Honey is our ingredient of the season, and you can find our full archive of honey posts here.

After a bit of trial and error, I’ve finally narrowed in on an all-nature, DIY face wash that I’m loving. It contains honey + a number of other ingredients that combine to create a gentle exfoliation for your skin without a sticky mess. Seriously!

Ingredient Info

Before we dive into the recipe, I wanted to include information  about some of the ingredients.

• honey: Honey’s antibiotic and antiseptic qualities, help to eliminate germs on your skin. As a humectant, it draws moisture in and can help your skin to retain moisture. It is packed with antioxidants and is gentle in nature.

• clay: clays are made from a variety of minerals, and their exact formula determines the colors and properties of the clays. All clays draw out impurities from the skin and some are more drying than others. If purchasing from an apothecary, you can ask them about which clays are more or less drying and use the one that’s best for your skin. I used a combination of two different clays below, erring on the gentler side since my skin is not very oily and we live in a dry climate.

• lavender: has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, which is great for soothing irritated skin. It is also known for its cell-regenerating properties, perfect for reducing wrinkles and scarring. It is also known for its relaxing aromatic properties.

• rose: rose is said to be an all-around wonder for skin. It’s said to nourish, balance, and rejuvenate skin, perfect for damaged or aging skin.

• oats and almonds: both are exfoliants, and the oats add a balancing quality.

Dry Face Wash Base

This recipe comes from Rosemary Gladstar’s book Herbs for Natural Beauty. It’s a really handy book that reviews the benefits of different ingredients and provides a variety of recipes for skin and hair health. I mentioned it before in this post where we did a round-up of our previous DIY beauty potions.

Mix the following dry ingredients together in a jar. The recipe makes plenty of the dry base to last for a while depending upon how much you wash your face. Because that blend lasts a long time, you’ll want to keep it dry, and even store it in the fridge to preserve freshness.

• 1/2 cup finely ground oats
• 1/2 cup white clay
• 1/2 cup pink clay
• 1/8 cup finely ground raw almonds
• 2 Tbsp ground dried lavender flowers
• 2 Tbsp ground dried rose petals

*You can grind the oats, almonds, and flowers in a coffee grinder. The finer the grind, the gentler the exfoliation will be. I went with a medium to fine level of grinding, and am happy with the results. If you have to clean your coffee grinder before and after this project, grinding white rice works as a great cleaning agent.

You could use the dry mixture by simply combining a couple teaspoons of it with water to make a paste. Clean your face with the paste and rinse. BUT, we’re here for the honey, and I think that the face wash below elevates this mixture to the next level.

Honey Face Wash

Once you add a touch of water to it, as suggested below, you increase the possibility that unwanted germs can grow. As such, it’s recommended that you mix up just a small quantity of the honey face wash (maybe enough to last a week or so). If you don’t include the water in the recipe below, the blend should last even longer, especially if all of your dry ingredients had very low water content.

• 1/4 cup dry face wash base
• 1/8 cup honey
• <1 Tbsp rose hydrosol (or water)

I add the water to the grains first, letting it soak into the clay, and creating a lumpy, still slightly dry mixture. Then I add the honey, mixing everything thoroughly. This mixture can sit in your bathroom for a week or so, but if not used, it will eventually ferment.

When I’m in the shower, I spread some of the honey face wash on my face and let it sit for a few seconds like a mask before massaging into my skin for a gentle exfoliation. At first mention, it might sound absurdly sticky to slather your face in honey, but the honey washes away so easily that using it is no messier than your basic face wash.

I’m so excited about this face wash and have been using it for the past week+. I think it’s doing wonders for my skin, but that may also be due to the handful of extra naps that I was able to sneak in on our vacation…