Throughout history, honey has been used by women to naturally enhance their beauty. In ancient Egypt, it was used to make beauty products and different varieties of paint that was used to make beautiful patterns on the body. In Persia, it was used, in a mixture with vinegar to treat many inflamed skin conditions. Roman women are said to have bathed with milk and honey every day to keep their skin soft and young.
In Chinese tradition, honey was blended with ground orange seeds and used as a face mask to keep the skin clear and free of hyperpigmentation. In France and England, women used to put solutions of honey in water in their to make it thick and strong.
With the passing of time, the era changed, but women today still face the same problems with their skin that they used to face all those years ago. And honey, with its impressive properties that make it an excellent natural skincare ingredient, still has the potential to resolve all of your skin woes, if only you can grasp how to use it correctly. Here are a few methods to make some do-it-yourself face masks at home using honey to help you nourish your skin.
Honey Face packs
1. Exfoliate And Polish
As one gets older, his or her skin starts to age. This often results in accumulation of a topical layer of dead skin cells which can cause dry, irritated and itchy skin. Hence, it is important to gently scrub your skin from time to time to expose the healthier and younger skin cells so that the skin can breathe. Exfoliation also helps with treating blemishes, patchy skin and hyper pigmentation. However, the exfoliation agent must only be used with a gentle moisturizing agent to ensure the restoration of the body’s natural oil balance and to soothe the skin. If thoroughly clean and soft skin is what you desire, then the following might be the perfect face mask for you.
- a spoon
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- 2 tablespoon of ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon of water (optional)
- a small bowl
What to do?
Mix the ground almonds into the honey and stir profusely until they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture. You may add a dew drops of water if the mixture is too thick. Now, on your damp your face apply the mixture evenly and massage it in a circular patter all over your face for about ten minutes. Be gentle and careful so as to not to rub your skin too hard and damage it. After massaging, leave the face pack on for ten more minutes so that the honey can be absorbed into your skin. Then, rinse it off your face using lukewarm water and gently pat your face with a towel to dry.
Why does this help?
Harsh exfoliating agents can often leave your skin dry, rough and scratchy because they damage the surface skin cells. Honey is a very gentle exfoliating agent that does the job of removing dead skin cells without causing any abrasions on the skin and rupturing its natural structure. Moreover, because of its excellent moisturizing properties, honey can restore the natural oils of the skin and give it the much needed hydration after the exfoliation. Ground almonds have been used to aid in the scrubbing process and because of the natural oils they contain.
2. Hydrate And Smooth
Hardly anyone find the time to moisturize regularly owing to their busy lives or pamper themselves at spans and sauna baths on a frequent basis. This may cause your skin to become dry and flaky. You might often have to wake up through the nights to finish your assignments and the each cup of coffee or energy drinks that you consume to keep yourself awake makes your skin drier and itchier by stripping it of its moisture. A major cause of pimples is excessive oils secreted by the sebaceous glands with may be a result of them over compensating for your dry skin. So if you want to hydrate your skin and make it soft, supple and smooth to the touch, then this is the face pack for you.
What will you need?
- a spoon
- 2 table spoons of honey
- 2 table spoons of milk
- a small bowl
What to do?
Use the spoon to mix up the honey and milk in the small bowl. Adjust the amount you use and blend the ingredients well to get a mixture of adequate thickness. Stir well to make sure that the honey is mixed into the milk and doesn’t accumulate at the bottom of the bowl. Once you are done, apply a thick layer of the face pack onto your skin using your fingers or a clean make up brush and let the face pack sit on it for 15 to 20 minutes. Now, use a soft washcloth damp with slightly warm water to gently wipe the face mask away. Towel dry your skin gently by tapping it lightly.
Why does this help?
The combination of milk and honey is quite famed and is said to have been the secret to ancient Egyptian queen, Cleopatra’s dazzling, unmatched beauty. Honey has healing properties that can help with inflamed skin and soothe it. It can regulate the pH level of your skin and heal acne, and any form of rashes or burns. On the other hand, the lactic acid in the milk helps to naturally exfoliate the skin, reduce wrinkles and other signs of ageing and keeps your skin youthful and smooth. Both honey and milk can moisturize and hydrate your skin, leaving it soft, dewy and glowing.
3. Look Youthful
A protein contained in skin called collagen is responsible for giving it its elastic structure and bounciness. But as you grow older, you start to suffer from its deficiency and your skin starts to show signs of aging. Your skin starts becoming saggy and thin. Premature aging, which often becomes a cause of stress and worry in young women, gives itself away in the form of less elastic skin, wrinkles, and hyper-pigmentation. It may be caused by too much exposure to the sun, genetic factors, lifestyle, diet, irregular sleep cycles, excessive intake of caffeine in energy drinks and coffee and even stress. If you want to maintain your bouncy, youthful skin, then you should try the face pack below.
What will you need?
- a spoon
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 table spoon of lemon juice
- a small bowl
What to do?
Add 2 tablespoons of honey to the small bowl. Now, put in a table spoon of lemon juice and stir the mixture. Keep blending it until the lemon juice fully dissolves into the thick honey. You may add a few drops of water, as and when needed, to adjust the consistency of the face pack. Make sure that the honey does not settle down at the bottom of the bowl. Now, apply the face pack to the skin on your face lightly with your fingers, and gently massage it in. After letting it sit for 15 minutes, rinse your skin with slightly warm water to rinse off the face pack and then tap it dry gently using a soft towel.
Why does this help?
Raw honey, that has not been heated or pasteurized, contains a lot of anti-oxidants and helps to remove fine lines, and other such tell tale signs of premature ageing on your skin. It can help prevent further formations of wrinkles and make your skin look young and fresh. The use of lemon, a citrus fruit, has been directly correlated with increased collagen production by the skin. This maintains the elasticity of the skin, while the Vitamin C present in lemons can repair damage and prevent wrinkles.
4. Prevent Pimples
As teenager a lot us commonly encounter problems like pimples and acne breakouts, which are caused when hormonal imbalance results in excessive oil production by the sebaceous glands. Sometimes, this condition can stay with the person even after he or she is out of his or her teenage years. Irrespective of his or her skin type, this condition can just about affect any person. It can be triggered by growth of bacteria on your skin, using cosmetic products that don’t suit your skin, at specific stages of your menstruation cycles and too much stress or anxiety. Pimples can become a constantly recurring problem which becomes worse if not resolved timely. Moreover, pimples leave behind blemishes and scars on your face because of scarring of skin . The following face pack is suitable to prevent pimples and treat scars and blemishes.
What will you need?
- a spoon
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
- a small bowl
What to do?
Take the small bowl and add 3 tablespoons of honey and a tablespoon of cinnamon into it. Mix up the contents of the bowl thoroughly until the cinnamon fully dissolves into the honey. Put the bowl in the microwave and heat it for about 20 seconds on low heat. Make sure that it just mildly warm and do not overheat. The mixture should be thick enough to be used in the form of a face pack. Now, apply this face pack to all the acne prone and infected areas of your face and let it sit for about 15 minutes. After the stipulated time, rinse the mixture off using warm water and towel dry your face by gently tapping it.
Why this helps?
Raw honey has medicinal properties, and it can seep into the acne affected area and prove effective against the bacteria causing it. It also fights infections and hydrates the skin, and catalyses the healing process. Cinnamon too, has anti-inflammatory properties. It can fight bacterial infections and heal woulds in the skin that are caused by acne. Their property to repair damaged skin can also help to heal the scars, blemishes and hyper pigmentation caused by acne.
A Word Of Caution
Although honey is, generally speaking, completely safe to be used on anyone’s skin, it should not be used in a face masks and applied on your skin if you are, in any way, allergic to honey, bees or any form of pollen. To be on the safer side, you should do a small patch test on your skin to make sure you do not experience any abnormal signs like redness or itching which might indicate an allergic reaction.
Now that you’re nearing the end to this guide on how to make your own natural, honey face packs, we are sure you are already rummaging around your house to find your jars of honey. Keep in mind that not commercial honey, but raw honey that has not been pasteurized will yield the best results in case of all of these face-packs.
Honey is an ingredient that is often used by the beauty industry in many skincare products such as moisturizers, scrubs, lip-balms and creams. Using honey through using your own, home made face masks to reap the same benefits that it can provide you through a cosmetic product which costs almost ten times as much and where it is mixed with many other harmful, artificial chemicals , is certainly a complete steal.