!44: Honey For Acne? Sweet Mother of Mercy!

!±8± Honey For Acne? Sweet Mother of Mercy!

We all know acne, whether it's a distant memory or an irritating pain in the neck at this very moment. But what has honey got to do with acne? Well, unbelievably, an increasing number of people are turning to this natural remedy, and although for many people it doesn't work, for others it has been an amazing success.

You know how it goes. Your body starts to change. You're getting taller, your voice is deepening, your hair is permanently greasy - and whoa!! What's that on your face, back and shoulders - the dreaded zits, pimples, whiteheads, blackheads, ACNE! You ask your Mum what to do. For a few weeks she becomes a regular at the local pharmacy, bringing back one expensive treatment after another - creams, soaps, lotions - even pills. All that money, and nothing seems to work.

So what do you do?

Well, a growing number of people have found that even if everything else fails, honey has improved their acne. Now be careful here, because you may be allergic to honey. If this concerns you, get one of the readily-available allergy tests to be on the safe side. OK, so allergies permitting, let's get that acne zapped. Hmm, that's lucky, you have a sticky old jar of honey at the back of the cupboard so that will do, right? Actually, NO, not if it's regular supermarket honey. You need honey pretty much as it was in the beehive, never heated, never processed. This is because raw honey, as it's called, has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties - and there is good scientific evidence for this, backed up by numerous clinical trials.

So how do you find genuine raw honey? The problem is, there are a lot of poor quality products out there that will be no use at all because the healing properties will have been destroyed in processing. You need to choose carefully and I strongly advise you to get some information from a good independent web site, like the one it's my job to write for, and whatever you do, don't just accept advice from someone trying to sell you honey!

So I will assume you've got hold of your jar of the real thing, good quality raw honey. If you've never bought "proper" honey before, heck, just lift that lid and take in that heavenly floral aroma and it will be all you can do to stop yourself snacking your way right to the bottom of the jar there and then! But wait, before you get stuck in, just remember why you bought it in the first place and follow these simple instructions to set it to work on that troublesome acne:

Applying the honey is easy, even if a little messy! Just spread a thin layer of honey onto your skin and leave it for 15 or 20 minutes, then rinse off. Repeat the process once a day for a week or so. If there is no sign of improvement after a week, stop, otherwise carry on with the treatment. You can always take a photo each week to check for sure if there has been any improvement. Assuming you are not allergic, using honey on your acne is not going to harm you, and you never know, it might just work - if you can refrain from eating up all the honey that is!

Good luck!