Buzz Word
Buzz Word
Get set to glow with beauty treatments that tap the skin-reviving benefits of honey.
By: Renée Morrison
Cleopatra famously bathed in milk and honey, but she was hardly the first to look to bees’ sweet elixir for its health and beauty benefits. Honey has been revered since antiquity for its anti-microbial and antioxidant properties, making it a key ingredient in beauty products and treatments. For a complexion worthy of the Queen of the Nile, at-home face masks deliver a potent dose of the sweet stuff. Artifact’s Egyptian Honey Rose mask includes raw honey to prevent blemishes and even skin tone (thanks to naturally occurring alpha hydroxy acids); Crème Ancienne Ultimate Nourishing Honey Mask by Fresh uses honey to seal in moisture for up to six hours; and Guerlain promises its Abeille Royale Repairing Honey Gel Mask will leave skin plumper and smoother from the first application. Even predating pharaonic Egypt, Mayans on the other side of the globe used honey as part of the temazcal (sweat lodge) ceremony, allowing the warmth from heated volcanic stones to open pores for optimal nourishment. Today, it’s still used in treatments at the Willow Stream Spa at Fairmont Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, and in local co-op Mayak’ab’s artisanal soap, made with honey from the area’s stingless melipona bees (native to the Yucatan region). Whether at home or as part of a modern-day spa ritual, add this powerful ingredient to your skin care routine and you’re golden.