How to Prepare Your Skin for the Seasonal Change
As fall approaches in full swing, it’s time to start preparing your skin for the harsh weather approaching: winter is coming. Does your skin get flaky around your mouth, forehead, and cheeks? Does it get extra oily in your T-zone? Stocking up on ultra-moisturizing lotions simply won’t do the trick if you actually knew what the ingredients in your usual drugstore brand of body lotion do to your skin. Instead, there’s one simple ingredient that you should be focusing on to protect your skin from drying out, flaking, and when it’s in dire need of hydration – anytime of the year. Do you know what ingredient you should be maximizing on in your skin care routine?
Keep reading to find out!
Its Name is Manuka Honey
Nicknamed “liquid gold,” Manuka honey is a rare resource that might save your body (inside and out) from suffering winter’s wrath! Dark and somewhat medicinal-flavored, manuka honey hails largely from New Zealand where the Manuka tree and its budding flower are naturally cultivated. Bees collect nectar from the Manuka flowers that blossom only 2-6 weeks out of a full year (hence it’s heavy price tag per jar at your local health food store or Amazon) and the nectar is brought back to the hive to create a honey that is a medical marvel (it’s currently used in burn units to repair and prevent infection in patients’ skin)!
Fun fact: Novak Djokovic is said to have at least two spoonful’s of it a day, so you know it’s legit!
Manuka honey has been proven to treat everything from a sore throat to gastric ulcers, poor digestive and immune health to being used as a topical solution for wounds, cuts, and burns. Yep — wounds! Most people who are already privy to its benefits use manuka honey for daily consumption the way you might take a multivitamin or Vitamin C boost. Manuka honey can also be taken straight by the spoonful at the first sign of a cold to reduce the severity and length of it!
Before we dig into the health benefits in more depth (particularly in skin care), it’s important to understand just how special this honey really is, especially when you consider not all Manuka honey is alike.
How Manuka Honey is Graded (& Why It Matters)
Not only is this golden elixir rare, but its value can be compared to that of any high-end luxury vehicle. How is that? Because a rack of top-tier manuka honey is the same value as an expensive luxury car. That’s all due to the fact that Manuka honey comes in different grades. Manuka honey can be rated between UMF 5+ to UMF 20+ — the highest potency.
UMF simply stands for Unique Manuka Factor, the accepted grading for the product around the world. The higher the UMF, the higher the MGO, which stands for methylglyoxal, the naturally occurring compound that makes manuka honey so special. When that enzyme comes in contact with body fluids, it slowly releases hydrogen peroxide. This may sound dangerous but it’s actually great for you!
Manuka honey that is graded 15+ and 20+ are used more in therapeutic or targeted purposes, while 5+ is used daily. For ingesting manuka honey for its health benefits, it’s important to understand the potency of it and the UMF rating so you get the full breadth of its benefits!
Health Benefits of Manuka Honey
Manuka honey’s anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic properties are thought to be beyond comparison to other foods. All honey is said to have some activity level of positive benefits, but Manuka honey has been studied and sought after for its high non-peroxide and antibacterial activity. It is dramatically more active than your average honey, which is why eating a spoonful of regular clover or orange blossom honey from your local supermarket just won’t cut it.
Manuka is also used in adhesive dressings and wound gels and can be used in DIY face masks. Honey has been used topically for centuries for its powerful antibacterial properties, but most of the average honey bear honey you see in the grocery stores lack the unique wellness compounds that are really rewarding for your skin. When it comes to beneficial properties, no honey compares to UMF Manuka Honey which contains guaranteed levels of leptosperin, methylglyoxal, and DHA.
Yep, Manuka honey is so sought out that there have been counterfeit Manuka honey claims against faux Manuka. And if all that sounds like mumbo jumbo, we’ll cut to the chase and tell you how to use Manuka honey this winter.
Wild Naturals Manuka Honey Skin Care
As beneficial as it is to eat manuka honey on a regular basis, the same goes for using it for your skin. Applying a thick, sticky substance like honey every day to your face is certainly not practical, therefore switching to a skin care brand boasting manuka honey as a key ingredient is the right path to take! Wild Naturals has everything from face wash to face cream to shampoo and conditioner, all containing potent levels of manuka honey at UMF 12+ in every product!
Shop the Wild Naturals online store today and discover just how incredible manuka honey can transform your skin, not just for winter (though you definitely won’t have to worry about dry, cakey skin during it) but for all year long!
