Not only is honey a delicious ingredient to add to all kinds of different foods, it also has some pretty remarkable uses as a beauty treatment and around the home.
If all you have ever done with honey is spread it on your toast, you might be in for a surprise when you read this.
Raw honey, that’s the kind that hasn’t been pasteurized and has no added ingredients, has strong antibacterial and antifungal properties, and that’s just the start! Here are ten amazing uses of honey that you probably have never even heard of.
1. Use it as a hangover cure
When you wake up after a great night out with a thumping head, promising yourself “never againâ€, the best way to get the last remnants of alcohol out of your system and to give you a much needed energy boost is to eat a spoonful of honey. Honey will wake you up and it will speed up the process of the alcohol being metabolized by your body.
2. Treat cuts, scrapes and burns with honey
If you cut yourself or you burn yourself, and you haven’t any antiseptic cream in the home, honey will do the job just as well. Smear some raw honey onto on to a minor wound and it will soothe the pain, stop the wound becoming infected, and it will help it heal faster.
3. Use it as a face wash
Forget about soap and water, that’s probably just drying your face out anyway; try using honey as a face cleanser instead. If you clean your face with honey, it is much gentler on the skin, it will moisturise as it cleans, and it will help fight the bacteria that cause breakouts. Washing your face daily with honey will improve your complexion and keep your skin lovely and soft.
4. It will help you sleep
Honey can also calm the nerves and relax the mind so, if you find it difficult to wind down at the end of the day and you can’t get to sleep, try drinking a cup of herbal tea with a teaspoon of honey in it. For the very best results, lavender or chamomile tea works the best. It’s also a great way to start the day in a calm and relaxed mood.
5. Moisturise dry skin
If you get dry and cracked skin, honey will soothe and moisturise it fast, and it will help the skin to heal as well. Apply raw honey to dry patches of skin and leave it sit half an hour. It will penetrate deep down into the skin, rehydrate it, and it will stop any broken skin becoming infected. It works brilliantly on those annoying dry patches of skin you get on your elbows.
6. Condition your hair with honey
Honey can work wonders on your hair too, but don’t worry, we’re not suggesting that you pout sticky honey directly on your locks. Just add a teaspoon of honey to your regular shampoo, or you could mix with olive oil, apply it to your hair and leave it to sit for twenty minutes. Either way, honey will make your hair soft and shiny and it will fight dandruff too.
7. Use it in a relaxing bath soak
Soothe away the aches and pains of a long day with a wonderful honey and lavender oil bath soak. This really does to help you unwind and it will leave your skin feeling soft and smooth as well. Just add two tablespoons of raw honey to a cup of hot water and let it dissolve. Then, add three drops of lavender essential oil, stir, and add it to your bath.
8. Soften and condition eyebrows
if you ever get dry, itchy, and flaking skin under your eyebrows, then honey will soon clear that up for you. Wash your eyebrows first and then massage some raw honey into them. Leave it on for half an hour before you wash it off again with warm water. The honey will hydrate the skin and condition the hairs of your eyebrows.
9. It can be used in the garden too
For those of you who are gardeners, you will know how difficult it can be to get cuttings to root sometimes. If that’s the case for you, try mixing one part honey with three parts hot water. Let it cool, and then dip the tip of your cutting into the mixture before you plant in the ground. The honey will encourage root growth and it will protect the cutting from disease while it grows.
10. Treat allergies with honey
If you suffer with summer allergies, then try taking a teaspoon of honey of every day. Although honey rarely ever causes an allergic reaction, over time, the tiny amounts of pollen in honey will immunise you against the effects hay fever in the summer months. If you can find it, it is better if you use locally produced honey, because that will contain traces of the pollen that you are being exposed to when you are at home.