Grocery Store Beauty: Honey

This week I remembered the healing powers of honey.  With twin (almost) three year olds in the house, there are quite a few booboos that require minor first aid.  Not to mention some pretty ugly burns from the Nume curling wand I got for Christmas (I love that thing but damn! It's hot!).  As my husband and I had our third argument of the week over whether polysporin was helpful or hurtful, I had an epiphany.  Honey!  After my cesarean section, my doctor advised me to try applying honey to the incision scar to prevent infection (as a sidenote, I love that my doctor is knowledgable about and recommends natural remedies).  I applied it to the nasty burn on my thumb, and to the paper cut on my daughters finger.  It releived itching and helped heal these minor ouchies while also preventing infection.

A few days later, I woke up a mouth-breathing monster.  My throat was sore, I couldn't breath, I was weak and tired ... Ugh, I hate having a cold.  I acted like a baby and drank a lot of peppermint tea spiked with a lot of honey, and in less than 48 hours (a miserable 48 hours mind you ... Mostly for Suneil lol), I was almost back to myself!  My doctor, incidentally, has also recommended using honey instead of cough syrup, and for the kids I definitely prefer this delicious and naturally soothing antibiotic syrup to the potion of processed sugar, alcohol and artificial colour/flavour that is cough syrup.

Granted, this post is more about a grocery store pharmacy product than a grocery store beauty product, but honey has many uses as a beauty product as well.  Try using it for one of the following things:

-Apply about a tablespoon to your face as a face mask.  It will help kill bacteria and tighten your pores, while also providing a wonderful natural moisture and glow to your face.

-Stir about 2 tablespoons of honey with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 3 tablespoons of sugar, then use it as a scrub on your body and hands.  It will exfoliate, prevent body acne, and moisturize all at once!

-Stir a few tablespoons of honey with a few tablespoons of avocado or coconut oil and a splash of orange blossom water, then pour it into a warm bath before you get it.  It will moisturize and sooth your winter-dried skin, smell great, and cost next to nothing!

As a final counsel, make sure that you are using all natural, unpasteurized honey.  Get it unfiltered too if you can find it.  Otherwise all of the wonderful natural benefits will already be processed out of it.