Honey Bee-autiful
By Cal Orey
If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the
beehive.
--Abraham Lincoln
A few years later, after nesting in San Jose Santa Cruz
Mountains , California San Lorenzo
river, complete with redwoods and oak trees, and wildflowers—honey bees and I
lived in harmony. A typical Tuesday and Thursday would be leaving my young
furry children—like bee larvae to me—while I traveled to San Francisco State
University
One spring day, after a swim in the river with my
two dogs (I had adopted another Labrador retriever); I combined a honey and
vegetable oil hair conditioner and massaged the mixture on my long, curly dry
locks. Thirty minutes later, I rinsed the goo and shampooed. I dried my hair in
the sun. My mane felt soft and silky. I felt like a natural woman again without
insect fuzz.
THE BEE-AUTY OF HONEY POWER
I’m hardly alone in discovering beauty benefits of
honey and its versatile healing powers from head to toe. Since honey is a
natural preservative and antibacterial agent, it protects and promotes moisture
in the skin—which I, too have experienced.
What’s more, it’s a humectant (an ingredient that holds moisture),
something I’ve used in hair conditioners to help tame my curly mane the same
way humidity does in the Deep South or Hawaii
Eating honey can help you get beautiful on the inside,
but treating your body on the outside with the golden nectar can make you look
and feel great, too. And honey—natural stuff in the jar to ready-made honey
products are making a buzz from present-day and have roots from ancient times.
SPA BEE-AUTIFIYING TREATMENTS
It’s no beauty secret that honey combined with other
natural ingredients can enhance your blood circulation, zaps stress and
anxiety, and makes your skin feel silky. All-natural manuka honey, for one,
teamed with other honeys and natural plant extracts and essential oils can help
exfoliate, soften, and even make your skin look firmer and glow. And this is
why some spas around the nation and world include honey in their spa
treatments. Here, take a look at some of
the popular ones.
Milk and
Honey Bath
The treatment begins with a honey scrub, followed by
a warm bath filled with milk and honey, and culminates with a light massage.
This is a double delight—because it exfoliates and moisturizes the total body.
Manuka
Honey Drizzle Body Masque
The spa technician will use bare hands or a
spa brush, apply approximately ½-1 full cup of product to your skin, from the
shoulders down to the feet. It will remain on your skin for about 10 minutes
before rinsing with a shower.
Orange
Blossom & Body Wrap
Enjoy the
healing hydrating and conditioning properties of a honey wrap. Treatment begins
with an exfoliating full-body dry brushing, includes an invigorating Orange
Blossom & Sugar Cane Sugar foot scrub and concludes with a yummy
application of Honey-Orange Blossom Body Butter. 50 minutes.
Manuka
Honey Drizzle Pedicure
Savor the
pampering of a professional pedicure. Treatment begins with you soaking your feet for 5-10 minutes in a
Manuka Honey Drizzle product into a basin of warm water. After, a pedicure and
polish will accentuate the softness of your feet.
DIY HONEY BEAUTY RECIPES FROM HEAD TO TOE
Do it
yourself products make it possible and easy to enjoy the spa benefits in the
comfort of your home. And more people—both men and women—are discovering the
beauty benefits of honey, whether it’s straight from the hive or comes in a
glass jar. Here, take a look at some of the at-home treatments I tried from
head to toe, and you’ll be thanking honey bees forever.
EYES
Honey Eye Nourisher: One of the
best things I did one morning was whip up an anti-puffy eye cream with 1
tablespoon aloe vera gel, 2 teaspoons cucumber, peeled with seeds removed, ½
teaspoon chamomile tea, 1 teaspoon honey. After steeping chamomile tea, in
boiling water I set it aside to cool. In my blender on a low setting I combined
cucumber, aloe vera and honey, added chamomile tea, and whizzed it till smooth.
I put the honey goo under my eyes using fingers. Ten minutes later, I looked
like I wasn’t a worker bee.
FACE
Honey Mask: Curious and delighted, I didn’t stop there. I
grabbed a small bowl and combined 2 tablespoons honey and 2 teaspoons
milk. I slathered the mixture over my
face and throat. Ten minutes later, with warm water I rinsed off the
concoction. My skin was soft not fuzzy like a honey bee’s legs.
SKIN
Honey Skin Lotion: On a honey
beautifying roll, I whipped up 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, ¼
teaspoon lemon juice. I used it on my hands and felt like I was ready for a
much-needed manicure. But authors on deadline don’t get such sweet treats.
Honey Lemon Body Wash: The next
morning, I went to the bathroom like a bee goes to honeycomb and prepared a
honey soap of 2 cups unscented castile soap, 2 cups honey, and ½ cup lemon
juice—and put it in a plastic bottle and shook it. In the shower rather than
using ready-made honey soap, I used a loofah and washed my body and rinsed.
Extra benefit, I got to feel my skin soft and watch CNN right after without fleeing
to a spa.
FEET
Honey Eucalyptus Foot Soak: That night,
the favorite thing I did for the day was blend 8 cups hot water, 1 cup honey, 2
cups Epsom salt, 2 tablespoons almond oil,6 drops eucalyptus oil—and soaked my
feet with it. Fifteen minutes later, my feet looked human again.
Both spa treatments and do-it-yourself action works
for me. But it doesn’t stop there, especially for bold and beautiful people.
Prince Charles’ wife Camilla, for one, is noted to using bee venom—a natural
facelift remedy. It’s been tagged as “the botox alternative”—combining bee
venom, manuka honey and shea butter, and promises to minimize wrinkles.
Whatever
season or wherever you live, a honey will rejuvenate your body from head to toe
and you’ll feel good both inside and outside.
Cleopatra’s
Famous Honey and Milk Baths
Back
in the day of Cleopatra, the legendary Queen of Egypt savored honey and its
beauty powers. The queen allegedly turned to the nectar of the gods for a
facial each morning. Milk and honey baths were also part of her beauty regime.
The idea was that honey was the golden secret to keeping her skin soft as well
as defying age.
In
the 21st century royal honey beauty treatments have carried over to
spas that cater to the rich and famous and include anyone who wants to be
treated like royalty for a spa day or week. It’s a pampering honey and milk
beauty treatment, like the recipe below from Savannah Bee Company that draws
the healing powers to both women and men, thanks to Cleopatra.
Milk
and Honey Facial Mask
Ingredients:
2
tablespoons organic milk
1
tablespoon Savannah Bee Company Wildflower Honey
Plastic
wrap or warm face cloth
Directions: Take the plastic wrap and cut the corners to
make an oval slightly larger than your face. Cut openings for nostrils and
mouth. After you make the mask and apply it, you’ll be covering your face with
the plastic wrap for about 10 minutes.
Add milk to a small bowl. Slowly stir in honey. Mix well and stir until
moisture is smooth. It may be slightly runny. Apply the milk mixture to your
face with your fingertips. Set timer for 10 minutes. Put on some soothing
music, lie down and cover face with plastic wrap or cloth. When the 10 minutes
are up, wipe face with a warm cloth and rinse with cool water. Gently pat skin
dry. Finish with your favorite moisturizer.
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