Arizona Farmers' Market Beauty Finds: Part III

Absolutely Delightful Arizona Raw Honey

Most of the time when we think of beauty finds we tend to think of actual products – like lotions and potions and such. I love a beautifully crafted elixir as much as the next person, but I also want to emphasize that many beauty secrets are held in the cells of simple whole foods – which are abundant at your local Farmers’ Market. This often overlooked storehouse of the best beauty parlor tricks in the business is what has prompted me to share my third beauty find from my neighborhood Farmers’ Market – Organic Raw Arizona Honey.

Honey has many benefits for our health and can be used both internally and externally for healing and for nurturing good health. For the purposes of this blog I will focus on the benefits of raw honey when applied topically, which include:

1. Honey is a humectant, so therefore draws moisture and nutrients from the deeper layers of the skin or dermis to the outermost, visible layers. This is a great aid for aging skin and for those of us residing in harsher climates. Honey thus gives you the most radiantly glowing complexion.

2. Raw honey contains active enzymes that eat away dead skin cells, therefore can give you all the exfoliation benefits of a chemical alpha-hydroxy mask, over relatively short periods of time, without the harmful potential side-effects. This results in a very smooth look and feel to your skin.

3. Honey can also be used as a hair mask (mixed with olive or grapeseed oil, essential oils and or clay) that can be added to your conditioner or used in place of it. (Of course you would need to thoroughly rinse your hair with very warm water afterwards until all stickiness was thoroughly dissolved, and I would only recommend that those with straight or mildly (loosely) curled hair try that trick. If you have very tight curls or dreadlocks this is not the best idea for obvious reasons.

4. If you have an acne problem that is bacterial or fungal in nature, then raw honey is your friend. Regular honey masks can really help to attack the problem at its root and can yield tangible results in just a few short weeks or even days. This is potentially a great alternative to most of the chemical laden acne products that are on the market today, and is worth trying before resorting to the heavy hitters.

5. Honey has a great quantity of nutrients and enzymes that speed the healing of wounds, and assist in preventing scarring and hyperpigmentation. In fact, honey can actually assist in lightening dark spots thus creating a more even or uniform skin tone.

Eleanor Dzuik of Absolutely Delightful has a beautiful, ethically sourced raw honey available at many of the Farmers’ Markets in the Phoenix area, and for your convenience – you can also shop for her varieties of honey as well as honey, propolis or royal jelly based personal care products from her website.

I love mixing her raw honey with clay and essential oils for a daily face cleanser that both cleans, exfoliates and moisturizes without stripping my face of its delicate and protective pH mantle. These are but a few ways in which raw honey can be enjoyed for more than just its sweetness.