Honey really is the "bee's knees" when it comes to looking good and is no longer just a delicious, syrupy concoction that you spread on toast or drizzle in your tea. Consumers spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on beauty products. Haircare, skincare, anti-aging, acne treatments, etc. all contribute to the sales. If you're tired of dishing out the bucks for products that may or may not work, why not try nature's all-natural beauty product, honey. It's cheap, it's safe, and it has hundreds of uses.
Here are a few of the most popular beauty-related uses of honey.
Honey for Your Skin
Using honey as a skin treatment is probably its most common use as a beauty product. Honey has been used in this way for thousands of years and provides a number of benefits to one's skin. Honey is a natural moisturizer, which, along with its thick consistency, makes it an excellent all-around facial cleanser and treatment. Honey's stickiness allows it to lift dirt and oil from the skin, leaving it fresh and clean. Honey mixed with a little bit of an abrasive substance (many people use finely chopped nuts) is a perfect all-natural exfoliating scrub. Many people swear that honey mixed with corn starch is an effective treatment for acne. Honey is also naturally anti-bacterial, which aids in healing minor cuts and abrasions when applied to the skin. Perhaps this explains its effectiveness as an acne treatment.
Honey for Your Hair
Honey can also do wonders for your hair. Honey makes a very good conditioner that leaves hair moisturized and soft. Honey can be applied alone, but most people find it works best when combined with another substance. It can be combined with your regular conditioner to add a little kick, or you can mix it with olive oil to make your very own conditioner that will leave your hair shiny and soft. Some people add a little lemon juice to honey to gently lighten their hair. Honey also adds a mild, natural fragrance to your conditioner that will leave your hair smelling great.
Honey for Hair Removal
Anyone who has ever endured the use of hot wax for hair removal will quickly learn to appreciate honey as an alternative. Women in the Arab world have used caramel to remove unwanted facial and body hair for thousands of years. Honey is easily substituted in place of the sugar in these recipes and is more effective. After cooking the honey with a little water and lemon juice, it cools into a sticky, gum-like substance. This mixture is applied to the skin and used in hair removal, just like in waxing. The difference is that the honey need not be hot. A few minutes of kneading in the hands leaves it supple enough to apply. It relies on its stickiness to remove the hair and most women say it is painless compared to wax. An additional benefit is honey's anti-bacterial properties, which disinfect the skin as you remove the hair, preventing breakouts suffered by many women. The skin is also moisturized and left exfoliated.
Because honey is an all-natural beauty product, experimentation can be a safe, rewarding experience. Honey as a beauty remedy/treatment is also good for the earth, unlike the chemicals that you will find in many of the products that are o the market today (that subsequently end up going down your bathroom drain). If you are looking to go green and reduce your carbon footprint, try to think of new ways you can use honey in place of your traditional products.
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