Honey, My New DIY Face Wash
I haven’t exactly hidden my love of honey—I pretty much mention its antibacterial wound-healing powers every chance I get. But, truth is, I only got turned onto its magic in earnest a few months ago…
See, back in May the lovely Simone invited me to join her at a natural beauty house party—yes, this is how we roll in Los Angeles—where guest speaker Dae Williams sat at the center of our cross-legged lady circle, expounded on the many benefits of natural ingredients, made us laugh, and made us blush. For real. Dae is what you’d call a character, and she takes her act on the road, peddling her lovely clean products and educating women about their bodies. A hippie after my own heart.
That’s where I first tried Dae’s honey face wash, which I immediately bought and fell in love with. Now that my bottle has run out though, I’ve been playing with my own version.
It sounds weird but you can essentially just wash with honey if you’re very sensitive and looking for a really gentle cleanse. Lately I’ve been adding a little baking soda to the mix for a subtle scrub—as in helps with circulation but doesn’t tear off your top layer of skin. This is what I do:
—One tablespoon raw organic honey
—Combine with one teaspoon baking soda in palm
—Rub together and then massage gently in circular motions on face
—Let sit for a minute (or don’t) then rinse thoroughly with warm or even cold water
If this is all sounding a little crunchy, consider this: Last week we were guests on Dr. Doris Day’s Sirius XM radio show, and even she—dermatologist to the stars (and Siobhan)—was going on about the benefits of using honey topically. It’s also popping up in some of our new favorite natural brands, but more on that another time…
I’ve got sensitive & acne-prone skin … would honey work for me or just clog my pores?
It’s strange, when I first tried Dae’s wash I couldn’t believe it was honey—even though that’s all it is with the exception of a few other key ingredients. It just didn’t feel how I expected and rinsed off really nicely. So no, I don’t think it will clog! She expressly recommended it for people who are sensitive and prone to redness too.
The honey wash is divine – leaves your skin feeling so soft and cleansed. Love the baking soda idea, I’ll try that! Her green papaya face mask mixed with yogurt is amazing for exfoliation as well. Great stuff ladies!
I feel like it would get in my hair and there would be lots of pain getting the sticky out.
But I think that’s a personal problem.
It really helps with acne, at least it did for me some years ago. But how about vegans? Would this work with sugar/agave? I know it mightn’t be completely as antibacterial, but what do you think? Is there a chance? Or re there any non-animal products/recipes you can recommend?
(BTW: right now I’m suffering through my first cold without honey, wow, that’s heavy).
After reading your book, I decided to try to go pretty much product-free for a couple of months. My self-imposed rule is that the stuff has to be clean enough to eat. So I’m on week 3 of using raw honey as a face wash and I have to say it’s incredible! I used a pricey Philosophy cleanser for years that I had to immediately follow with even pricier moisturizer or else my skin would be tight and dry. Now, since I’ve been following one of the recommended face wash methods in your book, I start with a little coconut oil rubbed into my dry face, which takes off eye makeup in a flash, and then I follow with a honey wash just as you describe above. Pat dry, slather on a bit of pure aloe vera and another dab of coconut oil, and that’s it. I’ve found that since doing this, I only need to cleanse my face at night before bed. In the morning, I just splash my face with warm water and follow with a little coconut oil. Another perk of this regime is that mineral makeup seems to look less chalky on top of the slight sheen of the coconut oil, which dissipates within an hour. Yay for all natural face care!
We love, love, love honey, especially when we have a giant zit. Just slap some honey on it, let it sit for a couple hours (or overnight) and then wash it off the next morning. Dries it out without any harsh chemicals.
I have been using the oil cleansing method at night and washing with organic honey in the morning and my sensitive, acne-prone skin has never looked better! It is so cheap, and so effective and I know exactly what I’m putting on my skin. Love it!
Aster, my limited understanding is that the benefits around honey, propolis and royal jelly are inextricably tied to the bees. :( So I don’t think a straight up natural sugar substitute would have the same amazing properties. That said there are great vegan options: Argan oil, coconut oil and tea tree oil (which is shown to be great for acne, just don’t overdue it) are all antibacterial and vegan. So are many of the face washes we recommend in the book. Good luck!
Natalie, I’m loving that routine and totally concur about the mineral makeup.
Thanks Alexandra. Right now I just slap on the extra virgin coconut oil. That works like a charm, it’s supposed to be antibacterial, for me it balances both the dry and the greasy. It’s still no honey, but it does the trick! I will give the tea-tree a try, put a drop in the big jar of coconut. Although that might smell really really weird :).
Thanks for the tips and the amazing site.
I currently use honey as a cleanser after I’ve taken off my makeup with coconut oil. I love it; it doesn’t leave my face dry after.
I think for Christmas, I will buy the ladies in my life the book as a stocking stuffer.
Two questions:
1-What do you guys do for face sunscreen? and
2-What kind of coconut oil do you buy? It seems to me that there are two kinds–a body one that’s been deodorized and a cooking one that hasn’t. Does it matter which one you pick?
Hey Katie! I love Lavera face screen as well as Vive Sana—both are reviewed on the site, so you can check those out. We’ve also heard really good things about Luvalla’s face screen, and I am a fan of Jurlique’s as well. On the more affordable end, there’s California Baby, which some people find a touch heavy for face. As for coconut oil, we like to get as high-grade a coconut oil from the food section of any good health food store. Our favorites are raw, virgin, organic coconut oil. A bottle will last you a long time and doesn’t cost very much at all, especially considering how many things you can use it for. But yeah, we’d say skip any cosmetic body oil and just go for the highest quality food-section coconut oil!
Trudi, first off, thank you! We love hearing that women are spreading the word. I often use the same method that you mention above. The addition of baking soda was a fun twist, but for daily use I think this very simple coconut-honey tag team is amazing.
I love this wash–thank you for sharing! I just read the book and started reading this blog. I’ve swapped out my old cleanser for honey and baking soda and my old moisturizer for Egyptian Magic (which is completely awesome, btw). Besides the fact that I feel a lot better about not putting chemicals in my body, I can’t believe how great the results have been–my skin looks better than ever.
Oh honey is awesome! I’ve been using it as one of my natural facial masks for a few years now – I just put it on my face and let it stay there for a few minutes and then wash my face. It makes my skin really soft and helps soothe dry spots which are easy to get in winter. I’m willing to try your honey wash too :)
I have very very dark dry elbows what can i do?
My bonus honey tip: I use honey that I have on hand that has crystallized (a.k.a. granulated – a natural phenomenon happens when glucose precipitates out of the supersaturated honey solution, which happens fairly frequenly in humid Pennsylvania.) Crystallized honey is still good for food (just heat it up and mix it up if you don’t like the granules), but I have found it so good for skin care that I reserve it for that purpose.
I use it for my morning face wash. I pat the dark honey on my face before I jump in the shower. I gently use the granulated honey as a scrub just on my chin and nose. I leave the honey on my face as I finish my shower, as the honey mask protects my once rosacea-prone skin during the shower, and then I rinse off my face at the end of the shower.
I used to have problems with acne and large pores on my nose… no more!
Thanks for a great blog. I just heard about your book at “ReadyMade” magazine and I’m looking forward to reading it.
hello!
i m looking foward to try it. i would like to ask you if its possible to make a small bottle of honey+soda instead mixing only a bit of each one in the moment of use. thanks for these tips girls.
I have real problems with dry patches, specifically around the creases of my nose, so I added sugar and milk to the honey/baking soda mixture to make more of an abrasive scrub. I let it sit for a few minutes (ten or so) and then wiped it off with a warm, wet washcloth. Remarkable difference after just the first try!
~Ness
November 30, 2010
Really love the idea of not using the expensive, chemical based products…now, my challenge! I live in the desert, where the sun shines 262 days a year, and I am outdoors most days, for hours at a time. Will the products you speak of (without all the add benefits of “Anti-aging” additives-) help my hyper-pigmentation & sensitive skin? Will definatly try this..any advice or thoughts on which moisture to use. Super dry! ** will be purchasing the book! Thanks for your ideas all!
I have been trying the Honey Face Wash for a few days now and really enjoy it. I have flakey skin on my face, with red spots from age and still breakout. The flakey skin just started a couple of yrs ago. The wash has already shown improvement in just a couple of days. I can’t wait to see how it will do in a couple of weeks…. months… lol I also had dry itchy patches on my arms at bend and couldn’t clear it up. I read about Grapeseed oil and the Grapeseed oil cleared up the places on my arms. It took about 2 weeks and it’s totally gone. That brings me to this point…. aaaahhh… before I go to bed I have been mixing a few drops of Honey with a few drops of Grapseed oil and apply to my face. Then I take a warm wash cloth and pat over face to remove the sticky feeling. I don’t rub or wipe off, just pat. Then I sleep all night with that on and in the morning my face feels so soft and moist without a greasy feel. I wish I would have taken better care of my skin when I was younger, but thanks for the honey wash tip, I am going out to buy your book today. :)
I wanted to share something else with anyone who is wanting to try the Honey wash. The best to use is the “RAW” honey. If you were like me you wonder where you can find this stuff at. Believe it or not T.J. Maxx has a very good one. It is made by Wee Bee’s Honey and it is even organic. I love this stuff! My face never felt so good!
I was looking for an alternative to hydroquinone for my acne scars that have pretty much reached what they are going to with hq, and found honey. Honey, really? Crazy! So I just tried a honey and baking soda wash followed by a honey and olive oil mask. My sink has NEVER felt so amazing, and I think it looks pretty awesome already. The scars are less pitted and less colored, my skin is glowing, and it’s smooth like silk. I mean really like silk, not like what you say. I have it on a couple cuts, an appendectomy scar, and a few ingrown hairs right now. Gotta go jump in the shower to rinse that off. Then I’m going to slather my boyfriend’s stubborn wound with it….yeah honey!
I love honey for my natural hair and skin preperations. I’ve never thought to try it as a cleanser though. I’m gonna try it out. Wish me luck!
I tried this last night and absolutely loved it! I was looking for something to use on the days I didn’t want to use brown sugar to scrub my face, and this was gentle yet made my face feel so clean. Thanks for sharing!
Lately I have been switching everything I own because of the nasty ingredients in products anymore. I was so surprised to see this site and tried it out. It works! I have super oily and sensitive skin and my face feels so clean using this. I don’t think I need an entire tablespoon of honey, maybe half a teaspoon. It is so amazing and thank you so much! Luckily, my aunt and uncle raise bees so I can get honey from them. This will be so much cheaper!!
STOP WITH THE BAKING SODA ON YOUR FACE!
save it for the sinks and floors. baking soda can be too harsh for skin, try ground up oatmeal instead! I keep a simple coffee grinder for food stuff, great for fresh ground flax seeds too.
Hey-
Could you substitute the baking soda for brown sugar? I read baking soda is bad for your face.
Baking soda is definitely a bit drying, so I suggest it very sparingly. I personally love honey just on its own!
im a little confused… do you wet your face first or just apply it when your face is dry? thanks! :)
What type of sugar should be used for the coconut&sugar scrub? Is it the type of loose brown sugar, or the cassonade type used for baking? Can any type of coconut oil be used on your face, even the ones meant for baking, or only extra virgin as in the case with olive oil?
For coconut, go with raw cold pressed virgin; for sugar, depends how much of a scrub you want! I like turbinado sugar or brown sugar, personally!
I just bought some raw organic honey to add to my new routine… I am IN LOVE. In just two days my pores are half the size!
So I as intrigued after reading your post on honey cleanser. I was nervous that I would be left sticky and a mess.
After a about a week I gave it shot and immediately realized I had done something wrong. my hands were a mess and very sticky, I moved forward and transferred as much sticky honey and baking soda onto my face. I started washing the honey off my hands and as soon as the water hit my hands the honey became like silk… really!
the secret to this whole thing is to apply with water. Wet your face first and then the honey glides over your skin like face cream, and doesn’t drip…… I am very happy with my initial result and look forward to incorporating honey cleanser into my regular routine. Thanks! :)
Does it get rid of acne? Is ther anything else I can use my face is bad and irritated and I’m annoyed that everything I read about isn’t working!!! :( plz help
would it be ok to use baking powder instead of baking soda?
OMG! I think it’s true. I just tried it tonight. Thanks to my girlfriend Del.WOW! So fresh and so clean.
I used your honey/baking soda recipe last night. I left it on for about 5 minutes then used warm water to take it off. I got some on the roots of my hair but since I tied it all back, it came out with the water with absolutely no problem. It’s to be expected, you can’t be overly careful or you won’t enjoy the experience! Went to bed and woke up to soft skin. My dermatologist has me on CeraVe moisturizer and also a custom blend face wash as well. No more! I’m sold on this! I’m going out to get aloe vera and I’m also going to use the raw honey/milk moisturizer recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I love coconut oil but as we approach summer I’m very hesitant to use it for fear of sunburn. We had a few warm days last month and my face and chest got a little red from my coconut oil. What else would you recommend?
Can you please tell me how often should it be used? Thanks.
I learned from a dermatologist that even if you have oily, blemish-prone skin you should start your routine with a gentle, non-soap face wash. I ordered online a up a bottle of Shielo’s Compexion Scrub (with Jojoba Microspheres!). As it turns out, I made a good choice because the Shielo Complexion Scrub has worked well for my oily skin.
It has a delicate, fresh scent. I didn’t really get much lather during use, but it was enough to clear away all of my makeup without irritating my face or my eyes. The cleanser washed off easily and thoroughly, and my face didn’t feel sticky with residue or tight as if it had been stripped. With a freshly clean palette, my nightime treatment goes on smoothly and without irritation. This is a good choice for anyone whose skin needs a gentle–but thorough–cleanser.
Do u use it everyday?
I have tried this myself and it’s really great :) Would you recommend making up a bottle of honey with Bicarbonate soda or would it be better to make it as you need it? would be handy to have it made already, but not sure if the bicarb would dissolve or something :-/
For honey, what do you mean raw honey?
I’m guessing you don’t mean something like this right? http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e1_duR0W2Hs/T7BZHZ583eI/AAAAAAAE8R4/qNxSvqJK7vc/s1600/Leightons+Orange+Blossom+Honey,Haines+City+Florida.JPG
(Leighton’s Orange Blossom Honey)
Honey + baking soda works amazingly! I also put a drop of tea tree oil into the mixture to keep my skin from getting too terribly dried up. I’m also going to attempt mixing in a few drops of grapeseed oil into the mixture to add extra moisture for the winter. :)
I used raw agave nectar+ baking soda..this also does wonders..believe me :)..agave it has been used for centuries
For skin benefits..my skin is clear & my complexion amazing.. in one week i got amazing results..i have acne prone skin + sensitive skin. Honey is great but agave has work wonders in my skin. If you have sensitive skin agave is milder on your face..try it you will love it…
Oh my goodness. I am in HONEY HEAVEN right now. I have been looking for new more natural ways to care for my skin. Happened on this by accident. I already had the honey and the coconut oil so I tried it tonight. My skin feels as close to silk as you can get. It feels clean but not that squeaky clean that kind of worries you with it tightness. It was not messy since I applied it with just a little warm water on my face. I let it sit while I brushed my teeth and applied lotion on my legs like I do nightly. Once done I used a warm washcloth and rinsed it off. While I was patting it dry I could see and fill the difference right away. And it has been an hour and I still can’t believe how soft and silky it is.still. Thank you! Thank you!
Is the honey face wash something I can make ahead of time and store in a bottle or does it have to be made freshly each time?
Is this something I can make ahead of time and store in a bottle or does it have to be made freshly each time?