It’s Wednesday, your skin is freaking out and you’ve a date on Friday. Your pillows are covered in tooth paste that you’ve desperately applied in order to rid your face of that nasty blemish you're sure your date will notice. Hopefully you don’t have to pay for your own dinner because most of your money has been spent on expensive spot treatments that take weeks to work. Relax! The more fretting, the more stress pimples that will pop up on your beautiful face. You likely already have the key to clear skin in your pantry and if not, get down to your local grocery stat: You need a jar of raw honey!
Don't be wary of honey's sticky nature disrupting the state of your already sensitive skin. This gift from nature has a neutral PH of 4.5 and if you don't already know, keeping PH levels neutralized is a powerful anti-aging tool. Raw honey has both anti-fungal and antiviral properties but it’s the anti-inflammatory aspects that will diminish the swelling of your blemish. Like your favorite natural oils, honey is anti-bacterial, hindering bad germs from building up in your skin and forming pimples. Plus, the gluconic acid that makes honey goopy has a crazy brightening effect on dull skin.
Real talk, though: Not all honey is created equal. Processed honey (like the kind that tends to come in a bear-shaped jar) zaps all the goodness that bees have left us, including vitamin B, iron, potassium and calcium. Plus it's mad high in sugar. Shell out a few extra bucks and grow raw with your new honey love.
Raw Honey Cinnamon Nutmeg Mask & Spot Treatment
In a small container, add a teaspoon of both nutmeg and cinnamon to raw honey and watch your blemishes decrease overnight. Cinnamon contains calcium, iron and fiber and nutmeg has some serious anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. For my fellow natural beauties with a nut allergy, don't fret! Despite the misleading name, nutmeg is actually a seed! To use this as a mask, leave on for about 20 minutes and rinse well with warm water. You can also use it as a spot treatment by applying directly to the blemish with your finger. The only risk for sleeping in this natural zit zapper is a sticky sweet smelling pillow case!
Honey Skin Lotion
Now that you've shown your face some love, what are you going to do with all that honey? Yes, you should definitely eat some of it. But if your medicine cabinet is getting pretty crowded, stop before you shell out any more cash for lotion. Instead, try adding a teaspoon of your favorite oil and a few shakes of freshly squeezed lemon juice (my personal fave way to keep skin glowing!) to some honey to lock in your skin's natural moisture. Let the lotion sit for 20 minutes and then wipe off with a warm washcloth for super silky skin.
Read to join me in the honey craze? Take the Honey Challenge!
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