Honey – The Miracle Aid for Acne

There are two types of honey that are thought to be good for acne, pimples and skin breakout. Manuka honey and Raw honey.
Manuka honey is the honey that is extracted from pollen in Manuka bushes found in New Zealand and Australia, these are also known as tea tree bushes.

Manuka honey has anti-microbial qualities that are stronger than raw honey due to the enzyme methylglyoxal. This enzyme is present in all honey however in Manuka honey there is up to a hundred times more of the methylglyoxal enzyme than in other honey. It is also always unprocessed, therefore only ever contains pure manuka honey. The down side to this however is although it is incredible for the skin, immune system and health, it is also considerably more expensive than other raw honey.

Raw honey is simply the purified nectar, that is produced by the honey bees after collecting the nectar from flowers and so forth. It contains no chemicals and additives, nor is it pasteurized. When looking for honey it is very important that you look for raw or untreated honey as this will not have been heated, thus it will still contain all of its natural nutrients and healing elements. This will therefore give the best possible results for your skin and acne.
There are many ways in which either Manuka or Raw honey can be applied in order to alleviate symptoms of acne.

1. To simply apply raw honey to your acne, use your fingers or a cotton wool ball to apply the honey on to your skin, it can be applied either just on your pimples or on the whole of your face. If your acne is severe do this every day, otherwise once or twice a week is fine.
2. You could add cinnamon to the honey. Cinnamon also contains antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidants in it naturally also. Therefore, by doubling it up with honey you have twice as much effectiveness in dealing with acne breakouts. This can be done by adding one teaspoon of cinnamon powder to two tablespoons of honey and applying it to the face as a mask and washing it off with warm water after approximately fifteen minutes.
3. Another effective ingredient to use with honey is strawberries. Strawberries contain high levels of antioxidants especially vitamin C, they are also a major defense against free radicals which can cause acne breakouts. Therefore, you can combat by eating lots of antioxidant enriched foods such as strawberries and combine them with ingredients such as honey in order to cleanse the skin. This can be done by combining the puree of 4 strawberries and mix it with 3 tablespoons of honey in order to make an antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory enriched mask.
4. Combining honey and salt together can be a great way of combating the pain and symptoms of acne breakouts. Whereas the honey works as an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial combining it with salt can also pull any toxins from on or beneath the skin which will also help relieve any inflammation and also leave your skin toxin free. It also has a pain killing element to it and can be used as an exfoliant which will remove any excess skin, debris and dead skin cells from the face without aggravating the acne breakout. For this you should add two teaspoons of salt to 2 teaspoons of honey to create the perfect acne mask. Optionally you can also add a few drops of vanilla or a sprinkle of cocoa to make it smell nice, or some coffee granules for extra exfoliation. This is simply gently scrubbed on to the skin and massaged for 3 minutes then rinsed off.
5. You can also follow the above steps but use brown sugar instead of salt. Sugar is a very gentle way of incorporating a scrub onto the face, for skin that is prone to breakouts. It melts quickly and easily and therefore you will avoid over scrubbing your face, which will in turn cause more problems to your skin and should therefore be avoided. For this mask use one teaspoon of brown sugar to two teaspoons of honey.

The most important thing for your acne is finding the right treatment for you, as ultimately if your skin is happy then you will be happy.