Unbeknown to many, this last week has been National Honey Week. As well as being delicious on toast, the sweet treat is renowned in the beauty world for its skin soothing and antibacterial properties. There is host of products available containing the amber nectar, but I've selected a few of my favourites below...
Purveyors of all things natural, Lush boasts an intoxicating array of honey-based products. The Flying Fox Shower Gel (from £4.50 for 100g) contains four different kinds of rich, golden honey from all over the globe. Combining a wonderful blend of jasmine absolute and ylang ylang - known for their aphrodisiac qualities it's a luxuriously decadent shower treat. Meanwhile the Honey Bee Bath Ballistic (£3.10) contains a calming blend of rhassoul mud, honey and aloe vera to create an intensely soothing bath. Each ballistic is hand pressed which helps achieve the gorgeous bee-like striped pattern which means each one is entirely unique. Finally the Honey I Washed the Kids Soap (£3.25 for 100g), one of Lush's bestsellers, smells like toffee and is topped with a layer of honeycomb.
What could be better for your skin that the real thing? For an indulgent homemade face mask, invest in a pot of Comvita Active UMF 10 + Manuka Honey (£7.29 for 250g from Boots and Holland & Barrett). Combine 1 teaspoon of finely ground almonds, ½ teaspoon of poppy seeds (optional), 1 teaspoon of Comvita’s UMF 10+ Manuka Honey and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice into a paste. Apply to the face, massaging in circular movements (avoiding the eye area) and rinse with warm water. It'll leave your face baby soft and glowing.
For the hands, L'Occitane's Honey Hand Cream. Sweetly fragranced, it's highly concentrated with shea butter to help protect, nourish and soften your hands, recovering hands' softness and comfort immediately.
Newly launched earlier this year, the Kings and Queens range is a unique body care collection based on herbs and spices used by royals and nobles of yore, from Aztec King Vanilla Pear to Chinese Princess Jasmine. The Nefertiti Honey Body Butter (£8.00) is a rich and luxurious body butter with honey, pomegranate, blue Egyptian lotus and malachite extracts inspired by the legendary beauty Nefertiti, who heralded honey as the treatment which sustained her iconic looks. Available from www.bathandunwind.com
Finally, to the wonder ingredient apparently favoured by everyone's favourite Royal the Duchess of Cambridge (though admittedly Harry is more my type...). Though not technically a honey product, it comes from bees so it's worthy of a mention. Manuka Doctor's Bee Venom Skin Treatment Serum contains purified bee venom and is light weight oil-free serum that provides relief & helps refine the skin's texture. Its hydrating properties assist with cell regeneration & reducing the appearance of fine lines & scars. £18.99 available from Holland & Barrett.
Love Laurel x
