The Buzz about Honey for Better Skin: Here's Why...

Will honey improve my skin?

Raw honey is naturally rich in sugars, amino acids, enzymes and other bioactive compounds, offering our a combination of valuable, fascinating properties for nourishing the hive, the body and the skin. 

Its high concentration of sugars gives honey humectant properties, meaning it can attract and bind water at the skin’s surface, helping to maintain hydration and improve the skin’s feel and suppleness.

Beeswax has different but complementary properties: it acts primarily as an occlusive and emollient ingredient, forming a hydrophobic film on the skin that can reduce water loss from the outermost layer of the epidermis and help soften and condition the skin.

This makes honey and beeswax particularly relevant to dry, sensitive skin, where maintaining hydration and supporting the skin barrier are vital, and to naturally ageing skin, which can become drier and less effective at retaining moisture.

When incorporated into a well-formulated skincare product, these ingredients can help support skin hydration, softness and barrier function, contributing to healthier-looking skin.

And it’s not just the science that has people talking - hundreds of women across the UK trust our raw honey and beeswax skincare as part of their daily routines and tell us they love the results they see and feel in their skin.

Is honey good for skincare?

Yes -  raw honey is a wonderful ingredient for skincare. Raw honey naturally contains humectant properties, meaning it helps attract and retain moisture, while its naturally occurring compounds and antioxidants can help support the skin’s protective barrier and provide an environment in which collagen can thrive and survive.

However, it’s important to distinguish raw honey from processed 'supermarket' honey, as processing, heating and filtering can hugely reduce the naturally occurring properties that make honey a valuable skincare ingredient.

Here, we only ever use our local raw Welsh honey in our skincare - straight from the hive, unheated, unfiltered, unpasteurised so that we can be sure it retains all it's natural nourishing, antioxidant, vitamin-rich and moisture-supporting properties for the skin.

Is it good to apply honey to your face?

Raw honey can be applied to the skin and can help leave the face feeling soft, hydrated and nourished, thanks to honey’s natural skin loving properties. A thin layer of raw honey as a face mask is a great place to start.

That said, simply relying on applying honey straight to your face isn’t necessarily the best way to maximise its benefits.

Professionally formulated raw honey skincare combines raw honey with carefully selected natural ingredients - particularly beeswax, whose complementary occlusive and emollient properties work synergistically with honey - in the balanced proportions, creating products that are designed to be effective, pleasant to use and suitable for your daily ritual. 

What happens if I put honey on my skin?

Applying raw honey to the skin can help attract and hold moisture, which is why honey is often used in hydrating and moisturising skincare. Its naturally occurring sugars and other compounds also make it a brilliant ingredient for supporting the skin’s natural moisture barrier.

However, honey can be sticky and messy to apply consistently everyday. This is one reason professionally formulated raw honey skincare can be a better option: raw honey can be combined with other beneficial natural ingredients to create a balanced, easy-to-use product that encapsulates the benefits of honey as part of a complete skincare formula. We don't change or mess with it, we simply incorporate its power into our products for daily skin solutions for all skin types, that are mess and fuss free.

Why is honey great in soaps?

Raw honey is a much revered addition to soap because it brings naturally occurring humectant properties, helping the skin attract and retain moisture while cleansing.

It gives handcrafted soap a naturally gentle, nourishing feel, particularly when combined with skin-conditioning ingredients such as beeswax. Beeswax creates a protective, emollient quality and helps reduce that overly dry feeling that some people experience after washing.

This is particularly appealing when compared with mainstream cleansing products formulated with stronger detergents, harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrance which can strip away some of the skin’s natural oils.

Raw honey and beeswax are valuable ingredients in a more gentle, natural skincare routine and people are often left surprised art how well they clean and moisturise without leaving skin stripped or tight. With raw honey soaps and raw honey shampoo and conditioner bars, you really are raising the bar.

Will honey help eczema?

Eczema-prone skin can be dry, sensitive and easily irritated, so keeping the skin moisturised and protecting its natural barrier is important. Raw honey, beeswax and propolis are all naturally occurring bee-derived ingredients that can be useful in helping support eczema and topical steroid withdrawal (TSW).

Raw honey has humectant properties to help support skin hydration, while beeswax acts as an emollient and helps form a protective layer on the skin. Propolis has also been noted for it's skin repairing, skin restoring and healing properties. 

Find all three hive ingredients in our beeswax barrier balms and read how they have helped our customers with their eczema here.

How do raw honey and beeswax help psoriasis?

Psoriasis can leave skin dry, flaky and uncomfortable, making gentle cleansing and moisturising an important part of caring for the skin. Raw honey is naturally humectant, so it can help support skin hydration, while beeswax is an emollient that helps soften the skin and form a protective barrier that reduces moisture loss.

These properties make honey and beeswax useful ingredients for supporting psoriasis prone skin. We recommend our Nurse Bee balm for psoriasis on the body and our Sensitive Bee balm for psoriasis on the face and delicate areas. 

Our range of natural raw honey haircare and honey handcrafted soaps are also popular choices for helping eczema and psoriasis prone skin.

Is raw honey and beeswax science-backed for skin?

Yes - honey and beeswax are backed by scientific research for their roles in topical skincare, 

Raw honey contains naturally occurring sugars and other bioactive compounds that give it humectant, healing and skin-conditioning properties, helping support hydration, skin repair and softness.

Beeswax works differently: its waxy structure acts as an occlusive and emollient, helping form a protective layer on the skin and reduce transepidermal water loss. Research has found that beeswax-containing topical formulations can improve measures of skin hydration and barrier function.

High-quality raw honey and beeswax, carefully incorporated alongside complementary ingredients, can form a scientifically interesting combination for hydrating, conditioning and supporting healthy-looking skin.

Aren’t hive ingredients outdated?

We’ve heard this one a few times. In a world of skincare trends, TikTok ingredients and ever more complicated formulations, it’s easy to forget that modern skincare didn’t invent the natural compounds our skin has benefited from for generations. Honey and beeswax have been valued for centuries, long before ingredients were adorned sophisticated marketing names, luxury packaging and a place on the latest beauty trend list.

Nature got there first. Raw honey naturally contains sugars, amino acids, enzymes, antioxidants and other bioactive compounds, while beeswax provides naturally occurring lipids with emollient and occlusive properties. Together, these ingredients offer complementary benefits for the skin: honey helps attract and retain moisture, while beeswax helps condition the skin and reduce moisture loss by forming a protective layer.

And perhaps the bees have something to teach us. Honey and beeswax aren't produced randomly - they are essential materials within the hive. Try telling the bees that their gifts aren't nutrient dense, antioxidant, packed full of vitamins and enzymes, repairing, restoring, antimicrobial and protecting - they know they are, that's why they produce them to sustain, nurture and protect their hive - and let's not forget bees have survived for more than 100 million years and endured Ice Ages.

So no, we certainly do not think hive ingredients are outdated. We think raw honey and pure beeswax are beautifully simple, naturally complex and scientifically interesting skincare ingredients;  particularly when they're carefully formulated alongside other premium natural plant oils and butters.

Browse our bestselling raw honey and beeswax products