Health: Cosset your skin with one of nature’s most healing ingredients

Published on 30/09/2012 16:10

The beauty buzz right now is for honey-infused potions; perhaps because we feel rotten about abusing our skin all summer, and now want to soothe it with nourishing remedies. Here’s what our very own swarm of insatiable honey monsters thought about this season’s 
finest nectar...

Mandara Spa Honeymilk Dream Nourishing Miracle Oil £6 for 50ml 
www.mandaraspa.com

“Featuring a sweet mild honey and almond 
fragrance, this oil is the perfect multipurpose product and great value for money. It 
can be used as a moisturiser, massage oil and bath oil, and even slicked on hair ends and left overnight for silky locks. Stuffed to the brim full of natural ingredients such as honey, 
almond, coconut, 
kukul and rosehip oils, it’s more effective than a cream and leaves 
your skin softer and smoother than the proverbial bee’s knees.”

JANET CHRISTIE

Guerlain Abeille Royale 
Nourishing Night Cream 
£118 for 50ml 
www.guerlain.com

“This nourishing night cream couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I was lamenting how dry my skin was looking. And it’s always a good idea to think about swapping your moisturiser when the seasons change. It’s not cheap, 
but it really is rather lovely. Guerlain claim that the structured creamy and reassuring emulsion glides onto the skin like silk, and after weeks of use, it is still a pleasure to smooth it on, and inhale the scent of honey, mimosa and broom. The honey connection is that it is enriched with a royal 
jelly concentrate which is believed to accelerate night-time skin repair and 
regeneration. And the honeycomb-shaped jar featuring Guerlain’s bee emblem is a nice touch.”

ALISON GRAY

Noble Isle Heather Honey Handwash £19 for 250ml 
www.nobleisle.com

“The new Noble Isle range of beauty products feature extracts from typically British ingredients, such as rhubarb and whisky. This handwash contains skin-softening honey that was sourced from Heather Hills Honey Farm in Perthshire. It smells fantastic – more like a perfume than a soap, with the sweetness of the honey tempered by mimosa, grapefruit and neroli. Lovely packaging, too. It’s the sort of potion you’d find in the bathroom of a five-star hotel. Watch out Molton Brown!”

GABY SOUTAR

L’Occitane Bonne Mere Gentle Body Wash £22 for 600ml www.uk.loccitane.com

“Showering with this sweet treat feels rather like 
smothering yourself in some kind of scrumptious dessert. Usually I find honey scents cloying but the rich lather produced by this body wash is uplifting and delightful, and lingered faintly on the skin. It was so nourishing that even my dryest bits didn’t need buttering up with moisturiser afterwards. Good value too: I probably won’t see the end of this 600ml bottle till after Christmas, and since it looks so nice on my bathroom shelf I might be asking Santa for some more. ”

MERCY BREHENY

Neal’s Yard Bee 
Lovely Body Lotion £21 for 295ml 
www.nealsyardremedies.com

“You really don’t need to use very much of this lightweight lotion, which features organic honey and organic 
essential oils of mandarin and orange. A 
little goes a long way, and a small dollop is easily dispensed, thanks to the pump-action 
container. The addition of citrusy oils makes for a cheerful fragrance. My partner thinks it makes me smell like cake.”

CLAIRE HAY

Flowers of the hour

Tom Ford has sexed up florals, with four sophisticated new additions to his Private Blend collection of fragrances. As well as Jonquille de Nuit and Lys Fume, the Jardin Noir collection includes Ombre de Hyacinth, which features the titular flower mixed with notes of violet leaf, magnolia, jasmine and musk. But our must-have is Cafe Rose, with hints of Turkish rose oil and Bulgarian rose absolute, as well as an unexpectedly addictive whiff of coffee.

£135 for 50ml, www.tomford.com

Gaby Soutar

Gaby Soutar