hero ingredient
MANUKA HONEY
You already know that bees are essential to the success of pretty much the entire ecosystem (and mankind), but those sweet little buggers have further benefits. Manuka honey, made in its purest form from uncultivated manuka or tea trees often high in the mountains of New Zealand (high altitude and cool air means other plants are unlikely to grow, so honey doesn’t get diluted by other blooms), has antibacterial and antifungal superpowers that has seen it used for burns, medical dressings and, more recently, in skincare. Kourtney Kardashian (who you might know from a little show called Keeping
Up With The Kardashians) has also been espousing the benefits to her health and skin.
“New Zealand is going against the trend of the rest of the world in terms of the decline in bees,” says beekeeper Martin Laas, who tends to the hives that supply manuka honey found in products from Swisse. “Because of recent interest and increased value of manuka, there’s been growth from 200,000 to 500,000 hives in New Zealand in the past 10 years alone.” That “value” he speaks of is also pretty significant. The highest grade honey can be worth up to $38,000 a drum. So, quite different from the stuff you slather on your toast. On skin, this magic all-natural elixir is capable of healing, cleansing, soothing and hydrating. Basically, everything you want from your skincare. If you’ve got it straight from the source, try dabbing a thin layer on a blemish to gently nix a pimple without skin going flaky. If you baulk at the hefty price tag of the jarred variety, try one of these formulas, with manuka built in.
Manuka Honey Detoxifying Facial Mask, $17.99, Swisse, swisse.com
The combination of food-grade manuka honey, charcoal and clay detoxes the skin and battles blemishes without drying you out. The soothing, perfect-for-sunday-night treatment is also free of nasty preservatives and packed with natural ingredients like aloe and algae, which help to calm and cool your complexion as well as boost moisture – all for change from a twenty.
Pure Vitality Skin Renewing Cream, $87, Kiehl’s, kiehls.com.au
Containing the highest quality manuka honey sourced from New Zealand’s North Island, this latest innovation from Kiehl’s helps the skin help itself by boosting barrier function, so it can better lock in moisture and fend off environmental aggressors such as pollution (think of it as giving the skin a mini pep talk about how great it is). But what you’ll notice right away is how super-soft your skin feels – the formula (which, thanks to manuka’s antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, is perfect for any skin type) instantly absorbs into skin for an addictive glow. And with 99.6 per cent naturally derived ingredients, it’s your regimen’s new hero.