Mind & Body Wellness

The Best Buzz Comes From The Bees

October 2, 2018 /

With the cooler weather coming, I always feel my skin starting to get a bit dryer. Hydration is key for a healthy, younger looking glow.  For the past several years I have been using a quick and easy DIY face mask, right in the comfort of my own home.  It leaves my skin feeling clean, refreshed and rehydrated.  The recipe involves just a few clean and pure ingredients that are great for your skin.  Read on about this effective and efficient face mask, and treat yourself to your own little spa sesh tonight!

Pure Local Honey

One of the key ingredients for this face mask is good ole pure honey.  So why is honey such a great source for your skin?  Honey has been glorified for its healing properties since ancient civilizations. It’s a natural antibacterial superfood with tons of antioxidants – which in turn combat free radicals that damage the skin.  Honey naturally retains and preserves water from the air, leaving your skin moist, smooth and plump.  Applying honey regularly on your skin can give you results beyond your imagination and can go a long way in giving you healthy, younger looking and glowing skin.

There’s a few variations of honey out there these days. Basically, the big difference between pure “raw” honey and grocery store honey is that pure honey bypasses commercial processing methods such as:

  • Pasteurization – applying heat and therefore removing beneficial ingredients so that the honey can have a longer shelf life, and appear a little more aesthetically pleasing in color.
  • Adding sugars so the taste becomes a bit sweeter

In my opinion, why take away beneficial ingredients that nature is already giving you? Take advantage of all that goodness from the bees! Give your own body and skin that natural goodness and see the benefits for yourself.

You can purchase pure and raw honey at local farms, Whole Foods stores, and even online.  If you can, check out those local farms in your area first.  I buy my honey right down the street at a local farm in town, so I’m helping out my community as well (love my little town!)

Essential Oils

As I mentioned in a previous post about a DIY bug spray earlier this year, I am a big fan of using essential oils as much as possible in my daily routines.  I admit, I don’t always use them as much as I’d like, but when I have the chance to do so, I go for it.  Applying a few drops to a DIY face scrub or a face mask is a great way to incorporate them into your routine.  For this mask, I used lavender and lemon, and here’s why:

  • Lavender – this is a natural anti – inflammatory for your skin; it nourishes while soothing
  • Lemon – this contains antibacterial and antiseptic properties.  It tightens skin, removes dead skin cells.  Its’s also a citrus, which is a natural astringent.

Again, you can purchase essential oils online and often at a health foods store.  I used doTerra oils for this mask because it’s what I have on hand right now.  A friend of mine sells Young Living Essential Oils and she would be happy to help you out, she’s a great resource and super helpful. You can follow along with her here on Instagram as well.

Drumroll…The Honey Lemon Lavendar Face Mask!

Without further ado, here is the recipe I use:

1 tablespoon of raw honey

3 drops of lemon

2 drops of lavender

I mix all these ingredients with a spoon in a little glass dish – now beware…it’s STICKY! Just work though it and mix it all together.  The aroma is heavenly in my opinion. Before I apply, I like to take a warm face cloth to my face to loosen up my pores.  Don’t forget to keep that hair pulled back!  Then, scoop a little into your fingers and work it onto your face.  Take your time and apply a nice thin layer.  Let that sit for 15 minutes.  Maybe sneak up on your husband with your sticky glistening face and scare him while you wait (hee hee hee). Not that I’ve ever done that.

Once your time is up, rinse thoroughly with cool water. I like to apply a good face oil afterwards, like Argan oil. Another tip I’ve heard and Ive been wanting to try is to apply apple cider vinegar as a toner afterwards.  So I might try that one tonight!

Treat yourself to a healthy honey facial mask, you deserve it! You’ll be amazed at how clean and plump your skin looks afterwards.

I’m grateful we live in an area with so many local farms nearby.  Eating local and using products locally produced are some of the best things we can do for our bodies and our community.  Its a win-win!