Must Love Bees: The Buzz on Bee Products

Bees are the best — for the environment and for your skin. They make honey, propolis and royal jelly, all three of which are great for any skin type (unless you’re vegan or allergic to bees, in which case skip them), and a particular secret weapon for dry, sensitive skin types that are prone to acne flares. Personally, I like to think of bees as having tiny jobs, but maybe Bee Movie made too big an impression.

Bee Byproducts

Honey

Not just for your toast anymore, honey is the most common bee product in skincare. Honey mask are one of the most common DIYs, and it’s easy to see why. Honey’s a natural anti-septic and antibacterial, so it’s a great go-to ingredient for skin that’s not behaving (begone, monthly breakouts!). It’s also moisturizing and promotes wound healing, so it’s great for dry sensitive skin, too. There’s so many great brands with a focus on honey now that there’s no reason to squeeze the cute honey bear out over your hands and face, so read below for more recommendations.

Propolis

Propolis is another bee product you’re apt to see in skincare, but it’s not honey. (We’re looking at you, old version of the COSRX Ultimate Moisturizing Honey Overnight Mask with no honey but ample propolis.) Propolis is a resin used to make beehives, but you wouldn’t know it to look at most propolis products, in which it tends to be a nice thickish liquid. Even more so than honey, propolis is great for quietly but masterfully diminishing breakouts due to its wound healing and redness fighting abilities.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is the fancy honey-adjacent product used to feed the Queen Bee. You won’t usually see royal jelly in its own product (it’s typically tag teaming with propolis and honey), but it has great humectant and moisturizing abilities, in addition to being full of antioxidants.

Buy These Bee Products

Sold on bees? I’ve grouped some of the products that I’ve tried or am interested in below

Cosrx Propolis Line

This is the line that made me fall in love with propolis in particular. I used the Cosrx Propolis Toner nonstop for a month last September, and behold! no breakouts due to PMS for the first time since my early 20s. I’ve yet to try the Cosrx Propolis Cream and the Cosrx Propolis Ampoule (both pictured), but I’m starting the cream (which also contains royal jelly and honey) as an AM moisturizer very soon, and the ampoule came highly recommended so I couldn’t resist picking up the whole line at the Ulta 21 Days of Beauty sale.

I’m From Honey Line

The I’m From Honey Mask (pictured) is a cult favorite in the k-beauty world and deserves all of its hype. The price seems a bit steep, but wow it lasts a long time. It’s incredibly moisturizing and hydrating, so if you’ve been wondering what a good wash-off mask for dry skin is, look no further. This one is definitely going to be a rebuy for me! The line also includes the less popular I’m From Honey Serum and I’m From Honey Glow Cream.

iUNIK Propolis Vitamin Line

iUNIK’s Propolis Vitamin Synergy Serum (not pictured) was my other intro to propolis besides the Cosrx toner. I’ve since moved on to their iUNIK Propolis Vitamin Sleeping Mask (pictured), which has been quite moisturizing and great for winter. Their line also includes an eye cream. The “vitamin” in their name comes from the inclusion of sea buckthorn, which is considered a natural source of vitamin c. iUNIK is great about value sets and minis, so if you want to try propolis without truly committing, give them a whirl.

Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Enrich Line

The Skinfood Royal Honey Propolis Enrich Essence (pictured) is spoken of in nearly hallowed terms by kbeauty-loving influencers (cough cough Kelly Driscoll made me do it), so I had to give it a try this winter. As the name suggests, this line includes royal jelly, honey AND propolis. This essence, despite its name, is arguably more of a serum, but that has not diminished my enjoyment of it, though it does mean I’ve gone through it faster than I might like. It’s been a lovely way to diminish sensitivity while feeling incredibly bougie. Skinfood can be hard to find, but it is available (online) at Ulta and at SokoGlam within the US.

Farmacy Honey Line

I’ve yet to try anything from Farmacy’s honey line, but it’s not for lack of interest. The Farmacy Honey Halo, a moisturizer with ceramides, is by far one of the most recommended products within the Skincare Junkies Facebook group for night creams for dry skin. But regardless of what type of product you’re looking for, Farmacy probably has it in their honey line — cleanser, serum, exfoliant, mask, moisturizer (one for dry, one for oily!) or lip balm. Plus, of this entire list they’re the only available at Sephora.

Honorable Mentions

An honorable mention goes to the Beauty of Joseon Glow Serum (pictured), which is the only propolis product in their line as far as I’m aware, but is a nice pick for folks who are also looking for a good amount of niacinamide to go with their acne-fighting propolis. There’s also two products from By Wishtrend, their Quad Active Boosting Essence and Polyphenols in Propolis 15% Ampoule, which include propolis.

What’s your favorite bee ingredient, and favorite bee-focused product? Let me know so I can put it on my face someday!