Monday, February 16, 2009

Natural Solutions to Dry Skin

Using honey as a moisturizer is a great anti aging tip & a number of the very best moisturizers contain this excellent skin care ingredient. Honey is not something you will require to use by itself because it is messy but when it is used as a moisturizer ingredient it is non-sticky & easily absorbed.

Honey has been used in skin & hair care regimens for plenty of years. Cleopatra was known to take milk & honey baths & the Roman Emperor Nero's wife used honey & milk on her face as an anti-aging treatment. When cosmetics started being mass produced in the late nineteenth century, honey was a popular ingredient in plenty of of them.

These enzymes are destroyed when exposed to light or heat & when they come into contact with bodily fluids. Only a few honeys, including Manuka honey, have an antibiotic action which is separate to the hydrogen peroxide. These kinds keep their antibiotic properties even when applied to the skin or exposed to heat or light.

Honey has been used as a wound dressing by a lot of different cultures throughout history including New Zealand's Maoris. Manuka honey has a distinctive antibacterial property. All honeys have some level of hydrogen peroxide, which is an antibacterial chemical produced by the enzymes in the honey.

The best honey as moisturizer type is Manuka honey which comes from New Zealand. This kind of honey can be taken internally as well as used topically. It has been used for centuries by plenty of different cultures for its healthy benefits.

Which Kind of Honey is Best?

New Zealand has very tidy air which is largely free of pollution & this also helps with the honey making process. It also means that Manuka honey is one of the purest types of honey available & obviously, when using it as moisturizer, you only require the very best for your skin.

Active Manuka honey comes from where the Manuka bushes grow in New Zealand. These bushes do not grow in any other country. The bee hives are set up in uncultivated, wild areas & the bees get nectar from the Manuka bush flowers.

Honey is nice for burns or minor cuts. It is gentle & non-irritating, which is why honey is also used in child care products. Active Manuka honey works on fungal skin problems such as dermatophytes because these conditions involve bacteria. In such cases, the honey often works better than antibiotics.

How Honey Helps Your Skin

Your skin needs to stay hydrated in order to keep elastic, supple & soft. When your skin ages or is exposed to chemical agents or environmental stressors, it loses this water retaining ability which is what causes dryness & wrinkles.

Honey is a humectant. It attracts & retains water, making honey as moisturizer an excellent idea. It is also organic meaning it is chemical free & suitable for any skin type. The enzymes in Manuka honey correct the damage free radicals have done to the skin & moisturize the skin perfectly without making it greasy.

The kinds of honey you get from the supermarket won't give the same results that using a superior product, such as Manuka honey, will give you. When combined with other ingredients such as Vitamin E, Cynergy TK, & Co-enzyme Q10, Manuka honey becomes an very effective anti aging, moisturizing skin care agent. My web-site discusses these & some other recently developed, powerful skin cream ingredients in more detail.

1 comment:

  1. Just to add that not all manuka honey contains the extra antibacterial properties mentioned. All honey is 'active' to a greater or lesser degree due to the hydrogen peroxide effect. Only some manuka honey contains an additional antibacterial property. The main industry standard for measuring this is the UMF® mark - which only properly tested honeys are able to carry.

    It is one of the aspects of being a natural product - its potency naturally varies from batch to batch.

    There is some good background information on manuka honey here - a UK based site but info is relevant to all.

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