warm as you can safely and comfortably handle. This will open up your pores.
4. Scoop out a teaspoon or so of honey and massage it on your damp face for about a minute - all over. Just use it like you would a normal face wash. The water on your face and hands should dissolve the honey so it's not too sticky at all.
5. Wash your face with warm water again, making sure to get it all off. It rinses off really easily too! Dry your face.
6. I follow up with a homemade toner.
Other ways to use honey:
To remove blackheads - place honey straight on dry skin (I do this on my nose) and tap with fingers. It will be quite sticky, and pulls bacteria and dirt out of your pores. Lovely, I know ;)
As a mask - follow the steps outlined to wash your face normally, but leave it on for 5-30 min. This mask is brightening, as well as helping to make pores smaller and work on acne scarring. Overall your face might like to just drink in all the goodness! For extra moisture, mix one part honey with one part olive oil.
To exfoliate - mix 1 tsp. of baking soda with 2 TBSP of honey for a gentle exfoliating mask (adjust quantities depending on how strong you want it to be). Let it sit in the bowl for a few minutes, and then apply what you need to your face and rub gently. Wipe off when you are done. Since these are food products, you can use this on your lips too! Great for True North winter skin, I'm telling you.
I've actually, as of today began trying this! I've been (so far) suprised with the results, as I have pretty oily skin at times, I find in addition to the honey, rubbing some baking soda with vinegar (even though it fizzles) on these spots dries it out perfectly :) - and coconut oil, is a great moisturizer!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad it works for you - and it's great to know about different skin types! I've never heard of using the baking soda with vinegar, but I have definitely used baking soda and water as a paste. I have also left it on overnight as a spot treatment at times. Do you find it works better together?
Delete