The usage of honey skin has been documented historically since the dawn of civilisation, demonstrating the widespread use of honey's medicinal properties. It has emollient, humectant, calming, and hair conditioning properties in cosmetic compositions. It also maintains youthful skin and delays the onset of wrinkles, balances pH, and guards against pathogen infections.*
Incorporating honey into soap brings an advantageous dimension, elevating each bar into a nourishing delight. It has a gentle, warm, sweet smell and thanks to its natural sugars, it help creating a more luxurious, hence functioning as a natural humectant.Honey also offers antioxidant, anti-bacterial, antiseptic and moisturising benefits hence making this into an amazing super ingredient to add to the soap.
Here is a brief list of benefits of adding honey to each soap bar:
The Enchantment of Moisture
Honey's ability to attract moisture to the skin results in a velvety feel that keeps the skin hydrated. This is especially beneficial for individuals, with sensitive skin as it helps maintain the skin's natural moisture levels.
Humectants are useful for adding hydration without feeling heavy or oily and honey does that in a completely natural way, whilst other soap might use man-made chemical products to achieve the same effect but can cause allergic reactions, hives and eczema.
Light Aroma
Although honey doesn't smell particularly strong, it might give soap a cosy, slightly sweet scent. It produces a soft, pleasant scent when mixed with complimentary essential oils like benzoin which in addition to honey It improves skin elasticity and smoothness and helps speed up healing.
The rare Black Bee Honey from Sicily
Not only is Sicilian black bee honey uncommon and rare, but it also has certain qualities that can maximise your soap experience. Black bee almost went extinct around 1970 due to beekeeper bad practices at that time, but thankfully lately some organic beekeepers have rediscovered its value and reintroduced this precious animal to its natural habitat. Black bees are different from other more common bees because they have a black abdomen, less yellow and are smaller than other bee subspecies. They can be more defensive and aggressive compared to other bees making them more challenging to handle and this might explain why beekeepers in Sicily tried to use other species which were considered easier to handle over 50 years ago which led to a reduced population of black bees in the island. It produces less honey compared to other bees but this honey has a superior quality, with one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants known in all other honey types. Free radicals can cause premature ageing and skin damage, thus antioxidants are essential for shielding the skin from them.This honey also has an aroma and scent which reminds the characters of the southern mediterranean countryside, with notes of citrus and wildflowers, thus adding a unique and complex flavour to skincare products.
Because this honey is rare and has health benefits, adding this valuable ingredient to any soap makes it better and turns it into a unique pleasure, also improving the environment by supporting those amazing Sicilian beekeepers that have reintroduced this bee in the island.
*Honey in dermatology and skin care: a review, Bruno Burlando, Laura Cornara, 2013