Honey and bee venom have been used in folk medicine for thousands of years, but they’ve made a recent resurgence in skincare. Here’s the science behind these ingredients.
Honey is formed from nectar and pollen by bees through a process of partial digestion (don’t think too hard about it if you want to enjoy honey ever again). On the regular skincare front, honey is a humectant moisturiser, capable of binding water to the skin to keep it hydrated. There’s also some evidence that honey is effective for speeding up healing for some wounds. Honey also acts as an antibacterial in vitro (in the lab) in a few different ways, depending on the type of honey:
low pH, which is unsuitable for the survival of many microorganisms
high osmolarity (high sugar/low water combination), which can suck water out of bacterial cells
slow release of hydrogen peroxide, which kills bacteria while limiting damage to the skin
bee defensin-1, an antimicrobial peptide thought to be part of the bee immune system (also found in royal jelly)
methylglyoxal, an antibacterial compound that’s particularly high in manuka honey (though it seems to be less important than previously though)
other antibacterial chemicals such as polyphenols, flavonoids and inositol-like compounds
Manuka honey is particularly famous for its antibacterial effects, and excitingly, bacteria don’t seem to develop resistance to honey. However, there aren’t a lot of studies on how well honey works in skincare, on living humans, outside of wounds. One randomised controlled trial with 136 subjects found that kanuka (not a typo) honey didn’t have any effect on acne despite killing Propionibacterium acnes bacteria in vitro. A second randomised controlled trial with 138 subjects found that kanuka honey was effective for treating rosacea.
However, honey is a natural product and its composition and properties vary wildly depending on where it’s from and which flowers the bees use to make it (you’ll know this if you’ve tasted different honey varieties before). It’s possible that some varieties of honey could potentially have a effect on acne, but there’s no reliable evidence that it does yet. The concentration of honey used in the product also makes a difference to its antibacterial activity.
BEE VENOM IN SKINCARE
Bee venom collector is a defensive toxin produced by bees. It’s a complex mixture that mostly contains peptides, with the main peptide being melittin which makes up about 50% of bee venom. Like honey, bee venom was also used medicinally in ancient times and is experiencing a resurgence, with reported anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and analgesic properties that may be useful for arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In skincare, bee venom became popular in 2013 thanks to celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Middleton who credited bee venom injections for their glow.