Easy DIY Honey Face Wash (Only 1 Ingredient!)

Honey Face Wash

Are you looking for a safe and natural face wash that’s good for your skin and isn’t ridiculously expensive? You should try my honey face wash. I’ve been washing my face with honey for more than three years now, and I LOVE it. It’s easy, inexpensive, and totally natural.

There are a lot of different ways to wash your face with honey–today I’ll share what works for me.

Why Wash Your Face with Honey?

First off, though, you might be wondering why you’d even want to wash your face with honey. Perhaps the number one reason is what honey isn’t–it’s not a harsh commercial cleanser full of toxic chemicals that you don’t want your body absorbing.

On the contrary, honey is a completely natural product that is full of great things for your skin. Raw honey has natural antibacterial and healing properties, and it does a wonderful job of cleaning your skin without stripping away your skin’s natural oils. I love the way that my skin feels after washing with honey.

I also love how easy it is to wash your face with honey. Unlike other DIY face wash recipes, there’s no assembly necessary. Just buy a bottle of honey and stick it in your bathroom.

What Honey Should You Use?

I first started using manuka honey for washing my face. Since manuka honey has particularly potent antibacterial and healing qualities, it’s supposed to be especially good for skin conditions like acne. Because of these properties, however, it is also quite expensive.

 Wedderspoon 100% Raw Manuka Honey KFactor 16 500g

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When I would run out of manuka honey, I would use my regular raw honey until my new shipment arrived. I never noticed a big difference in how my skin reacted to the manuka honey versus just the raw honey, so eventually I just switched over to only the raw honey.

If you can handle the cost of the manuka honey, I do think it’s worth trying it for yourself, though. I’ve read that some people see a big difference with manuka honey. (I used this manuka honey.)

If you decide to just use raw honey, look for raw honey that hasn’t been filtered or heated to high temperatures. You can get this type of honey from a local beekeeper, in some health food stores, or purchase it online. Personally I usually buy this honey. I use it for cooking and for my facial washes. Any type of raw, unfiltered honey should be fine, though.

 Nature Nate’s 100% Pure, Raw and Unfiltered Honey, 32 Ounce Ambrosia Pure Honey From Colorado’s Western Slope, 16-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 4) L.R. Rice Raw and Unfiltered Honey, Local Colorado, 40 oz

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How to Wash Your Face with Honey

Here’s how I wash my face with honey. Again, feel free to experiment to see what works best for you.

First pull your hair back away from your face. (Getting honey in your hair will make it very sticky!)

Wash your hands, then dip your clean hands into your honey jar or whatever other receptacle you’re using to store your honey.

Spread a thin layer of honey all over your dry face. Depending on how thick your honey is, this may be somewhere between a teaspoon or two. Actual amount is not that important, just make sure that all of your face is covered with honey. If your honey is particularly thick, you can add a little bit of water to help it spread easier. (To make it easier to spread the next time, you may also want to liquify it by gently warming it in some water on your stovetop before you try applying it again.)

After you’ve applied your honey, you want to let it sit on your face for a little while. When I haven’t left myself much time, I’ll often only let it sit for a minute or two. When I plan ahead well, I instead leave it on for more like five or ten minutes. Longer is fine, too. I recommend experimenting to see what you prefer. I haven’t noticed any downside to letting the honey sit on my skin for an extended period of time, so feel free to leave the honey on your face for as long as you want. Unless you’re sweating or it’s particularly hot, the honey should just sit on your face without dripping, so for the most part you should just be able to go about your normal activities while the honey is on your face.

When you decide it’s time to remove the honey from your face, simply rinse your face with warm water. The honey will easily come off your skin without leaving any sticky residue behind. After rinsing, gently pat your skin dry with a towel.

You can follow your honey face wash with your normal toning and/or moisturizing routine. You may want to wait and see whether your skin actually needs as much moisturizing as normal, though. Personally I’ve found that washing with honey has meant that I needed much less moisturizing than when I was using other facial cleaners.

Will Honey Face Washes Cure Acne?

Washing your face with honey is often touted as a remedy for acne. This is actually why I originally got into honey face washing. Everyone’s experience is going to be different, of course, but for me I found that the honey didn’t make any noticeable difference in my acne. I’m pretty sure that most–if not all–of my acne is due to internal issues, however, and I have never noticed much improvement with topical skin care changes I made.

If your acne is caused or exacerbated by the way that you are cleaning your skin, however, I do believe that switching to washing your face with honey could improve your acne. Gently washing your face can only do good things for your skin. This is why I stuck with honey face washing even though it didn’t make any noticeable difference in my acne–my skin just felt so good afterwards that I knew it was probably doing good things even if they weren’t all that obvious in terms of breakouts.

Looking for More Natural Body Care Posts?

You should also check out my post on using milk of magnesia as natural deodorant. Like my honey face wash, milk of magnesia deodorant is safe, effective, inexpensive, and only one ingredient. 🙂

Looking for a natural face wash that's cheap, healthy, and only ONE ingredient? Try this.

Have you tried washing your face with honey?

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32 Responses to Easy DIY Honey Face Wash (Only 1 Ingredient!)

  1. Courtney says:
    I've recently started washing my face with coconut oil (olive oil a few times when I ran out) with great results. Ever tried it?
  2. Kerry says:
    I've been washing my face with honey and sugar. The sugar is a wonderful exfoliant. My sister-in -law does that and adds oatmeal to moisturize.
  3. Stef says:
    I use honey and baking soda about every other day and I use coconut oil to wash my face daily! I love them all!
  4. Sandra says:
    I have washed with honey for about a month now and have seen a remarkable difference in texture and moisture. I was using coconut oil before that but not matter what, my skin stayed dry. No more with the raw honey.
    • Deborah says:
      This is my experience, too. I washed and moisturized with jojoba, but this left my skin feeling dry after a few hours. I now wash with honey and a few drops of jojoba, then moisturize with jojoba and a drop or two of honey. My skin has never felt, nor has it ever look better!
  5. Kelly says:
    I use a mixture of coconut oil and honey! If I do it in a hot bath, I sometimes do have it drip off. But I've never done as long as an hour with just honey. I'm going to try it!
  6. Maddy says:
    If you haven't already tried the oil cleansing method, I highly recommend it! A 50/50 ratio of castor oil & jojoba oil with a drop or two of lavender essential oil works BEAUTIFULLY on my skin. I have super sensitive combination skin, and this has never, ever, ever left my skin anything other than soft, clean, and soothed. :) I've heard some people can use coconut oil; I'm not one of them. It makes me break out and leaves my skin flaky. I can use avocado oil, but jojoba oil is really ideal for my skin. I'd maybe do 50/40/10 castor/jojoba/avocado if I wanted a super hydrating treat. It's more like a cleansing, soothing facial than it is a face wash. Oh, and a teeny tiny bit of shea butter makes a PHENOMENAL facial moisturizer - you wouldn't think it, but it doesn't clog pores! I usually warm a tiny bit up in my hands with a few drops of my OCM blend, then gently tap it onto my skin where needed. http://www.crunchybetty.com/nitty-gritty-on-the-oil-cleansing-method http://www.crunchybetty.com/trying-and-troubleshooting-the-oil-cleansing-method-tips-for-flawless-oil-cleansed-skin ^The BEST collection of info and tips regarding OCM that I've ever found. :)
  7. Rea says:
    I have been washing my face with raw honey for over a year now. I wish I would have know about it years ago as I would have saved myself a lot of money on products I have bought over the years. I buy the Whole Foods Brand of raw honey - 365 Organic Raw Honey. It has a consistency to it that feels like a scrub. It works so well to exfoliate your skin at the same time you are washing it.
  8. Safer Cosmetics and Personal Care Products: Avoiding the Dreaded “Icky 11″ | Laura's "Rules" says:
    […] for everything from toner to lotion, bath salts to body scrubs. There are also suggestions about cleaning your skin with honey, which was lovely when I tried it, or with food-grade oils, which I also found to be easy and […]
  9. elif says:
    Hi, I would like to know about the recommended frequency for this honey wash, should we do it daily for example? Thanks
  10. How To Wash Your Face With Manuka Honey says:
    […] Wash Your Face With Manuka Honey […]
  11. The Benefits of Raw Honey | Naturally Living in the Maritimes says:
    […] let it rest for as long as you see fit.  I tried 10 minutes, and felt the effects immediately.  Others claim you can leave it on up to half an hour to an hour.  It washes off after you’re […]
  12. Robin says:
    Raw honey works on cold sores really well too. Or sun damaged skin.
  13. Hayley Schmitt says:
    I am new to the honey face wash, I tried it last night for the first time and my face felt great! I was wondering if you put the honey on with your makeup or do you need to use something to remove your makeup first? If so what would you recommend to remove makeup with. I am In my late 20s and have started having adult acne with large cysts around my chin and a small pimples in other areas constantly. I am looking for anything that will help.
  14. Valaree says:
    "Active" honey actually may not even have the actual healing properties as UMF 5+ through 20+. Might work on your acne if looked into it more.
  15. K says:
    Did you ever wash your face with coconut nectar? Would that be an alternative to honey ?
  16. Emily B says:
    Hi Meghan. It’s a shame honey didn’t help your acne. I have heard of it helping people when it comes to acne although I don’t know anybody myself. Have you tried mixing the recipes up a little? At https://epicraze.com/wash-face-raw-honey/, they recommend articles from HumbleBeeandMe as well as DrAxe that include the use of coconut oil and after washes with Argon oil. I don’t know if that would help or not, but it might be worth a try. I am working my way through a bunch of these recipes and even making some up myself. Sometimes I can’t be bothered and use honey only, sometimes on the weekend, I make all sorts of concoctions.
  17. Abiwhale says:
    I've heard of face-washing with honey but I've never tried it before. I definitely want to try it though!
  18. Alicia Owen says:
    I tried this as an experiment for my blog for a month. I didn't notice too much of a difference for my acne either. :/ It did seem to help with the redness, though!
  19. Nice share.. Honey really worked for me..Honey is a natural antibiotic and it really helped me in curing my acne and scars as well. Apply Raw Honey for Acneis perhaps the simplest remedy for acne. Just apply raw honey to your acne.
  20. Sandra says:
    Do you use the honey to clean off makeup too, or does this need to be done on clean skin? If the latter, what do you use as a makeup remover prior to applying the honey mask?
    • Hi Sandra, I actually don't use makeup so I'm not sure! But I just googled for you, and it looks like the honey will NOT remove makeup, so you'll have to use something else. I'd suggest googling "natural makeup remover" or something like that. I hope you like using the honey!
    • Hira says:
      Use coconut oil to remove make up. Believe me it's an excellent make up remover and cleanser.
  21. lexi says:
    What do you ladies recommended I do to get rid of deep acne scaring? Honey with ??? Or what else worked for anyone out there? I've been currently using honey with tea tree oil it made a difference in my skin texture but not my scaring.
    • Moony says:
      Lexi, I strongly recommend you look up Apple Cider Vinegar toner. I have been using it for a few months and it's cleared a lot of my acne scarring up as well as preventing major breakout. I dilute with water (1:1 ratio), but to start with I recommend adding more water to see how your skin reacts.
  22. oilyit says:
    Ive been using honey with argan oil on my face and it too works really well,i add a few drop of argan oil to help it spread, And ive even gotten compliments that ive been looking younger... you should try that:)

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